Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>We need to file an intent to lien - we had a contract to do some work, but upon completion they asked us to do work by the hour and we did so. Our last day to work was Aug 14 - does the hourly work change the validity of the lien?

We need to file an intent to lien - we had a contract to do some work, but upon completion they asked us to do work by the hour and we did so. Our last day to work was Aug 14 - does the hourly work change the validity of the lien?

Colorado

We renovate hotels- worked on 3 hotels for same GC in Colorado. some work was under contract, and some by the hour. We were paid the contract money and some by the hour, but as the job finished they still owe us money on each job. 2 of the hotels was Aug 17th and one was Aug 14 as the last day to work on the job. Do we have lien rights working by the hour?

1 reply

Nov 8, 2018

That's a good question. First, it's worth noting that work performed on an hourly basis will still give rise to lien rights, all things being equal. Of course, it may be important to determine whether the work performed on an hourly basis formed an alteration or amendment to the original agreement for work, or if it constituted an entirely new contract. Some things that could be helpful in determining that might be whether the type of work being performed was in-line with the work being performed previously and whether the parties intended to extend their agreement or to create an entirely new one. This could be important because, under CRS § 38-22-101(3) , "All such contracts shall be in writing when the amount to be paid thereunder exceeds five hundred dollars..." Thus, if work is being performed under a separate agreement, but that separate agreement isn't put to writing, a claimant's lien rights could be in question. However, if continued work merely works to extend or alter an existing written contract, conceivably, lien rights might be unaffected by the fact that additional work was not put to writing (though it's always best practice to put change orders in writing). It's also worth mentioning that if work was performed on completely separate property, it may be necessary to file more than one claim (and thus, more than one Notice of Intent to Lien might be necessary). Of course, sending a Notice of Intent to Lien is often effective to compel payment without ever having to file a mechanics lien, so the ultimate validity of any potential claim could be a moot point. Further, considering most mechanics lien claims a resolved without the need for legal action, even if it does come down to a lien filing, it's unlikely that the filed lien would come under scrutiny of the courts. Plus, at that point, it'd still be an open question as to whether a filed lien was valid or not.

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