1. Do not release any utilities in the contractors name until payment in full
2. Do not release any Elevation Certificates or Affidavits
3. File a lien for the full amount of the contract before work began.
4. Complete a Certificate of Substantial Completion after all your work is 100% complete.
5. File a Force Foreclosure lawsuit....Read More
I was currently hired by a General Contractor as a project estimator, roofing sales person and project manager. At the time of being hired, the GC offered me a 12% commission on all work jobs sold and contracts signed and a "daily rate" of about $200 for any work done on the production side of things, i.e. meeting subcontracted laborers at work site at beginning of job, collecting payment, putting out fires, etc. Since starting at the beginning of December, I've done about $350,000 worth of revenue, and really like my job. I was trained for 2-3 weeks on my GC's method of work from interacting with customers, writing estimates, pitching jobs, and performing inspections and I also signed a non-compete contract to not work with any other companies and the week I started two other estimators were fired for advertising their services on their personal facebook pages without giving proper significance to the GC's company. (Since starting, all of the jobs I've sold on behalf of the GC's company, all of his subcontractors and employees are 1099'd) When researching his GC license, the is status is set as "in bad standing for unpaid fees" and he is listed as a managing member for the license but it is for an individual that has not worked with company for years.
Now that you have some context:
Do I have any legal exposure for signing contracts and running jobs with with potential customers as an independent contractor for my company if I am unlicensed myself?
Can the owner of my company legally not pay me unless he is paid when he is forcing me not to work with any other contractors, remain "on call" from 7am-7pm 6 days a week?
Recently, I have been having trouble getting our subcontracted laborers finish some work at a property, I have already worked at this property for a total of 45 hours and have yet to be paid for it, I believe the sub has been absent and ignoring my calls because he has been yet to be paid as well. The homeowner is dissatisfied with some of the work quality and wants additional work and repairs done at no charge, putting me in the middle of situation, unpaid without any leverage to collect.
I feel like our working relationship indicative of one as a traditional employee rather than an independent contractor so if anyone could give me clarification on that it would be great as well. I was told by a friend in the industry that he believes any contract I sign on the companies behalf as an unlicensed agent or representative is legally null and void or that I can technically be sued for not having insurance or a license when our contracts are reflect that I, the signing party am a GC with the state, rather than the GC who owns the company.
Please let me know what my options are to get paid, if my status as an employee is misclassified, if I have any legal exposure for signing these contracts, if the contracts I sign are legally binding, what options I have to create leverage to get paid for unpaid wages, and do I have any rights to collect payment for exclusivity and being forced to be on call for 72 hours a week?...Read More
A former customer of mine owes me for three different invoices for work that was completed at his place of business .The former customer & his family are immigrant from another country. They do not understand a lot of stuff that we just assume are simple things you should already know. Like what a lien is. This is the kind of stuff I used to help them with. Now that we have had a falling out, they have cut all contact with me. I know where they live, cause I also worked for them as a handyman at there personal home. They do not trust a lot of people because of people taking advantage of them. This is where the falling out happened. Two days after the hurricane hit us in south Louisiana all the ****Explicate Language**** started showing up to feed on the weak. Anyways long story short I tried like hell to keep the "wolfs" at bay but one got to them witch in turn hurt my company. now to the question at hand, could this be seen to the justice system as a threat or some kind of intimidation act on them? I'm not trying to achieve such a thing, I still find them to be good people and want them to know that this is going to hurt their business. I'm also worried that they might have skipped town....Read More
HomeWise Builders is handling a remodeling job for the Willis Property owners. The Willis Property is now unwilling to pay milestone payments per the signed agreement stating that they want more things done and wanting documentation showing where monies have been applied, etc. They are contesting change orders that were requested by them and are not willing to pay pricing given for work completed. We have subcontractors that are not able to be paid due to their unwillingness to pay invoice(s) released. Notified early this week that they are making amendments to the original contract in order to pay. Need assistance in figuring out next steps - can we stop work moving forward and push that they need to pay for work completed?...Read More
We are currently working with GC @ a louisiana project. We are a labor subcontractor.
From reading here we are not required to send a prelien notice. This job is ongoing and will be done by December. We have not been paid For may or June and would like to know what our rights are and if I can send a notice of nonpayment. We are as ...Read More
I see that most notice of intent deadlines are measured backwards from the lien deadline, but I want to make sure I give my customer enough time to pay me before my lien deadline so I won't be rushed. When is a good best practice for sending a notice of intent?...Read More