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how to sue second homeowner that did not sign a contract with business?

We are a general contractor and we filed a lien on the property through zlien and the property has 2 homeowners on title. We took both homeowners to small claims and we won the judgment. The judge took one of the homeowners off the case reason being that he didn't sign a contract with us for the remodel. Now the homeowner that did sign is still unwilling to pay. How can we go after the second homeowner due to him being on the Property title.

1 reply

Nov 29, 2018

That's interesting. First, regarding enforcing a judgment in small claims court, there are a number of ways to help collect on a judgment won in small claims court. In fact, the California Courts have great resources on the subject: (1) Tips for Collecting Your Judgment; (2) Collecting From the Debtor's Property; and (3) More Ways to Collect. Further, a judgment lien could an option, too. Considering this was a small claims court action, I'm assuming that the filed mechanics lien remains in place? By using the mechanics lien to force recovery, both properties can be hit where it hurts - their property. While a mechanics lien is often enough to force payment by itself - sometimes, an owner may need more coercion. Sending a document like a Notice of Intent to Foreclose can help. A Notice of Intent to Foreclose informs property owners that if the lien filed on their property isn't paid and paid soon, that lien will be foreclosed upon and they could lose their property. Nobody likes liens, but everyone really hates lawsuits - so the owners may be more inclined to listen when a lawsuit threatening their property title is on the horizon. Of course, if a Notice of Intent to Foreclose doesn't do the trick - recovering with a mechanics lien may require enforcing the lien.

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