Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>I did some work on a store in Seymour Indiana with a company out of Pennsylvania did not receive any monies and put a lien on the place then was informed that this company at a lien holder and took the lien off what is my next step of action

I did some work on a store in Seymour Indiana with a company out of Pennsylvania did not receive any monies and put a lien on the place then was informed that this company at a lien holder and took the lien off what is my next step of action

I am a painting contractor I've been painting all the Harbor Freight stores from Kentucky to California I hooked up with some company called Marco out of Pennsylvania one time they did not pay me for a job I did I put a lien on them on the store and they had it removed what is my next step of action and is it too late

1 reply

Aug 23, 2018

The path forward for a lien claimant can depend on how or why a lien was removed. Liens may be "bonded off" the property - but that is not a bad thing for the lien claimant.

A mechanics lien law does not grant privilege against the property because it wants to tie up the property and cause problems for the owner. That is simply the effect of a law that wants to get construction participants paid. Accordingly, lien laws allow for a property owner or prime contractor to substitute a qualified bond to take the place of the property. That way, the lien claim is still secured, but it's secured by a figurative pile of money rather than by the property itself.

In that case, the lien claimant could proceed with an action to enforce in order to recover the payment due. In Indiana, an action to enforce must be initiated within one year of the date on which the lien was filed. (Note, however, this assumes that all notice, timing, form, service, and other requirements related to mechanics liens and notices were met).

If the lien was removed because of some defect with the lien or claim itself, an enforcement action would not be applicable. In that case, it possible that the amount due could be recovered through a breach of contract (or other) lawsuit. This could be filed in "regular" court, or, depending on the amount due it may be filed in small claims court.

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