Signing a subcontract you don’t understand can put your entire livelihood in jeopardy, and neglecting your lien rights can keep you from being paid for your projects. If you’re a subcontractor, you need to understand and negotiate a fair subcontract and ensure you collect the money you are owed.

The Subcontractor Institute was created by Karalynn Cromeens, Owner & Managing Partner of The Cromeens Law Firm. In the seventeen years she has practiced construction, real estate, and business law, she has reviewed and explained thousands of subcontracts. For years, she has tried saving companies that have signed problematic subcontracts and lost out on being paid for their work. Unfortunately, it was too late by the time they came to her; she could do nothing to help.

She hated seeing clients lose money—sometimes their entire business—over language they did not understand and laws they did not know about. Watching these situations play out day after day was the driving force behind her two books, Quit Getting Screwed: Understanding and Negotiating the Subcontract, and Quit Getting Stiffed: A Texas Contractor’s Guide to Liens & Collections, as well as the creation of The Subcontractor Institute.