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Mechanic's Lien Threat from Contractor

I am a duplex owner in Cleveland. My contractor performed work without obtaining permits to do that work. We paid him 1/2 of the funds already, but don't want to pay the remainder until the city has inspected the work. Now the contractor is threatening to file a mechanic's lien. Do we have to pay him now, if there has been no inspection AND he never obtained the required permits?

1 reply

Mar 16, 2020

Is the project in California? If not, you should change the state to Ohio. You're going to need to review your contract carefully to see what it says about payment and about who was supposed to pull the permits. In California a contractor is not permitted to do work without a permit first being in place. It could be that some of the work doesn't require an inspection although that should be checked with the Building Department. Make sure you put your concerns in writing to the contractor to leave a good paper trail.

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