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I think I need to file a mechanics lien in Georgia. What course of action should I take?

This is the scenario: There is our company that installs racks. There is our CLIENT-A that also installs racks but hired us to do it. There is his client that hired him to install the racks. We worked. Our job was completed over 2 weeks ago. Our client doesn't want to pay. He won't answer e-mails, phone calls or text messages from our recruiters or admins. Sometimes he answers and if he hears our voice he hangs up. I have another client - we will call it CLIENT-B, they recommended CLIENT-A to us but at some point they had a similar issue, and they also had to file a lien on them too. They recommended this page to me because the way she explained it was that the lien went on his client which is a big deal because he does not want to get in trouble with his own clients. What are our options?

1 reply

Apr 27, 2018

I'm sorry to hear about that. While I'm not entirely sure I follow the above situation, some general information about mechanics liens and available options for recovery should be helpful. A mechanics lien filing secures a claimant's right to recovery by creating an interest in the underlying property. Thus, regardless of who failed to make payment, a mechanics lien will attach to the underlying project property - who ultimately makes the payment that was secured by the mechanics lien can vary. It may be the property owner, or it may be the party who failed to make payment in the first place. However, there are other available options for recovery, too. First, sending a Notice of Intent to Lien can really help get the wheels turning when payments are overdue. Sending such a notice to the property owner as well as a client (and anyone else up the payment chain) will inform them that payment issues are present on the project, and that if the issues are not resolved, a lien claim will be filed. Another option may be to send a payment demand to a client, property owner, or some other up the chain party. Like a Notice of Intent to Lien, a demand letter that threatens legal action can help speed up the payment process by showing that a claimant won't stand for nonpayment. When done through an attorney, such a demand might carry more weight. Finally, if other attempts at recovery are not fruitful, and if for some reason a lien claim is not an available option (or a desirable one), filing a lawsuit or taking a client to small claims court could be options for recovery. Admittedly, they both carry a lot of risk, and traditional litigation can be quite expensive.

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