Hi, I am a homeowner who recently hired an electrician company to complete a job. The job was accepted as a bid job in the amount of $805 dollars to install 2 chandelier (big @$450 and small @$150) and mount a tv(@$175) in my home. In which, this was all put into a written contract. However, instead of simply installing the chandelier, the electric decided that he wanted to install it by a wrench method. He told my husband and I that would be easiest because we would be able to lower it for cleaning purposes and it would save them on not having to rent a scaffold. Ultimately, they came and worked a partial day. In which, the only thing that was done was them installing the wrench. After which, they never returned to do the job. We contacted them about 5 times complete the job and they had various reasons as to why they could not return. ( 1st: A tree fell on their home, 2nd: they were spending time with family, 3rd: they had to get permission from their wives, who said they could not come that day) 4th: they had a funeral to attend, 5th: we not going to work on weekends anymore) Almost a month had passed with nothing done other than the wrench. Finally, the store where we bought the chandeliers sent their installers to take care of it and we ultimately paid them to hang both of them. Additionally, they did not used the wrench to install chandeliers, they used the scaffold. One day after, the electrical company called to complete the job. My husband informed them that they had essentially abandoned the job since it had been a month that had passed. Now, they are demanding payment of $557.00 for their one day of labor of installing the wrench(at $400) and a tv mount ($75.00) that was bought for the tv. They did not complete anything on the contract that they were supposed to do. They now have threatened to place a mechanic lien on our home. Can they do that? We offered to pay them something for the wrench, which was not apart of the contract, and returned the mount but they do not want to negotiate. Additionally, they changed the agreement from a flat bid job to a hourly rate of $90.00 an hour. At this point, we feel we are trying to be bullied in to paying for services not rendered. What can we do in this situation ?
I am sorry to hear about the issues you have been having. Let's dissect your question:
In regards to when mechanics lien rights are available in Louisiana, a mechanics lien can be filed by unpaid parties who furnished labor or materials on a private (residential or commercial) construction project. The lien provides the party which filed it a security interest in the improved property. If the filing party remains unpaid, they can enforce a foreclosure action on the property and receive payment from the proceeds of the sale of the property. In addition, typically anyone who provides labor or materials to property improvements can file a mechanics lien if they are not paid. You might be interested in learning about lien rights when the workmanship is in dispute. Typically, invalidating a lien filing by claiming the workmanship was not completed or sub-par will not result in a verdict in your favor at the hearing determining the validity of the actual filing of the mechanics lien, but will result in a need for a separate trial over the workmanship dispute.
However, Levelset has provided a post that details how to fight an invalid lien filed on your property if the contractor in your case decides to proceed with one. If an improper lien is filed on your property you can pursue some of the most common options including:
1. immediately dispute the lien
2. Force the claimant to file suit to enforce the lien in a shorter period
3. Just wait it out
I hope that helps!