How Hard To Put A Lien?

CNCconstruction

I am doing some work for a company that is being subbed from a GC..... (maybe that was my first mistake) anyways I herd the guy got thrown off the job and no one can get a hold of him. Right now it's just word of mouth and waiting to find out. I have never had to lien a customers home and I'm wondering how much is involved? I have no idea who the GC is but I'm trying to find out. Luckily I don't start without a deposit and that deposit was enough for the materials and to pay my help for what has been done so far (only 3 days into the job)

Also I haven't had a chance to meet with a lawyer to go over my contracts and make sure all my contracts are drawn up correctly. What types of things are needed for the lien as far a paper work goes?

Thank you

rselectric1

Verbal or written contract?
Between you and whom?

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Brickie

I would start here:

http://www.michigan.gov/dleg/0,1607,...2033--,00.html

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Zinsco

Liening someone's home is the most fun you can have with your clothes on. Here in Los Angeles it takes $21 and 5 minutes of your time. Look into it, learn about it, become an expert. It's a blast!

skyhook

The due process is on
the Contractors License exam.
You won't make any friends by filing a lien.
Sounds like you should just
take the money and run.

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bwalley

If your deposit covered the materials and your labor, what are you going to lien them for?

Does your state require a Notice To Owner?

Does your state require a Notice to the Contractor?

Are you properly licensed?

You need to check into your state laws and follow them very closely as liening a house improperly can cost you quite a bit of money and lawyer bills.

DeanV

If you did not file a Notice of Furnishment before starting the job or within 20 days of the first day of work (if you did not receive a Notice of Commencement or see one posted on the jobsite it buys you 20 days from the first day of work), good luck on enforcing the lien. Do not ask me how I found this out. No one I have talked to does this in my area in MI, but it leaves a wide open door for them to try to not pay you.

hustler7

You are fortunate to have gotten that much money to this point- so far you are doing ok. I think you should meet with an attorney, get the paperwork in order, and hold it. In the meantime, don't do any more work until you have further assurance or compensation- that way you haven't burned any bridges yet but also haven't put your neck any further out there. Good Luck. I had a lien totally fail me once- bankruptcy beat it. Hope you have better luck.

Tiger

Placing a lien is simple enough. Collecting on a lien may not be so simple. They work best when the property will be sold in the near future. Without a sale there are ways around a lien.

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CNCconstruction

I did receive a deposit and it cover the materials that were on the house. We went and returned anything that was not on the house, we had the rest of the material inside the garage witch we have access to. The return of materials is enough to pay for my 2 employees hours. So at this point I will have worked 3 1/2 days for nothing. But the material is paid for and my guys got paid so I am lucky I am not in the hole.

I am properly licensed and yes my area requires a notice and no I did not send one. I am at this point ok with just walking and taking a loss after all it could have been much worse. But it does make me really think about what could have happened and and how I would have had to handle things.

I batter make an appointment with a lawyer and get everything set properly

bwalley

Are you beyond the deadline to file your notices?

If not file them and then let the homeowner know you are still owed money and would be willing to work something out.

Zinsco

I lien anyway, whether I sent notices or not. It's never come up as an issue. If someone ever squawked about not receiving a preliminary notice, I'd say "sure, don't you remember? I handed it to you!". Here in California you sign a statement that you sent the notices, no proof is required.

MagicPoolSvcs

We in the processs of putting a lien on a property here in Florida.

We never got an agreement with the Realtor to do the work, so our chances of collecting this money is pretty much nil.

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Framer53

One thing before you run off to the lawyer. Did the prime contractor get thrown off or the sub that you were subbing from get kicked??

One other thing, how are you making money double subbing??

bwalley

If you never had an agreement with the Realtor, who authorized the work?

what type of work did you do?

bwalley

So you lie about the notice?

Paulie

You also better make a appointment with the Geek Squad to show you where the spell check button is.

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Fallen

I am not familiar with Michigan lien law, but you should familiarize yourself with all the steps and timing deadlines required to correctly perfect your lien. Even if you plan to have a lien service or attorney prepare your lien for you, it's important to acquaint yourself with the notice / filing / recording deadlines for your state to ensure that your lien is timely.

It isn't always popular, but you should try to obtain the names of all the parties involved with a job starting with the property owner(s) and work your way down the chain of contracts to the guy that hired you.

If you don't know who the G.G was, try calling the village / city hall where the work was done and speak with the building / permit dept. They should have that info., though they may require that you complete a "Freedom of Information Form" a/k/a: "FOI" to obtain that information. When you hook up with an attorney, make sure he / she is familiar with construction & lien law, not just someone out of the phone book. It makes a difference. Also, with your contract make sure there is a provision that states you are entitled to reimbursement of reasonable attorney's fees & court costs should you have to bring suit to enforce payment of the contract.

Just curious, since the G.G. was kicked off the job, did you consider speaking with the homeowners directly to see about establishing a direct contract with them?

katoman

All you are out is 3 days pay!!!!!!!!! Take some good advice - count your blessings and move on. You will loose more money dealing with this than if you just get on to the next job.

The HO will just put that amount of money into a fund with his lawyer, and it's up to you to sue him. No way is it worth the time and money.

Forget it.

roof-lover

I was betting my life bwalley was going to be answering this one.