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Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>Is a partial release of claim available/advised in North Carolina? I have already refused partial payment and returned a check noted "paid in full" for 27% of lien amount.

Is a partial release of claim available/advised in North Carolina? I have already refused partial payment and returned a check noted "paid in full" for 27% of lien amount.

North CarolinaLien DeadlinesMechanics Lien

Customer has a history of contractors he "can't call, won't contact" to fix obvious problems. Alway's said "No, we want you to fix it." After six months of working on his "addition" and being inundated with change orders unrelated to original scope of work, offered to complete current phase of work and terminate relationship. Noted deterioration of communications and duplicity which made the relationship difficult. This triggered a vindictive attitude, complaints about work, obfuscating materials from our vendor, and the partial payment for 27% of due invoices. Rapidly applied pressure to Lien status within and responded to customer complaints with 12 page registered letter describing his unprofessional duplicity and habits of "theft of services."

1 reply

Aug 27, 2018
The North Carolina mechanics lien statutes provide some fairly clear guidance to the ability to amend or modify a lien in any manner.

Unlike some states that allow for a lien to be modified within the time period it could originally be filed, and/or allow a lien to be "decreased" at any time, North Carolina does not. §44-A12(d) states specifically that: "No Amendment of Claim of Lien on Real Property. A claim of lien on real property may not be amended. A claim of lien on real property may be cancelled by a claimant or the claimant’s authorized agent or attorney and a new claim of lien on real property substituted therefor within the time herein provided for original filing."

Accordingly, if there is time prior to the expiration of the original lien-filing deadline, a party may cancel a filed lien and re-file a different, new claim of lien in the event something needs to be changed. However, in the event the time for filing a lien has passed, there appears to be no mechanism contemplated by North Carolina lien law to modify a previously filed lien claim.
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