There is a building owner, a tenant and us (the GC). The building owner leased a space to the tenant, we built out the space for the tenant. The tenant did not pay. We asked Levelset to file the lien for us and they did. They filed a Constitutional Mechanics Lien, listing the property owner and the tenant. I am being told we cant lien the whole building since we did not have a contract with the owner but this is how they filed the lien. I have contacted Levelset about this and am getting nowhere. I have an attorney and he told me to contact them since they are the one who filed it. They are telling me to contact someone on this "Free Service" that can take up to 2-3 days for someone to get back to me. I don't really have 2-3 days as the property owner is trying to sell the building and has called contacted his lawyer to tell me to remove the invalid lien. I am at a loss as to what to do so trying to get someone to engage with me here I guess....
What a mess. We may need to get more facts and an
opportunity to review the documents and timing of everything. From what you are
describing, it does sound like a constitutional lien without a contract with
the owner directly is not the way to go. However, it may have been the only, or
the more viable option depending on the timing. Don’t despair. Remember that
filing lien notices is a way to perfect a lien, but the lien arises from a
legal right you already have to get paid, independent of whether you perfect it
or not. You are still entitled to recovery (based on what you say) if the owner
would be unjustly enriched by keeping the benefit of the bargain without paying
for it. Obviously time is of the essence here. Thread delicately though.
You don’t want to put yourself in jeopardy by doing anything that would
tortiously interfere with a sale. But you want to make sure you put everyone on
notice of the issue. Depending on facts, other things, such as the filing of a
lis pendens, may be legal options to consider.
Good luck.