Hello, I have filed a couple of liens. I have been threatened by the attorney for the company I have placed the lien against. The attorney is saying that my liens are illegal under Texas law and show a clear intent to harm the company and defraud the project owners because I put the reason for my lien as unpaid sales commission and that is illegal. They are threatening $10k fines for each lien and litigation. This is my first time filing liens and I probably should have described what the sales commission entails. I was getting 3% of the total contract to perform the following services: the creation of bids, project planning, original fire sprinkle layout designs that are submitted to the city and other authorities, and post-award planning. I am an independent contractor with my own business. The client is trying to claim that I am an employee although I was never paid on a w-2. My question is: How important is it to show the exact scope of work on my liens? If I need to list out all the work can I send a supplemental document to attach to the lien.? Or, Is it necessary to pull back and refile the liens since I did not describe my services in detail only wrote the figure I was owed as "unpaid sales commission"? I would love to get an answer about what to do as soon as possible as the lawyer is threatening litigation within 7 days. Thanks
In Texas you are entitled to a lien if you provide services to prepare a design, drawing, plan, plat, survey, or specifications. This sounds like it applies to the work you did, which should mean you are entitled to a lien.
As for the content of the lien affidavit that you filed, it should contain a general statement of the kind of work done. This can be open to interpretation though. Just from the information you have given here, you may have provided an inadequate description of the work done, but that doesn't necessarily mean your lien is invalid.
Texas law does not require strict compliance with the lien affidavit statute. This means that if you file your lien and you mess up on one requirement (ie you provide a less than adequate description of the work done), it shouldn't destroy your lien. However, going forward I would make sure you add a more complete description of the work you did. I'd be curious to see exactly what it is this attorney is accusing you of doing and why they think your lien is not valid.
Because they are threatening legal action in 7 days, I recommend you contact a construction lawyer. Without all of the details of your situation, I cannot say for certain whether your lien is valid or if you at risk of legal liability. If you need help, you can call us at Murphy Legal. We have a team of experienced construction lawyers and we work anywhere in the state of Texas. Our phone number is (979) 690-0800.
Best of luck to you.