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How strong is my lien case?

Colorado

I'm an electrician in Colorado working under a handyman title with my own LLC. I worked on a home remodel job with a friend of mine who is starting his own general contracting business. The project was managed overall, by a real estate management company. The "contract" electrical work consisted of 3 items totaling $800. Throughout the project, the homeowner requested many extras(well known to all above me) that were outside the contract scope. Work I performed, at the behest of the owner, my friend, and the project mgr. I have many recorded calls and texts that reflect this. At the end of it all, with not a single hint of poor workmanship, or any complaints at all, I seem to be stuck with a bill for the change order work I've done, totaling $5276.54, that nobody involved is willing to pay. Largely due they say, to the fact that nobody above me in the chain, obtained written authorization from the owner for the work. I've sent a notice of intent to lien, to which the management co responded by promising to work with me on it if I started my own company and signed on as a vendor with them. I've done this, only to be left high and dry. It seems they are either ignoring it now, or more likely, preparing to fight it. I'm at a loss now for what to do. I'm just getting started, so I have no capitol with which to hire a lawyer. Not getting paid this $5k hurt me financially, really bad, given all the delays with empty promises they offered up. My principles won't allow me to simply let them get away with this. The homeowner has extensive knowledge of construction contracts, as her father was some big contractor in new York. She knew the work was extra. I voiced my concerns a month before the project end, about being paid for the extra work, to the PM and was told it would be addressed. How strong is my case? Do I have a chance of winning if they fight? Please advise, and thank you for your attention.

3 replies

Oct 18, 2021
I am sorry for the issues. Did you have a contract have a process regarding change orders? If so, was that followed? That is the first concern. If there was a term as to change orders that you were supposed to follow and did not you have issues. Even if there is a contract term that could apply, you could have a claim for unjust enrichment depending on the facts. If you have no funds for an attorney, consider a service for a lien filing, but understand that a lien filing is far from a guarantee of getting paid. Moreover, the cost to enforce a lien is considerable and this requires a district court lawsuit which is extremely complicated. You may be best filing a small claims suit and trying to collect. The Colorado judicial branch website has excellent instructions, overviews, links and forms. You should also consider going to the small claims clinic. The rules, the handbook, instructions, forms and other resources are all available here https://www.courts.state.co.us/Self_Help/smallclaims/ In addition to the above Colorado resources, Nolo Publishing has an excellent book that provides a plain English discussion of small claims. Here is the site http://www.nolo.com/products/everybodys-guide-to-small-claims-court-NSCC.html. Please note that the foregoing is not a representation that the information is all that one needs for your matter or a warranty on their accuracy. If you cannot afford a full representation, you should contact an attorney and consider having a limited representation. In this representation, the attorney provides specified services and they do not enter as the attorney of record in the case. This is normally less expensive and requires a smaller retainer. Our office and others offer limited representation. This is a brief overview https://bit.ly/3xY5VJS. I hope this helped answer your question and reach out to attorneys for a consultation right away
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Oct 22, 2021
I received a cease and desist letter in my email those morning from an attorney. It was a very threatening letter advising me of all sorts of things. Including a threat to turn me in to the licensing authority for claiming to be and working as a master electrician. I never made that claim to anyone, and the general contractor told me on a recorded call that he had a master on staff for me to work under. I have a great many calls recorded that specifically reference this, and other jobs those property management company has done without the benefit of permits. I've been in construction for 30 yrs, I know what work needs a permit and what doesn't, for all the trades. Having read some of the local laws re performance of work without permits, I feel fairly confident in my ability to return fire, and create a very costly and damaging mess for them. On this particular job for example, they removed a major load bearing wall, as far as I know, with no engineering to back it up, and no city plan review approval. They also, in doing that work had to reroute a fire sprinkler pipe. I checked online at the city's website. The only permits listed in their system for this property, are the original fire sprinkler permits from the build in 2015. Not a single permit was pulled for any work. Electrical, plumbing, framing, drywall, gas piping, floor plan changes, load bearing alterations none! All I want is to be paid for the work I was talked to do. There are no complaints about my work, not one, everybody involved knows how much time I spent fulfilling the requests, out of contact, to finish the project right. Yet, they refuse to pay me and now they are threatening me. I'm an honest man, a damn good electrician, an Army Veteran, and I always stand firm on my principles. The letter basically states, drop my lien or else. Isn't that a form of extortion? Could it be considered that if I respond in kind. It would be better for this lawyer to advise his client to pay me, I've earned it and the damage I can cause would be exponentially worse for them. I'm not sure what their rational is here and I don't care. I'm prepared to take this to it's limits, and I won't be bullied! As I said, I don't want this mess, I'm not looking to damage anyone, butt I've been severely damaged financially over this, and continue to be. I need a speedy resolution to this before things get even worse for me financially. Of coarse, the right thing for me to do with all of this, is to turn them in anyway for the lack of permits (qualified inspection of the work done, for code compliance and public safety being the biggest piece of that) on this and several other jobs. Any guidance you can offer me, would be greatly appreciated! I'm concerned about the timeline here. I'm due to record the lien in 6 days. Thank you very much for your time Sir! Ed
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Oct 22, 2021
Good morning. As to the question about the demand to drop the lien or else, an attorney would have to review the letter to determine if it was extortion or not. I suspect not and this is a pretty standard demand. What matters is what was related to the "or else." As to responding in kind, making this personal or petty does nothing effective. The guidance would be to make your claim, logically and effectively that you are due what you claim. Do not make it petty, personal, or vindictive. The goal is to get a settlement. If that goes nowhere, then file a lien and consider suing in small claims.
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