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Expiring Commercial Liens

Anonymous Contractor

The law firm that filed them required the value of a small home to proceed and said they normally deal with larger projects. This project has already broke us! $168K in reeves county! Aztec Renewable Energy, Inc vs Roddy Harrison. I'm a mentally broken man as this was a double whammy. My son is fighting for his life and I need the money! How did this happen? Roddy ia a 81 year old retired attorney that yells and screams at people like they are shit on the bottom of his shoe. He had a heart attack at the beginning of the project and was unreachable for 4 months after making his down payment. We called and called and called. Finally I spoke to him for the first time after he got out of the hospital and was greeted by a person that perhaps did not mentally survive the event. Despite that, it was yes sir and we drove 7 hours from our home base to complete it remote projects. We finished and he said he was not going to pay us as it took too long! OMG!!!

1 reply

Matt Viator

Construction Lawyer

Levelset Admin at Levelset

| 1,005 reviews

Feb 12, 2020

Mechanics liens are a powerful recovery tool, and most mechanics lien claims result in payment. However, they won't always lead to payment, unfortunately. Sometimes, further action will be necessary. In making sure that a mechanics lien has the best chance of success, though, there are some steps a lien claimant can take to help boost the probability of recovery - and Levelset discusses those here: The 4 Steps to Take After Filing a Mechanics Lien.

Notice of Intent to Foreclose

One of the steps mentioned in that article, and a cheap one at that, is to send a document called a Notice of Intent to Foreclose. A Notice of Intent to Foreclose is a letter that threatens to proceed with a lawsuit. It states that if payment isn't made soon, then the claimant is unafraid to proceed with a lien enforcement suit and potentially the foreclosure of the project property. Plus, since it's more or less an unofficial demand for payment, a lien claimant can pretty easily send the notice themselves or arrange for that to happen. For a look at what that threat might look like, here's a free, downloadable template: Notice of Intent to Foreclose Form.

Proceeding with a lawsuit

As you discussed above in your question, if a customer simply refuses to pay, then proceeding with a lawsuit to enforce the lien and/or to make other legal claims - like breach of contract or a claim under the Texas prompt payment laws - could ultimately force payment. And, while it might be hard to convince a grizzled old attorney that they don't want to litigate the issue, sending a demand letter threatening legal action could potentially move the needle, too. While your current attorneys might be charging an arm and a leg, it's always possible that another attorney or firm might be able to pursue the claim at a lower cost. Or, it might be possible to get some help from a Texas legal assistance organization.

Sending the debt to collections

If filing a lawsuit is just not a viable option, an unpaid contractor may be able to place the debt with a collections agency. While this might be a cheaper option on the front end, using a debt collector would cut into future recovery. Though, that may be better than nothing. More info on debt collection agencies here: Top Collection Agencies for Construction Companies.

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