Post a question in our community to get free advice from Construction Attorneys in your state, typically within a week. Questions are public, so do not share personal information. For extra privacy, select the anonymous option.
I am a GC building a house for a homeowner in Tennessee. The homeowner is dealing with theirconstruction lender directly, meaning I am not paid by the bank but by the homeowners and I have a cost plus contract with the homeowner. We are still on the job but the owners currently have an outstanding balance of $74,808.07 with us. The invoices are from February and March. The work to be completed within the next two weeks will be an additional $44,591.36. The homewoner says we are paid to date per their bank inspection percentage which is not true, and when we signed I was not informed of the banks payment process nor "percentages" since we are not billing the bank. The homewoners have added over $30k in change orders and in material cost increases which they have not informed their bank of. Alos, when they received the "notice to owner prior to commencing work" the owners owed us money (this is common with them), they immediately said "so since you're not finishing the job can we get someone to finish it." Keep in mind, we have never stopped working on their house even with them owing us massive amounts. I know when the owners receive the "Notice Of Intent" they will say the same thing. My question is, do I only file a lien for work completed which is the $74,808.07 or do I need to lien the full amount that will be completed within the next two weeks (electrical trim out, plumbing, cabinets and countertops)? I am worried the owners will try to close on their construction loan and my company will be stuck holding the bag for their house.......Read More
We used the app to set a lien. The owner of the property is going to release the lien, but wants release of lien to be signed by Michal Mann " So that it’s consistent with the original filing, we have set this up to be signed by Michael Mann, who filed the original lien instrument. " Is this possible?...Read More
Ok I am reading the updates on TN Lien Laws and I read "For home improvement contracts, additional “notice” language must actually be built into the contract between the general contractor and the owner. There are no notice requirements on such projects for parties other than direct contractors." Exactly what language needs to be updated in our contract, or what needs to be added to make sure that we are following state lien laws. I have a bunch of questions, so there will be many more to come below.....
Notice of Commencement Question:
The statement "Residential (Notice of Completion NOT simultaneously recorded and served): Lien and response (if applicable) required within 90 days of actual completion of project.", is this referring to Filing a Notice of Commencement and Notice of Termination at the same time. If not what does this mean?
The Statement "Residential (Notice of Completion Recorded and Served): Lien and response to Notice of Completion required within 10 days of date on which Notice of Completion filed." Does this mean that once a Notice of Completion is filed, we only have 10 days to file a lien? Also are we as the General (Prime)Contrator filing the Notice of Completion or is the owner.
This Statement "Yes, notice is required in Tennessee. As well as recording the Notice of Lien and Sworn Statement with the Register of Deeds in the county in which the property is located, the lien must also be given to the property owner. This may be accomplished by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested." Who sends notice to Property Owner? Is this automatically done through Levelset if lien is filed through levelset. If we file the lien through the county registers office, do they send the lien notice to the HO, or do we need to send this information to the HO?
I just want to make sure that we have procedures in place for and Apex is protected fully by these procedures. As collections manager it is my responsibility to make sure this happens and just want to make sure that I am correct in doing so...
...Read More
My contractor had a commercial electrical company pull a permit for my electric “ as a favor “ and he also pulled one as the homeowner. I have major codes issues and can I file chargers against both of them . I also found out he forged insurance to me and bank . Apparently didn’t have any ...Read More
I have a client that I've placed a lien on for the work we performed, he had that property for sale until the lien was placed, now he has taken it off the market to sell a different property. Can we place a lien on the for sale property for the work that was done at a different property?...Read More
I had work done by a contractor who did very shoddy work and did not complete the job. He was paid in full up front with insurance check. He has filed a lien for non payment against me which was done out of spite and is not valid. I am in a desperate financial situation and had to sell my home or lose it. I was never given an "intent to lien notice", no change order form and nothing said about any extra money owed. He sent an email demanding money and when I refused he filed a lien. His workmanship cost me approximately $20,000 on the sale of my home. I need to get this bogus lien off my home before closing on 4/21/23 as I just can't afford to pay him anymore. Any help, information, etc. you can offer is greatly appreciated....Read More
A supplier showed up at our door (we had rock delivered) that our guy we had do work hasn’t paid, but we paid him (guy doing work) for the rock. No contracts. He threatened to file a lien on our property if we didn’t pay since he wasn’t getting payment from the man that ordered it, so we’ll have to pay twice now for the product? This work/product was delivered in august 2022. Any info appreciated...Read More
We hired a contractor and the contractor, hired a gravel company to lay out gravel, their truck slipped and broke the pipe, neither of them will take liability for damages....Read More
My 26 year old son had my husband's (his stepfather's) truck towed to a mechanic's shop to get an estimate to repair the transmission. Over the phone the mechanic shop told my son that it would cost about $2,500 to fix it. The mechanic shop gave him a phone number to call to try to get a loan, if needed, for the repairs. I do not know if the two businesses are affiliated or not. Regardless, he applied via phone, but was rejected. After my husband and son discussed it further they concluded that since the truck is so old, a 1997 Ford F150, and not of much value they would hold off on the repairs so they could try to find an alternative such as a used transmission that the same or another mechanic could install. He has been looking for a used transmission to no avail while the truck stayed at the mechanic's shop. Yesterday, my husband went to pick up the UNREPAIRED truck and the shop owner said that the truck now belonged to him because it was left there so long. He claims that he sent a certified letter regarding the truck, but no one in my household signed for a letter. The shop owner says that he has filed a mechanic's lien and will NOW repair the truck and sell it, or we could buy the truck back from him for $2500. To me there are several major issues. First, no one received or signed any sort of written estimate or contract to fix it. Second, even if the mechanic claims that there was a verbal agreement between him and my son, my son is NOT the titled owner of the truck. So, how could a lien be put on it. Third, the shop owner admitted to my husband in person at the shop that now that he had a lien he WILL fix it and sell it. According to the law I researched, a lien can be placed only for actual work done, not work after a lien is filed. Furthermore, other claims such as storage fees (which were never disclosed or agreed to) are not considered repairs and cannot be included in the lien. The truck is so old and of such little value that no one would invest $2500 in a transmission for it. I guess that is why the mechanic says that he will NOW fix it and sell it after he has gotten the lien. We received no phone calls, no letters, no written docs of any sort (the mechanic claims he sent a certified letter, but no one in my house signed for it.)
How do I proceed?...Read More
A GC is telling us that a college in TN is a federal project which is why the retainage amount is 10%. They did send us information for a law showing Federal projects are allowed to have up to 10%, but the way it seemed worded was only if the work was not satisfactory. So now we are trying to understand how a college is a federal project and how we find out if by them holding the 10% instead of 5%, if they are stating our work is not satisfactory. They have told us everything looks good so far....Read More
I am an out-of-state company that is owed $4,386.00, from a company in Tennessee. I want to take them to court in order to collect the monies owed to me. I need an attorney willing to help me, either by representing me in court or by helping me file the proper paperwork so I can take them to court. Thanks. Sergio Smith, North East Solution, 317-833-8858...Read More