Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>As a homeowner, can plumber file a lien against me/my home if no Notice of Lien Rights was ever given?

As a homeowner, can plumber file a lien against me/my home if no Notice of Lien Rights was ever given?

Hi, I am a home owner who hired a licensed plumber to tunnel under my home. I paid $6000 deposit prior to commencement of work, to cover the initial digging. Total job cost would be about $16,000. No Notice of Lien Rights document was provided to me. He started work Sept 23, 2019. After 2 weeks he had tunneled the main line. We ran into additional problems with other lines, so I had to file for additional insurance. Work was suspended. Insurance was dragging, then required an independent plumber to quote it. Our plumber got frustrated and on Dec. 2, via text messages, said he quit the job and to let the other plumber handle it; then proceeded to demand additional $3000 to stay on the job. I ignored his request. I considered him off the job at that point, although he frequently checked back in to see if insurance covered the additional work, to which I replied insurance was pending. In early Feb 2020 insurance gave me the number it would cover for the additional work. Out of courtesy I contacted this initial plumber, shared the 3rd party plumber's quote which was much lower than his, and asked for his updated quote if we wanted another stab at finishing the job. He did not provide in the time I requested, so I officially "fired" him in writing. Today he responded that he would now issue an invoice for supplemental "hard digging" fee and for the cost of his insurance for 5 months (Sept 23 - Feb 17), neither of which were line items on his quote/contract. If we didn't pay it, he would file lien. Regardless of his abandoning the job over 2 months ago, and regardless of his alleged bases for potentially filing a lien, can he even file a valid lien if he never gave us a Notice of Lien Rights prior to starting the job (or anytime thereafter)? If he can, does either the abandonment issue or the lien content invalidate his lien? Thanks! And please tell Scott that Hobbs says hello, and congrats on his business successes. Thanks for your time and help.

7 replies

Feb 19, 2020

Louisiana mechanics lien and notice laws recently changed, but for projects that started prior to January 1, 2020, the "old rules" still apply. While a Notice of Contract is only required to be filed by GCs on projects of more than $25,000, provided that project started pre-January 1, 2020 (or more than $100,000 if started after), the requirement to provide a Notice of Lien Rights did not change. When the project is an improvement to an existing owner-occupied residential project, direct contractors in Louisiana must provide a Notice of Lien rights prior to, or at the time of, entering into the contract with the owner. This notice is often included in the contract itself, so if relying on the failure to provide notice as a bar to lien rights, it is always in the property owner's best interest to examine the contract itself to make sure the notice is not contained therein. If a Notice of Lien Rights is not provided timely, it is fatal to a direct contractor's lien rights. Additionally, when a notice of contract was not filed, mechanics liens in Louisiana (on projects that commenced prior to January 1, 2020) must be filed within 60 days of the completion (or abandonment) of the work.

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Feb 26, 2020

Nate, Thanks for your informed response. It confirmed what I hoped to be the case. Only followup question is, do these rules apply to an attempted lien filing against our property itself AND against us personally (if that's even a thing)? I guess what I'm trying to determine is, can he still file some other type of lien and get around these procedural deficiencies, which I think we will be successful in challenging if/when he does file. Thanks Jonathan

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Feb 26, 2020

Mechanics liens for construction-related work are filed against the improved property itself, although in some very limited circumstances and situations a "lien on funds" which works like a stop payment notice, can be filed to encumber the project funds themselves. Despite requiring the name of the owner to be listed on the document, construction liens are not filed against the owner or other interested party in their individual capacity - they encumber the property itself. Liens, as a concept, are filed against property that can be seized and sold to satisfy the underlying debt, and the things that give rise liens vary by the lien type. With respect to a lien claimed for money alleged to be due for construction related work, a lien on personal property could be obtained only after a court judgment is obtained. If that was the case, a lien can be claimed by the prevailing party against the property of the "judgment debtor" in order to secure the judgment amount.

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Feb 26, 2020

Nate, Thanks again. I will try to negotiate this away and convince him not to file a lien. But if he does, it sounds like my opposition/reply in that 10 day window will be critical to prevent the lien from being made official. I have a good idea on the defenses to make in it, but is that something LevelSet could help me write to make sure I cover all my points and assert any defenses that could be used later in a lawsuit, should the lien actually hold and I need to file suit? Is that within LevelSet's scope of services? Jonathan

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Feb 26, 2020

Levelset cannot prepare or provide specific advice with respect to challenging an individual lien, or reviewing a document for those purposes. However, there are many Louisiana attorneys outside of Levelset you can view here: https://www.levelset.com/payment-help/experts/attorney/louisiana/ whom you may be able to enagage to help you out.

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Feb 28, 2020

Nate, Thanks for the references. One more thing. You mentioned that failure to provide a Notice or Lien Right and/or the 60 day time line are procedural deficiencies that are fatal on a contractor's lien rights. But in speaking with Jefferson Parish Mortgage and Conveyance, I am under the impression that he can still walk in and slap a lien on our house despite these things. And there is no service pf process on us. And nothing that office could tell us that we as homeowners have an opportunity to contest the lien's deficiencies to prevent it on the front end from encumbering our house. (I thought I read on your site there is a 10 day window to do "something" to challenge it?) Is there something in Louisiana to quash a defective mechanics lien quickly? Or does the M&C office reject it as defective when a contractor doesn't file a Notice of Lien Rights with his lien? Or, does the lien stick regardless, and I need to actually file suit against the contractor to assert any of these defenses and try to get a judgment to remove the lien? Thanks

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Feb 28, 2020

It can be a frustrating aspect of the mechanics liens process that liens can generally be recorded even when the lien is improper and ultimately unenforceable. However, there are potential ways to challenge an invalid lien, or have a lien extinguished. Louisiana law states that "[if] a statement of claim or privilege is improperly filed . . . an owner or other interested person may require the person who has filed a statement of the claim or privilege to give a written request for cancellation." If the owner demands the cancellation and a proper request for cancellation is not made within 10 days the lien claimant is liable for damages and attorneys' fees, and the owner has an action against the lien claimant to declare the lien extinguished. Additionally, if the owner wants to remove the lien quickly in order to sell or refinance the property (or just so the property is unencumbered), a property owner may extinguish the lien by filing a bond. The claimant then needs to proceed against the bond rather than the property, and the claim can be challenged and defended against in that proceeding. Finally, the lien is extinguished if the claimant fails to initiate a suit to enforce within 1 year from the lien filing. There is no obligation for the owner to initiate a challenge to the lien, so if s/he is willing to wait it out, the lien may expire on its own and then be able to be extinguished.

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