TZLIONESS Posted May 10, 2005 Report Share Posted May 10, 2005 Hi,We are building a new house. We are extremely over budget and it has cost us more than we had ever anticipated. And when It came to kitchen countertops we had decided to install formica to get the house built and at another time in the future possibly upgrade to granite. However, my husbands cousin (who works for a granite company) came to our house (uninvited) one night and insisted that we let him do our countertops in granite at his wholesale cost for the granite and his labor would be a gift to us. He explained that his boss allowed him to do side jobs after hours and had given us numerous people that he had done granite for in simular situations. After many discussions and a mutually agreed upon price, he delivered the countertops and wanted payment. After, we payed him the mutually agreed amount he informed us that we owed an additional $400. for help he hired to do the job and another & $500. for himself. So, basically he said we owe him an additional $900. above the mutually agreed price. Now, he supposedly has his boss involved and they have threated and are planning to slap a lien on our house.This was a verbal, handshake situation. We never signed a contract, quote, or agreement with his boss's company.I don't know what to do or what they can do to us. He has told us that he would be willing to come get the granite and re-sell and re-use it. And when we agreed he backed off and said that they would rather attach the lien. Now, because we had gotten the granite at a below wholesale price and there is no paperwork to back our story up (other than a check)we are scarred that the lien amount will be their normal retail price which would result in $5000 - $6000. more than our agreed upon price.Can someone please help we are beside ourselves.Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DocDon Posted May 10, 2005 Report Share Posted May 10, 2005 If there's no paperwork, that means they have no paperwork to back up their claims too... right? If I'm not mistaken, construction liens are usually put in place before the project starts - not done after the fact in an attempt to "collect" a debt.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revco Posted May 10, 2005 Report Share Posted May 10, 2005 Hmmmm...sounds pretty slimy to me. I'd be willing to bet they've done this before...not the side work...but threatening to put a lien on the house to get you to pay up. Most people probably would cough up.To get a lien, he'd have to file a judgement. To file a judgement, he'd have to prove you owe him the money. To prove you owe the money, there needs to be a contract. With no contract, there is no proof. With no proof, there is no judgement. With no judgement, there is no lien. If he is audacious enough to try to file a judgement, you could easily dispute this with the court and have your day in front of a judge which will probably result in a no show.If it goes any further, start throwing out terms like "tax fraud", "reporting to the IRS", "1099" and "federal investigation". That should put them in their place. Oh yeah...and if your house in unsecure, talk to your contractor about getting it secure quick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
admin Posted May 10, 2005 Report Share Posted May 10, 2005 It sounds slimy, but these guys can definitely put a lien on your house - the same thing happened to me. It's a contractors lien, and you don't even have to be notified for it to happen. It's a special law to protect contractors from people who won't pay.What I would do is go to your state's board of registered contractors and file a complaint. This will accomplish 3 things:1. If they are not a registered contractor, then they are doing the work illegally and the law could possibly come down on them.2. If they are a registered contractor, the board could mediate with them.3. Only a certain number of complaints are allowed before their license is yanked. At least that's the way you do it in Arizona. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghacorp Posted May 11, 2005 Report Share Posted May 11, 2005 It sounds slimy, but these guys can definitely put a lien on your house - the same thing happened to me. It's a contractors lien, and you don't even have to be notified for it to happen. It's a special law to protect contractors from people who won't pay. What I would do is go to your state's board of registered contractors and file a complaint. This will accomplish 3 things: 1. If they are not a registered contractor, then they are doing the work illegally and the law could possibly come down on them. 2. If they are a registered contractor, the board could mediate with them. 3. Only a certain number of complaints are allowed before their license is yanked. At least that's the way you do it in Arizona.Kristy, Holy smokes! You're not admitting you stiffed a poor hard working contractor are you?? LOLYou're correct; contrator's liens are easy to get. Basically all they have to do in most states is decide you owe them money, file suit, then hope to win some way. Don't feel bad though--because you have company. The Alladin Casino in Las Vegas has contrator liens up the ying-yang! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plaidbanana Posted May 11, 2005 Report Share Posted May 11, 2005 I've been in construction for over 15 years as a subcontractor. They can file a lien easily as mentioned earlier in the post, and it can stop the closing process. However, a lien can be "bonded off" (as we use to say) for a percentage of the lien which can get you through closing I believe. I'm not 100% sure about this but maybe something you could look into.Goodluck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KentWA Posted May 11, 2005 Report Share Posted May 11, 2005 Check state law carefully, in some states they have to file a copy of the contract with the request for lein. But many times a low paid clerk will not even ask for it and go ahead and file it. Getting it removed when that occurs is an easy thing.Don't let them bully you with the threat, get the info so you know what they can and can't do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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