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Florida State strictly require that the lien claimant formally release the lien after payment has been received

Anonymous Contractor

I hired a contractor to install 9 interior doors to my home, but the doors arrived small, with wrong size, I disputed the payment with my credit card. That happened 2 months ago. Now the company file a lien against my home. I already paid in full to this contractor, but they only installed 3 doors.. I have been without doors for 3 1/2 months! they already received their payment and I don't have my job finished in full yet!!! what can I do to protect my home and money?

1 reply

Matt Viator

Construction Lawyer

Levelset Admin at Levelset

| 999 reviews

Jan 16, 2018

I'm sorry to hear about your situation. In the short term, to protect their property, an owner may bond off a mechanics lien. By doing so, an owner may submit a surety bond to stand in place of the mechanics lien and, if the lien is ultimately successful, recovery will come against the bond instead of the real estate against which the lien was filed. Of course, this will require an owner to pay to acquire the bond - but the property would be taken out of the equation. Ultimately, challenging the lien as fraudulent will be an option if the contractor has improperly filed a mechanics lien. In Florida, when a lienor who willfully exaggerated the amount of a lien claim or willfully included a claim for work not performed has likely filed a fraudulent lien. Having a lien declared fraudulent would result in the removal of the lien and could potentially result in the recovery of damages against the fraudulent lienor. However, in deciding how to move forward, it would be advisable to obtain legal counsel.

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