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Shotty contractor wanting to pull mechanics lien, what are our options or outlook?

Wisconsin

We hired a subpar contractor for a project in our new home. We never had a contract signed for the work, there was only a verbal amount stated in both my husband and my presence. He asked for a down payment even before starting the work and then we paid him more at the completion of his work that resulted in a 60% payment, telling him that we would pay the full after an inspection of his work by a permit inspector. He told us he would have the work done in no more than 3 days which ended up taking a month. The work was completed right before a holiday and the inspector for our town of course was off for the holiday the following week. The contractor then came with a different (higher) number that was expected for the service which wasn’t agreed upon. The contractor is now threatening to put a lien on our house…and has also stated that each day not paid he will be adding 75% interest. Can he do this? All we want is to have the work inspected to ensure our house doesn’t burn down.

1 reply

Jan 18, 2022
A prime contractor can file a lien if they timely provide a Preliminary Notice. A PN is timely if it is contained in the written contract or provided within 10 days of starting the work. It sounds like neither of these happened. There are a few exceptions to the PN requirement, but they are unlikely to apply to a small job to your home. The "75% interest" threat does not appear to be credible; I'm unaware of a legal basis to charge something that ridiculous. Feel free to reach out through my website, michaeljohnsonlegal.com, to discuss further.
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