Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>I had a guy that was going to buy my truck. I let him drive it for 2 weeks and has never pay anything on it. The verbal agreement was that he was to pay half of $1200.00 in 2 weeks and then in another 2 weeks he was to pay the rest. I originally asked $1500.00 but he was building a shed for us and so we took off $300.00 for doing the shed. So he sent a message to try and get the title to get it put it in his name. We said we were going to do that until he paid something on it. Now he has threatened to put a construction lien on the shed he never finished. I want to know if he can do that? He said he owns a construction company called Ward's Home Improvements

I had a guy that was going to buy my truck. I let him drive it for 2 weeks and has never pay anything on it. The verbal agreement was that he was to pay half of $1200.00 in 2 weeks and then in another 2 weeks he was to pay the rest. I originally asked $1500.00 but he was building a shed for us and so we took off $300.00 for doing the shed. So he sent a message to try and get the title to get it put it in his name. We said we were going to do that until he paid something on it. Now he has threatened to put a construction lien on the shed he never finished. I want to know if he can do that? He said he owns a construction company called Ward's Home Improvements

I let him drive it for 2 weeks and has never pay anything on it. The verbal agreement was that he was to pay half of $1200.00 in 2 weeks and then in another 2 weeks he was to pay the rest. I originally asked $1500.00 but he was building a shed for us and so we took off $300.00 for doing the shed. So he sent a message to try and get the title to get it put it in his name. We said we were going to do that until he paid something on it. Now he has threatened to put a construction lien on the shed he never finished. I want to know if he can do that? He said he owns a construction company called Ward's Home Improvements

1 reply

Oct 1, 2018

This sounds frustrating. Mechanics liens in Michigan are subject to specific rules and requirements in order to be valid or appropriate. For parties who contract directly with the property owner, a lien must be filed within 90 days from last furnishing labor or material to the project - any lines filed after this date will be unenforceable. Additionally, for residential projects in Michigan (which include appurtenances to the residential property) only licensed residential contractors are allowed to filed mechanics liens. And the penalties for not being licensed when required to be, can be harsh.

Practically speaking the time and effort of filing (and potentially enforcing) a mechanics lien for $300, is likely too high a burden. If a lien is filed, it must be enforced within 1 year of its filing or it expires and becomes unenforceable. enforcing the lien requires a full-fledged lawsuit, which is generally unlikely to be initiated for such a small disputed amount.

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