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The landlord is restricting me from entering a property. Will a mechanics lien help me?

OhioRight to Lien
Anonymous Contractor

Bought a 295,000 Square foot pick unit from a liquidation company handling Bonton's assets. Had this pick unit nearly taken apart after 3 weeks, we were asked to stop because a potential tenant was interested in leaseing the 1 million square foot building and wanted to buy the racks also, This deal did not go through. Now landlord of the building will not allow me entry to remove my property without enormous insurance policy, and signing of lien rights. Can I place a lien on the property?

1 reply

Levelset Admin at Levelset
| 1,005 reviews
Aug 6, 2018
That's an interesting situation, and taking a deeper look at the purpose and requirements of the Ohio mechanics lien statute should provide some clarity. First, as a general matter, mechanics liens are utilized by those in the construction industry to secure amounts that are owed and unpaid. For example, if a contractor has been hired to replace a roof and later the owner fails to make that payment - the contractor can file a mechanics lien to secure the amount that was unpaid. Now, the specific requirements of who can file and for what type of work will vary by state. In Ohio, a party who performs work, performs labor, or furnishes material will have the right to file a lien to secure the payment they are owed in conjunction with that work, labor, or material. It's important to note here that lien rights may arise as a result of removing property from an improvement pursuant to a contract with an owner, part owner, lessee, or some other party under contract with the owner, part owner, or lessee. However, as noted above, mechanics liens are appropriate to secure payments owed - thus, if someone is being paid to "improve" property via the removal of something from that property, a mechanics lien might be filed to secure that payment. However, in the event that a party has purchased something to be removed (as opposed to a party who was hired to remove something) from a property, a mechanics lien could not secure payment owed because no payment is owed for said removal. Granted, there may be an argument that the property has been improved without the agreed upon compensation (i.e. the equipment purchased), but that would certainly serve as a shaky basis for a mechanics lien claim and manipulating mechanics lien laws is typically not a very good idea. Of course, threatening to file a mechanics lien could potentially be effective to move a dispute forward - and where a party as asked for a lien waiver, that party quite likely believes that a lien filing is a possibility. As for whether a party should be hesitant to sign a lien waiver when they do not seem to have lien rights - if no payment is owed to the claimant, it would seem that signing a lien waiver would not be that dangerous of an endeavor. Of course, reaching out to a local real estate or business attorney and more-fully explaining the details of this situation (and providing relevant communications and documentation) could go a long way to clarifying your rights in the above situation, and they'll be able to provide advise on how to move forward - including whether or not a mechanics lien (or a lien waiver) would be appropriate.
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