We finished cabinets for a cabinet builder who gave us the wrong address for the work. Can I lien the rental space where he built the cabinets that we finished without pay?
1 reply
Mar 13, 2018
Colorado has the same underlying purpose for the creation of mechanics liens as every other state: to protect those furnishing labor or materials for the improvement of property. The general principle is that if one party provides something to improve the value of another party’s property, the furnishing party should be compensated. If they aren’t compensated, they are protected by the lien rights.
The key here is that the lien is attached to the property that was improved - not any other property. That means that it requires the lien claimant to have improved the value of the property that is to be liened. So, for example, a cabinet maker could lien the property at which the cabinets were installed (or, potentially, even if they weren't installed if the cabinets couldn't be used for another project and were specially fabricated for the project at issue), but couldn't lien the property of the contractor or supplier who ordered the cabinets (if they weren't the property owner where the cabinets were to be installed).
When work was performed and the claimant remains unpaid, a lien right generally exists. The claimant just needs to follow the applicable;e rules and regulations. One of these rules, however, is that the lien must be filed against the proper property - and the proper property is the project property that was improved.