O contract your services for mechanic lien

Hello,

If the customer owes you $18,850, you should file your mechanic's lien if you have signatures for both parties (if it is a homestead). You want to have your dates evaluated, first, to make sure you are still in compliance.

E. Aaron Cartwright III
214.799.0776
Aaron@EACLawyer.com

If the property is the owner's homestead (meaning that the owner owns the property and lives there) then your contract with the owner would have to satisfy the requirements of Texas Property Code sections 53.254, et seq., which requires specified homestead lien warnings, signing by husband and wife, and recordation in the county property records. 

You really should retain a construction attorney to review and evaluate your legal position based on the contract and pertinent documents. The right to be entitled to file a mechanic's lien is set out in Texas Property Code Chapter 53, and you really need to make sure that if you file a lien, you have properly and appropriately done so.

Filing an invalid lien could subject you to liability under the Texas Fraudulent Lien Act, and you could be liable for statutory damages of $10,000, or actual damages, whichever is greater, plus attorney's fees. Facing such a claim would add insult to injury.

Good luck.

Ask Levelset. Or retain a construction attorney to evaluate your legal situation and rights, and to provide advice. Good luck.

Hello,

Your lien forces the opposing party to the negotiating table. It forces them to either
1. Sue you to have it removed, at which point you will be talking to a real person about resolution of the matter and you will have the opportunity to countersue for the full amount of your unpaid balance.
2. 100% of construction cases in Texas are forced into mediation. If they sue you, before they get to the $10,000 judgment for a deliberately invalid lien, they have to go to mediation which forces them to negotiate with you.

E. Aaron Cartwright III
214.799.0776
Aaron@EACLawyer.com