Hi, I need advice on a scenario. If there is a dispute over the satisfactory of a job done by a subcontractor, how is it resolved? I know a subcontractor who did lawnmowing work for a contractor in Montana. The contractor is several weeks late on paying the subcontractor and is now claiming the job was not done well, as well as claiming subcontractor will owe him money for the cost of a company he hired to fix the job. There was no prior complaint of unsatisfactory work until The late payment was brought up. There are also witnesses, including the clients, to vouch for the quality of the job done. The only person claiming poor quality of the lawn mowing jobs is the contractor himself who is refusing to pay. What do you recommend?...Read More
We are a subcontractor working on a project in Butte, MT for Katerra LLC. They have declared they are finished. Sure you may have read of them in the media. We had not had a Preliminary Act Lien for the project (never even heard of it before). The project was started in September 2020. Can we place one now for going forward in the event they do not pay. They are NOT in arears as of yet. We are expecting payment next week. The branch we deal with said yesterday, they are branching off, rebranding and things are "status quo "so to speak. What legal rights do we have? I have been in touch with John at LevelSet and will have a Zoom call next week. This is a Federal project, Davis Bacon. ...Read More
We provided equipment repair on customer owned equipment and there is a balance due for the charges that the customer is not satisfying. In other states we have the ability to execute a Repairman's Lien but I am not locating any on it in Montana....Read More
One of my employee's performed repairs on a vehicle the person that had us do the job has decided not to pay the bill because I personally did not do the repairs myself and that it's not in her name therefore I can't put a mechanic lien on it . is that true? ...Read More
We are a General Contractor working on building a hotel in Montana. Do our vendor's 2nd/3rd tier subcontractors need to file preliminary notices? ...Read More
I rented a piece of equipment for a project that was covered by a payment bond and need to file on the bond since I have not received payment for over 90 days....Read More
I am a GC working on a project in Missoula, MT. We had a vendor that left our project and we found out they were hiring second tier subcontractors and not paying them or they were paid with bad checks. We are trying to find out if these subcontractors have lien rights. ...Read More
The roofer came to me at the end of the job with extra charges that he made up and never had me sign for. He let water pour into my house twice and sent meth heads to do the work. He would not pay them and I wound up managing the job and finishing it as he would not supply labor or basic materials to finish (screws, metal, etc). He yelled at me at sprayed gravel on me with his truck. Super unprofessional and passive/agressive. He took half of the money in July, started in September, and finished in December after it had snowed on the unfinished roof three times. I paid him in full the agreed upon contract price and informed him in writing that if he cashed the check, the matter would be considered closed. Now he has come back with a letter almost three months later saying he has filed a lien. I have not been served any papers, just a letter stating he has filed a lien. He claims I agreed to his extra charges. I did not and told him so. He is desperate for money as he has tax problems and a reputation for being a crook. Can I tell him to get lost....Read More
I submitted a bid for cleaning that covered just the one time construction clean. The subcontract asked for an additional 5k allowance and we missed it on our estimate. We did the work and negotiated an additional 1k for more cleaning they asked for (at the time didn’t know about the 5k allowance) I submitted our invoice and now they are taking off 4K from our original bid. They said we are tied to the contract we signed but not the estimate we submitted that didn’t include an “additional allowance”. They basically took our price for cleaning and broke it up into base cleaning price and extra 5k allowance. Is this ethical?...Read More
Builder put a lien on my house. There is no explanation of how he got to the figure of $11,000 and on his sworn statement he claimed works began in January when we didnt move in till June.We a Lo tried to negotiate and he ignored us. I think the lien is harsh and illegal?...Read More
We are a Montana company performed work on a BC residence in Canada. Can we file a construction lien on the BC Property. We are not registered in BC...Read More
We have filed a lien on property in Montana. The customer also signed a personal guarantee on his credit application with us. Can we file suit on the personal guarantee even though we have a lien or do we need to release the lien in order to invoke the personal guarantee?...Read More
Hello. I had a contractor file a lien for work was not performed. In addition removed material off my property. I was forced to finalize the remaining work on my own. My question is the theft of materials considered conversion? As well, I have a detailed accounting of materials removed, work performed that contractor did not finish. To date, a lien was filed for $53,000 with no lawsuit. The frivolous lien was filed with a round number but not any invoices or any detailed accounting We have a thorough narrative and proof of work completed. How can someone perfect a lien in Montana without supporting accounting? In addition we are a brand new RV park with lost income due to the contractors dishonesty, and delay in opening.We have made continuous requests-demands for an accounting. Can someone just make up a false lien and file it with no accounting? Any advice would be much appreciated, In addition to a SW Montana attorney that specializes Mechanic Lien law-consruction litigation? Thank you for your time in advance.
Matthew. Kingincda2@gmail.com...Read More