mechanics lien foreclosure

[lramsey]

Hi, Here's One For The Home Owner. I Hired An Electric Contractor On An Hourly Basis To Do A Job. Nothing Written. Oral Agreement. At The End Of The Job He Sent Me Bills Tripling The Hours And When I Tried To Negotiate In Good Faith, He Decides To Place A Mechanics Lien On My Property. If That Wasn't Good Enough, He's Threatening To Foreclose On The Lien. This Means The Guy Can Take My House Through The Court System, Sell It And Collect Monies Due Him And Give Me The Balance. This Is A Right I'm Told Contractors And The Like Have Over The Consumer. Am I Dreaming? Consumers Don't Have The Same Rights. If We Did, These Contractors Would Watch Their Steps. This Is My Understanding. Anyone Out There With Some Knowledge Of How To Proceed?

Help A Sister Out.

[pushkins]

Why are you using capitals for the first letter of every word ?????

You are correct in one detail, a contractor can put a lien on property to collect unpaid monies. However, for him to foreclose on the lien he has to go via the court system, this is where your rights come in.
Without a written and signed agreement between both parties the court most probably will take into account the work performed and either the state average or a national average to determine the cost it will appoint the contractor. If you have a record of the contractors hours working at your premises and a record of the work you asked him to perform, this will all stand well with a court.
The fact that you have tried to work out a deal in "good faith" is a positive step.

Remember if you are the one who is trying to short change the contractor the court will take the appropriate action to recover his due payment and probably cost associated.

One thing I will point out tho is sometimes what seems like a small easy job works out to be a much longer, harder job. Just because you might think it should have taken a given time, doesn't always mean that is what it "really" takes.

[lramsey]

Hi Senior Member. I Didn't Realize I Used Initial Caps As I Was Writing. I Usually Write All Caps Or Lower Case. Any Whoo.....

Thanks For The Response. I Am Acting In Good Faith. The Time Stated By The Electrian Was $45 An Hour, Two Men A Day, Less Than Five Days. He Billed Me For A Total Of 160 Hours For The Four And A Half Days Worked. The Hours Were 8:30 To 3 According To My Calculation And My Witness's. That's 27 Men For An Apartment Elec Job. An Estimate I Received From Other Elects At Substantially Less. What Bothers Me Is That He Would Show Up With Two Guys And Bill For Four And Eight. Not To Mention He Never Finished The Job. The Inspector Only Signed The Roughing. For A Big Company They Are Scam Artists. For Instance, On Day One He Started At 1:30 And Ended 3:30, Two Guys. He Wrote On The Day's End Sheet Two Guys, Had Me Sign It, Told Me He Would Send Me A Copy And On Another Occasion Did The Same And Put In Eight Guys. I Stopped Signing The Documents Without My Copy. He Assured Me I Would Receive My Copies. Yeah, With The Final Bill For A Job Not Complete And Man Hours Through The Roof. On The Remaining Three Days, He Didn't Have My Signature Because He Wouldn't Leave Me The Document To Review At The End Of The Day's Work. How Dishonest Can A Guy Get. And Then They Use The Mechanics Lien To Scam Unsuspecting People. Caveat Emptor Is All Well And Fine But Man What A Scam.

Signed Beware/ Hope I Wasn't Too Long Winded.

[joed]

You are still capitalizing the first letter of every word.

[pushkins]

Then if you believe that you are right in withholding payment, I would consult a lawyer at least on a consultation basis.
Ask the lawyer about the legality of someone putting a lien on your property without written quotes and without all paperwork signed.
I'd be surprised if in fact a court would allow a lien without all the facts and without making some attempt to contact you in regards for failure to pay. Usually a contractor must "prove" the debt first.

[CR500]

Hey, I Think I Like Typing This Way.

Thats why you want to get EVERYTHING in writing. If there is a change, write out a change order.

I recently had an issue with a kitchen designer. He came out to the house, had a few ideas, said he'd sketch them up and send to me. Took forever to get them and it looked like no additional though was put into it. Was basically about 5 min of work . I called to find out what happened and to let him know what I was expecting. Could only get his assistant, so I explained it to him and never got a call back.

Next thing I know (in 3 days) he sends me a whopping bill! I never signed any agreement / contract and was going to throw out the bill. A lawyer buddy said courts like it if you try to do the right thing. So, even though most kitchen people give you the first visit for free, I mailed the guy a letter explaining that I was willing to only pay him for the site visit and would do so after he sends me a corrected invoice. He accepted and we were done.

[dkerr]

1st
The $ 45 an hour fee could very well have been per person, so if a crew of several people was there for 7 hours, the total hours would be 'number of workers x 7 hours'

2nd
Even estimates usually have a built allowable overage of 10 %, so they can tack up to another 10 % for the unexpected.

3rd
There is no such thing as a dumb question, and pain later can be avoided by having a written estimate, ask what could cause the price to increase, ask not not just an hourly rate, but what the total cost would be for the project.

4th
Yes they can place a lien on the property that they have worked on for severely overdue accounts.

5th
Most of us here are not lawyers, we do not have a background in legal matters, therefore from a legal standpoint we cannot give legal advice, laws can also vary depending on where you live.

Some lawyers will give you an initial meeting free of charge, and it may be wise to consult that advice and take it from there, but when you call for an appointment, make sure you ask if there is any charge for the initial meeting.

[AllanJ]

If you are not going to sell, bequeath, or refi', then a lien does the contractor no good unless he tries to foreclose.

If you have a dispute about the quality of the services performed that were allegedly not paid for and for which the lien resulted, you should bring up the dispute promptly but at any rate the dispute will be taken into account when brought up (it becomes an affirmative defense) at the foreclosure proceedings. A prudent contractor is not going to foreclose on his lien if deep down inside he agrees the dispute has merit because if the contractor loses, he has wasted all the time and effort and fees doing the foreclosure. Occasionally the contractor puts the lien on intending only to scare you into paying.

If your main contractor does not pay your subcontractors, almost alwyas you are liable. The subs can use liens and foreclosure to enforce their rights.