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Contractors claim of unpaid work he did for previous owner

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We purchased a foreclosed home on Dec 3 and have Trustee sale, in Texas recorded 12/26. On 2/21/2020 a contractor comes home and tells that he has a judgement and put a lien on the house for work he did back in June 2019 for a 15k, which he never get paid for the whole work. We did not see any lien before purchase and we did not see any lien as of now. So is there any action we should take? Can he still put a lien on the house for work done for previous owner? Previous owner moved out of state and cannot be reached according to contractor who paid an attorney 2.5k. The attorney told him the house is still on ex owners name which is not correct either. He briefly showed a judgement on his phone, so that makes us think perhaps there is something going on. On the other hand his claim of 15 k is out of ways as he said he only did painting and carpet, which I know would cost no more than 6k.

1 reply

Feb 24, 2020
You should be able to look up if a judgement was recorded and get a copy of it.  Depending on the name of the person or entity who the contractor got a judgement against will help you determine if a lien can be placed on the home.  Also, to determine if the contractor actually placed a lien on the house you acquired you should pay a title company to do a lien search and you can or should also get title insurance once you determine what liens are out there.  This is something that can protect you in the future as well if you ever decide to resell the property.  If there is not any lien on the home currently you should be OK and it is typically against the law to place an improper lien on a home should the contractor place the lien now that the home is in your name. Lastly, I'd always consult an attorney once you get the title info or even before as they could help you obtain that as well.  A simple title search should cost about $350 for a title company to run for you. Good Luck!
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