I am licensed to do Home Improvements in NY, but I have a problem with a client that signed a Home Staging contract with me and did not pay rent on the furniture for over 6 months and his property is about to close sales. We did not sign the standard contract required by the DCA for home improvement, we signed my company's Home Staging Rental Agreement. Can I file a lien to secure my payemnt and the cost of removing the staging furniture from his apartment before it is sold?
The form of the contract would not be determinative, so don't kick yourself for having used the staging contract over the home improvement contract. The operative question is whether you improved the property, which takes more than just having provided rental furniture. An improvement to the property is, more or less, something permanent. Accordingly, you would not be able to file a lien, but you still have a breach of contract claim, should you wish to pursue it.