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Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>A contractor maliciously filed a lien on my home, performed sub-standard work, attempted fraud and stolen from my home

A contractor maliciously filed a lien on my home, performed sub-standard work, attempted fraud and stolen from my home

GeorgiaConstruction ContractLawsuitLicensesMechanics Lien

I noticed poor work being done by sub-contractors, numerous inspection failures, theft and even attempts to generate fraudulent income from my insurance company. Before signing over my 2nd draw from the insurance money, I was advised that the contractor may bail upon receipt. I asked for a couple days instead of just signing over the large amount of money. In response, the General Contractor changed locks and screwed doors and windows shut, forcing me to kick my door in to be able to enter my home that night. They failed the 50% completion inspection required for the 2nd draw payment. I requested a list of materials used and work completed to date and instead of providing this, the subs were pulled off the project and he immediately filed a lien on my home. Due to the holdup, the plumbing contractor sent me his invoice to try to collect. His invoice is 3x the cost approved by my adjuster and full of fraudulent charges as well as no mention of the copper pipe he unnecessarily cut out and stole from my home. I also paid $10,000 for a kitchen upgrade from my own money and he has failed to even acknowledge receipt of this despite proof of deposit into his account. That's the basic gist of the situation minus further questionable behavior by the contractors and subs. I was told I had to provide a right to repair and they have 30 days to respond, but I'm nearing my deadline where I will lose $44,000 depreciation money if construction is not completed. Also possibly important is the contract states that payment is to be made to a different company than the one performing the work and the company does not have an active business license. Please help!

1 reply

Mar 4, 2020
You should contact a local Georgia attorney - it sounds like this project may be running rampant with fraud. And, if claimants are filing questionable mechanics liens, this issue could get significantly worse if it isn't dealt with immediately. If you need help finding an attorney, this list should help: Construction Attorneys in Georgia. Further, filing a complaint with the GA Secretary of State and/or to the state license board could help to provide some relief. Additionally, it's probably a good idea to reach out to the insurance company to let them know what's going on with the project. Though, it'd probably be a good idea to talk that over with your lawyer beforehand, if possible.

Validity of a Georgia mechanics lien filed under questionable pretenses

As for the contractor's mechanics lien - Georgia construction businesses are generally entitled to file mechanics liens if they've performed work but gone unpaid. And, this is generally true even if there's a dispute over workmanship or a dispute over what's owed. However, that doesn't mean an owner can't successfully challenge the lien claim by showing the work was extremely deficient, that the claim is overstated, or that there's some other issue with the work. What's more, if the contractor is unlicensed or if they're merely "renting" another contractor's license, that could end up rendering the lien invalid as well and expose them to civil and potentially even criminal penalties. As mentioned above, hiring an attorney could help to review the filed lien and other potential claims made by project participants. Then, they'd be able to advise you on how best to move forward.
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