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What are my options when a lien is filed but I already paid my portion.

I have a property where I’ve already paid the plumber for what’s completed but the plumber hasn’t paid the supplier for materials and delivery. Now I received a letter that a lien has been filed on my property by the supplier. What are my options? How can I get the plumber to pay off his supplier without taking him to court?

2 replies

Jun 22, 2020

To avoid this issue in the future, I would suggest requiring joint check agreements with your subcontractors and sub-subcontractors so you can make sure everybody down the chain is paid adequately. First, depending on how much the lien is for, it may be worth investigating whether the sub-sbucontractor satisfied all notice requirements prior to filing the lien. Failure in providing notice invalidates the lien, but you would need to go to court to get a judge to remove the lien on that basis. You would need to retain an attorney for this analysis. Alternatively, if having the lien removed is top priority, as it often is, you could utilize a bond-around bond that would substitute a private bond for the lien on the real property. This protects the owner and keeps the owner happy. Finally, in answer to your question, if your subcontractor continues to refuse to make the payment, your choices are to re-issue payment directly to the sub-subcontractor in return for an assignment of that contractor's rights as against the subcontractor or simply demand that your subcontractor issue payment and see what that contractor chooses to do. It is possible that if the process drags on for too long, the GC could be brought into the lawsuit along with the owner, and non-paying subcontractor, which is a situation that is best avoided. Feel free to reach me directly if you would like to discuss these issues in greater detail. Very best, Ben House 281-762-1377 ben@houseperron.com

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Jun 23, 2020

Thank you very much for taking the time to reply. The subcontractor (plumber) is willing to do additional work for the payment to go towards supplier but it won’t be enough to cover the entire bill. He has originally sent me a lien waiver but under the wrong address. It’s been a headache dealing with this.

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