I have filed a mechanics lien against a contractor and the home owner. I have now received a counter sue claim that I must address in court 6/1. I am looking to find out the best way to present the evidence that I have indicating that the general contractor agreed to my services verbally and partially paid one invoice which I believe would be 'consideration' to verify we had a deal. The general contractor is saying we only verbally agreed on $3,500 when in reality I suggested it might be that amount but it would depend on how much work the project needed the I would send him the total price. I never agreed to $3,500. The counter sue is now asking for the lien to be removed and for me to pay his lawyer bills associated with this case. I would like to counter his claim and sue him for the total that is owed to me for two jobs along with the legal fees needed to counter his lawsuit. Please advise and thank you.
Also can I have them pay the associated legal fees I incur for this process? Thanks for everyone's thoughts.
Did you only file the lien or did you also file a Complaint? If you filed a Complaint first, then you will be filing a Reply to his Counterclaim. If he was the first to file a Complaint, then you file a Counterclaim alleging you filed a lien (you would have to do this to keep the lien going anyway), also allege the facts and why he owes you money.
Make sure to demand legal fees but to be liable for legal fees, there must be an agreement in writing or it must be created by statute. I don’t know of any basis yet for either of you to get legal fees.