I am a homeowner in Denton County Texas We had a water leak under the foundation that cam up and through the foundation into the house in a hallway. We have a 1,900 square foot home and a water mitigation company performed basic demo/remediation of the entire house flooring (tile and floating laminate), all trim removed, and only a hallway with about half of the sheetrock removed on the bottom 2 feet. A water mitigation company has filed a lien against our home because we are protesting paying their bill which was $16k over the $28k insurance already paid. Insurance will not pay any more until they review discrepancies in the bill. The company refuses to engage in reviewing the bill and items we identify as errors, etc. They got my husband to sign a contract that had no $$ amount listed only agree to pay "TBD". I did not sign the contract. I am one of the two homeowners (my husband and I). Is the lien filing legal if i didn't sign the contract? Any recommendations for next steps?
Because the lien has already been filed, the only way to get rid of it is by getting the contractor to remove it or having a judge order it removed. However, if this home has a homestead exemption, then the lien probably isn't valid if you didn't sign the contract. If this is the case, you can allege the lien is invalid and you can move to have a court remove the lien or you can contact the contractor and inform them that their lien is invalid and request that they remove it. However, without more detail, I can't tell you for sure whether the lien is invalid. I recommend contacting an attorney, even if this is your homestead.
If the home does not have a homestead exemption, then you definitely need to call an attorney and explain exactly what happened so that you can determine next steps. If the contractor chooses to foreclose on the lien, and there is no homestead exemption, there is a possibility that the court could order a forced sale of the home in order to satisfy the outstanding balance.
Additionally, you mentioned that there were errors in the work. I would thoroughly document those errors and take pictures. That documentation may come in handy down the line.
If you need help with this, you can call us at Murphy Legal. We have an office in Dallas and have handled all types of construction cases. Our phone number is (979) 690-0800.
Good luck to you. I know this is not a fun situation to be put in and I hope you get it all worked out.