we have a sister company that provided material on a job im preparing to lien. is it possible to file as one joint entity and one amount?
1 reply
Oct 10, 2019
When work is done by separate companies and under separate contracts, the safest way to proceed with a mechanics lien claim would certainly be to proceed with separate claims by each company/for each contract. After all, the right to lien would arise separately when two separate scopes of work were undertaken.
Further, I'm not aware of the Texas Property Code having any provisions regarding the ability to file one lien for multiple contracts. And, because mechanics liens are a statutory right for subcontractors, it'd be wise to be wary of straying too far from what's specifically allowed under the statute.
Note, of course, that mechanics lien claimants could certainly operate in lockstep when trying to recover via their respective mechanics lien claims, and that if enforcing the liens became required, that would quite likely be done via both claimants joined under the same enforcement suit. Note also that there may be potential for assigning a filed lien claim - so, two claimants could potentially assign their lien claims to their parent company to make it easier to collect, if they'd like.
For more on Texas lien rights: Texas Mechanics Lien Guide and FAQs.