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Which lien should I record to resolve a dispute for unfinished work in Colorado?

Good morning, I have a neighbor who has his house under contract and I need some help in choosing the right lien to record for some work he has told me he would do but has not. One of his trees has for a few years now has encroached on our property with roof damage to our house. I have trimmed that tree several times myself just to protect our house, and my neighbor seems it's my responsibility to trim that tree. I am going to file a lien in hopes he will live up to his promise. Any help would be most helpful. Thank you, Robert Marshman

1 reply

Jun 28, 2019

That's an interesting question, and I'm sorry to hear about your neighbor trouble here. However, I'm not sure that the situation described above would be appropriate for a mechanics lien. Mechanics liens are available for those who provide authorized work that permanently improves real property, but go unpaid for their work. When work isn't authorized, when the improvement isn't permanent, and when there's no expectation of payment for work performed, typically, lien rights do not arise.

As for whether some other type of lien might be available - I'm not aware of some other security interest that'd be appropriate for maintaining a neighbor's property without their authorization. Though, it's certainly possible that something could be done to ensure that the property is either maintained or that future maintenance would be paid for.

While our expertise at the Ask an Expert Center lies in construction law and construction payment (including mechanics liens), there are some other resources available online that might be more helpful. Specifically, both Avvo.com and JustAnswer.com have lawyers available to answer questions on a broad variety of subjects beyond construction. And, it might be possible to find someone with a little more expertise in the subject area to provide some insight on potential paths forward.

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