Should I File a Notice to Owner?
FloridaI have a handyman company in Florida and contracted to remodel his personal home that was recently purchased. The individual portrayed himself as the owner and also a contractor of luxury homes. He hired us because he had other projects he was busy with and wanted his company personnel working on. There was an original scope agreement and then a scope change both . This is a $31k job, we collected a $10k deposit, and agreed to a $10k milestone payment on Aug 23rd. On Aug 25th, for no reason, he my worker off the job. We consequently filed a lien for the entire amount for breach. When we filed the lien, another individual appeared as the owner, not our perceived customer. On Oct 25, he received the lien notice and proceeded to rant about how he was going to sue us. We thought we were a Prime Contractor, now we appear to be a sub-contractor. Should we file a Notice to Owner? What a mess....
4 replies
If you are still within 45 days of the start of the project, then yes, you should send a notice to owner to be safe. You then also probably need to re-record your construction lien.
If you are outside the 45 days, then you probably should consult with an attorney, because the lien may be valid, even if you weren't working with the owner.
Finally, always, check the property appraisers records when contracting for a job to make sure who you are dealing with . You can also include langauge in your contract that has the signer representing they are the owner, or an agent of the owner.
attorney-client relationship. Neither comments left on this website nor emails sent from this website are privileged or confidential. Do not take actiSee More...
I concur with Attorney Lambert, but would add the step of checking the official records for the notarized Notice of Commencement. This should allow you to ascertain not only the identity of the owners but any others that should be potentially receiving applicable notices, such as a prime contractor, lender, or surety.
Thanks to both your comments. Since outside the 45 days, I'll need to consult an attorney as suggested.
If you find yourself in a dispute with the property owner or land
manager, you have options. You can contact the appropriate authorities,
file a complaint with the federal government, or take other legal
action. [URL=https://drift-hunters.com/][color=#FFFFFF][size=1]drift hunters[/size][/color][/URL] [URL=https://5letterwords.io/][color=#FFFFFF][size=1]5 letter words[/size][/color][/URL]