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How to contest a potential lien.

My daughter contracted to have her kitchen repaired after a water leak. The contractor gave her a lump sum estimate for the entire project. Which they agreed upon. During the project my daughter did some work and purchased some materials on her own to help reduce the cost. The contractor is demanding the full amount of the original contract. My daughter has asked for a itemized billing. He says he doesn’t have one. She has received a letter from the contractors attorney demanding for payment. Threatening a mechanics lien. What should she do?

1 reply

Feb 6, 2020

Ohio mechanics lien claims can secure amounts that are owed but unpaid on construction jobs in the state. But, a lien claim is generally limited to the value of work that's actually done - and, if an amount doesn't tie to the cost of work or material provided, then that amount usually shouldn't be included in the lien claim. At the same time, it's totally understandable that a contractor would react negatively to an owner attempting to unilaterally reduce the scope of work and contract price. A contract is a contract, and unless it's allowed under the contract, or unless the parties have agreed to it, then an owner generally shouldn't attempt to alter the agreement without the input of the contractor. As an olive branch and attempt at resolving the dispute, it might be helpful to negotiate partial payment or to pay the contractor's profit margin that would've been obtained under the original agreement for work. After all, it doesn't make sense to pay a contractor full price for materials that the contractor didn't even pay for themselves. But, if they were supposed to make some profit on top of that (which is extremely likely), the contractor should likely be paid what they're owed.

Fending off an Ohio mechanics lien

It's hard to block a mechanics lien before it's even been filed. Procedurally, the Ohio mechanics lien statute doesn't really provide a great way for owners to do that - and for good reason. Mechanics lien rights were created with construction businesses in mind, and they should only be used in situations where payment is truly owed but has not been paid. But, if the owner feels that a prospective lien claim is improper or even fraudulent, then sending a demand letter requiring the claimant to refrain from filing a lien might be effective. And sending a letter, via attorney, which includes specific legal arguments and threatens claims could help to have a lien claimant refrain from filing their lien. Of course, once a lien is filed, an owner will have a number of potential options for fighting a lien claim - like challenging the lien, bonding it off, etc.

Additional resources

In addition to the above, these resources should be valuable here, too: - I Just Received a Notice of Intent to Lien – What Should I Do Now? - A Mechanics Lien Was Filed on My Property – What Do I Do Now? - Ohio Mechanics Lien Guide and FAQs

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