CONTRACTOR PUT A B.S. LIEN ON OUR PROPERTY, NEED ADVICE.

[Jeff Wells]

Ok, here's the story. We are rehabbing out of state. This has proven to be extremely difficult and stressful. We hired a contractor to do a job for $1300. He did the job, we paid him, but there was much more that needed to be done. Yes we should have gotten a lien release when he did the first job, but we didn't. So we came to a verbal agreement, backed up with emails, to finish all the other things we listed in emails for $2200 using the same terms as the contract which states he gets paid when the job is DONE. Well, he took WAY too long, and kept trying to add more and more stuff and demanded he be paid partially for his week's "work". Well, we got zero pictures, and I had a guy inspect the work and they did almost Nothing for 4 guys and a week. And what they did do looked like crap. So we were going to fire him, but he assured us he'd have it done by Tuesday (this was a Friday). We said, ok, we aren't paying you partial until it's all done, so get it done and we'll pay the 2200 on Wednesday. The agreed. The next day, he quit, demanded we pay him 2200 plus 200 in gas which we never agreed to at all. We told him he gets nothing, since he breached our agreement and quit. This son of a ***** files a lien for $3400, a THOUSAND more than we EVER discussed. We called the county clerk and they were utterly useless. They said we had to pay it or bond around it or hire a lawyer. No one seems to care that this is blatant extortion and fraudulent. This guy did this because we are 1500 miles away. I'm not about to pay some guy 3400 bucks who did about a days worth of work and did a terrible job to boot.

Does anyone know how we can have this removed and not hire a lawyer?

I cannot believe someone can just say you owe then money and tie up the house.

And no, we will not wait a year, we can't. And no, I don't want to bond around it. We do NOT owe this money.

Surely some of you have been here before. Valuable lesson learned here I know.

[Account Closed]

Please post more info so people can make relevant suggestions.  What state is the property in? What type of lien did the contractor file?  

Here in CA, a mechanic's lien has to be perfected through a court case, and the contractor has to be licensed in order to file the court case.  Anyone can file the mechanic's lien though.  So the property location makes a big difference.

$3400 is pretty small and not worth any legal dollars IMO. You could file in small claims and do it DIY, but your with your travel cost, court fee and process serving, you'd probably not come out ahead.

This thing is going to cost you money one way or another, so get clear about your goal and your budget. If it were me, I'd likely settle with the contractor for a lien release. If you are ready to sell and the title company is willing to bond around that lien, I'd might go that route if the cost was low enough.  I suggest putting your righteous anger aside as this is business and that attitude will not serve you.