Lien

[Circe74]

My mother recently had a company put new siding on her house. However, the company did a terrible job, and parts of the siding were falling apart, parts done improperly, etc. She's called the company and spoken to the owner several times, who has made three separate appointments to come and look at the problems (which are obvious ones), but even though my mother has had to take time off work for these appointments, he hasn't ever shown up. (Mind you, my mother has told them repeatedly that she has the money to pay them immediately, as soon as they fix the problems they caused.) Now, months later after my mom trying to get them to come out and fix these problems, they've sent her a letter stating they're putting a lien on her house for nonpayment. They've never even sent her a bill...she's just had a few calls from their office saying she's "late" with her payment, and she told them that the job isn't done, then made another appointment to come look at the problems that they never kept. First, what is a lien? And will this result in them suing her (which she would almost be happy about, so she could finally either get them to fix the problems OR get her downpayment back so she could pay someone else to fix the job)? How can a company just put a lien on someone's home without taking them to court? And what are her options from here? Any thoughts would be appreciated..thanks!

FYI - she has documented the owner's failure to visit her, and even had a lieutenant friend with the city's police force with her waiting on one of the days when the owner never showed up. She has photographs of the obvious unfinished parts of the job, and before the guy who was "foreman" on the job had left, he'd looked around with her and said that yeah, there were serious issues that they needed to fix, but then just never came back to fix them (and according to the owner is no longer working there). And my mother has sent the company a certified letter explaining that she hasn't been able to contact them (every time she calls the phone rings, and there's no answering machine) but she would like them to come and complete the project so she can pay them for the finished job.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

A lien is a legal claim against a piece of real property that must be paid/satisfied. In this instance it would be a a mechanic's lien, which is a hold on property where a worker or a vendor who provided some benefit to the property places a "hold" on the property to secure payment. The property cannot be bought and title transferred without the lien being satisfied.

Laws vary from state to state but if this happens, you should receive a notice of lien and you will be able to determine what needs to be done. If one was granted by a court, you must check with the court and you will determine what has happened and will determine what needs to be done at that time.

Your mother should immediately send a written letter, certified return receipt, to this company with a notice and warning that (1) the company has never billed her because they know that their "work" was a bigger detriment than improvement and there is no bill or right to place any lien on the property. The company's repeated failure to correct their work and your mother's documented list of their failings confirms the bad faith by the company in this claim; (2) inform the company that they have breached the contract several weeks ago and will no longer permit them to continue to wait for them to cure the signfiicant defects and damages done to her property. She will sue them for breach of contract in failing to provide the services rendered and causing her to hire another company to repair the inadequate work performed; (3) sue them for damages for any lien or other action which will be considered willful, malicious and wrongful in light of the company's knowledge of their own breach of contract and causing your mother additional damages in both having to have the work redone, taking off from work to deal with the company's breach of contract, and other damages to be specified in court.

Best would also report the company to the BBB and potentially the state attorney general. There should also be a licensing commission and you can find out whether they were even properly licensed to do the job. If they weren't... then that's another reason why it would be a bad idea for the company to use the law and they may not do so. Good luck and I hope things work out for you and your mother.

My mother recently had a company put new siding on her house. However, the company did a terrible job, and parts of the siding were falling apart, parts done improperly, etc. She's called the company and spoken to the owner several times, who has made three separate appointments to come and look at the problems (which are obvious ones), but even though my mother has had to take time off work for these appointments, he hasn't ever shown up. (Mind you, my mother has told them repeatedly that she has the money to pay them immediately, as soon as they fix the problems they caused.) Now, months later after my mom trying to get them to come out and fix these problems, they've sent her a letter stating they're putting a lien on her house for nonpayment. They've never even sent her a bill...she's just had a few calls from their office saying she's "late" with her payment, and she told them that the job isn't done, then made another appointment to come look at the problems that they never kept. First, what is a lien? And will this result in them suing her (which she would almost be happy about, so she could finally either get them to fix the problems OR get her downpayment back so she could pay someone else to fix the job)? How can a company just put a lien on someone's home without taking them to court? And what are her options from here? Any thoughts would be appreciated..thanks!

FYI - she has documented the owner's failure to visit her, and even had a lieutenant friend with the city's police force with her waiting on one of the days when the owner never showed up. She has photographs of the obvious unfinished parts of the job, and before the guy who was "foreman" on the job had left, he'd looked around with her and said that yeah, there were serious issues that they needed to fix, but then just never came back to fix them (and according to the owner is no longer working there). And my mother has sent the company a certified letter explaining that she hasn't been able to contact them (every time she calls the phone rings, and there's no answering machine) but she would like them to come and complete the project so she can pay them for the finished job.

 

[Circe74]

Thank you! I can't tell you how much I appreciate the detailed response. I'll forward the note to my mother. It'll definitely help her to feel more secure, even if she does have a battle ahead.