Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>mechanic's lein

mechanic's lein

I am on the other side of this possible lien situation. I had a non licensed contractor/repair company that was working from a punch list that I sent to him in June. Well, he seemed to find one problem after another to keep him busy without completing the things orig asked. My problem is that I have a home at Myrtle Beach and he was working on my home near Charlotte, NC. After tiring of sending him money without completion, I fired him and went to Charlotte only to find uncompleted work, shoddy work and work not even started. After sending him accumulated over 36,000, I said "No More" after spending days in Charlotte fixing and doing what he did not do. In his note to me responding to my email of problem after problem, "we have a warranty and will return to repair problems" A warranty was never talked about or listed on any correspondence or bills. I do not want him back on my property. He says he will enter mechanic's lien for 2,500 unpaid final bill..... help me - tired of getting ripped off !!!!!!!

1 reply

Apr 20, 2020

Mechanics lien claims will generally only be available for amounts owed and unpaid for authorized work. So, if the work was performed and if you authorized the contractor to perform that work - then those amounts would be subject to lien. However, if you did not approve the work or if the contractor actually performed the work against your wishes, then valid lien claims for those amounts wouldn't be on the table. However, keep in mind that the mere fact that there's a dispute over what's owed or a dispute over workmanship won't automatically invalidate a lien claim. So, ultimately, it'll likely come down to whether the specific work being liened was specifically approved or undertaken without that approval. Note also that even if the work wasn't approved and if the lien wasn't valid - that claimant might actually have the lien filed in the property record. Though, the law protects owners from invalid and fraudulent lien claims - so an owner facing an improper lien can still challenge that claim and could even be able to recover damages if the lien claimant was out of line. If your contractor is threatening an unfounded mechanics lien claim, a good step is to consult with a local North Carolina construction attorney. They'd be able to review your circumstances and all of the billing documents obtained to date and sort out what claims might be viable vs. what's improper. Plus, they'll also have the most information on hand to dispute the claim. And, owners regularly fend off mechanics lien claims by threatening to file a lawsuit against the claimant over the lien filing. Finally, here's an article that should be useful: I Just Received a Notice of Intent to Lien – What Should I Do Now?

0 people found this helpful

Helpful