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What should I do next?

Good afternoon, We are a general contracting company in Texas and did some plumbing service calls on an apartment complex with multiple individual owners. Each unit is owned by a certain individual. They are run by a board of directors, and that board has a management company they have hired. They have not paid for some services dating back to January 2019. I was going to send an NOI to each owner unit we have done services on. The owners don't know about what's going on, as they believe their money is being used for the good of the property and paying the bills. So if tey get an NOI, they'll be surprised. The thing is, it's been well over 4 months to file a lien. I'm not sure there's anything I can do.

2 replies

Jul 6, 2020

I cannot tell from your description if you contracted directly with the tenants of the individual apartments/condominium owners or with an association representing the owners. If you contracted directly with owners of real property (even a condo) you have a constitutional lien which does not require that notices be sent or that an actual lien affidavit be filed (although a lien affidavit is commonly filed anyway for practical purposes). Now, in dealing with contracts concerning residences, there are additional requirements which your contract was required to contain that allow you to lien a homestead, but those are quite detailed so I'm going to leave out that discussion for now. If you instead contracted with an owner's association, your claim is very similar, if more straightforward. Alternatively, if you contracted with tenants of leased spaces, I can't tell you where you stand regarding a lien, even in very general terms, without knowing several more facts. In addition to lien rights, there are other legal claims you can bring which are entirely separate from a lien which may also serve to get you paid. Most critically, you can typically also recover the attorney's fees spent in attempting to get paid for this work. This is a complicated situation, so your best bet is to reach out to an attorney and come up with a game plan. You are welcome to reach me directly if you would like to discuss this matter further. Very best, Ben House 281-762-1377 ben@houseperron.com

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Jul 8, 2020

Hello, I would recommend sending a notice of intent to lien to the owners and the company that hired you. I would also add a general demand for payment to the letter. I would need to do some research on the particular property to know if you have lien rights or not, but either way, it would still cost all of the owners' money if you sued their management company for non-payment of your invoices. Feel free to reach out directly if you have further questions. Karalynn Cromeens Managing Partner 8431 Katy Freeway Houston, TX 77024 Tel: (713) 715-7334 www.TheCromeensLawFirm.com Privileged Attorney-Client Communication and/or Attorney Work Product: The above message and attachments, if any, are confidential and may be protected by the attorney/client privilege and/or attorney work product. The unauthorized disclosure, use, dissemination or copying of this e-mail, or any information it contains, by anyone other than the intended recipient, is prohibited. If you are not the named recipient, or have otherwise received this communication in error, delete it immediately and notify the sender at the office number listed above or by return email.

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