Menu
Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>Can I file a mechanic's lien?

Can I file a mechanic's lien?

ArizonaMechanics LienNotice of Intent to Lien

We were doing a "lease to own" with the "to own" part agreement in a handshake (we have learned our lesson there). Now the owner wants to sell the home for almost three times what we had agreed to 10 years ago. We have no problem moving, but if we had known we were not going to own, we never would have put in the landscaping. We have asked him to compensate for the 35 trees that are 10 years old, some 30' tall, Over 3000' of irrigation and electrical in the ground, 140' of black wall 4' high, shrubs, firepit, paver paths, sidewalks etc. I would like to put a lien on the property. We have tried to talk to him, he will only text and ignores our requests. Short of cutting down the trees and taking our firewood, I thought a lien might be the better way to go. Do I need to do a 20 day prelim?

1 reply

Feb 13, 2021
You do not have lien rights. First, you would have to be a licensed contractor. Second, a preliminary 20-day notice only secures the value of work performed 20 days before the notice was sent. No preliminary 20-day notice, no lien rights. So unless these improvements were made in the last 20 days, you don't have lien rights. You may very well have a claim for unjust enrichment or promissory estoppel, which are claims that are allowed as essentially substitutes when there is not a binding contract in place. And you do not have a binding contract in place for a number of reasons. The question you need to ask yourself is how much do you believe you are owed and is it worth paying a lawyer to litigate a lawsuit for you. Lawsuits are expensive so unless you believe you are owed a lot of money it is probably best to chalk this up as a loss and lesson learned. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
0 people found this helpful
Helpful