mechanical lien in IL

[Robert D.]

State specific question IL :

Part of the rehab will be dealing with many trades. Some are more professional than the other. My idea is I will never pay ahead of work done – that’s my only leverage I have. If needed I will buy materials (paint, cabinets, flooring, tiles, sheetrock, mud etc and have it delivered to job site or picked up by contractor from the supplier) and pay for labor once the job is done. I am planning to set clear expectations on paper regarding quality of work. So before they start doing anything we will have a signed contract in place. I might run into the following issues : job is done, it is not to the expectation (some imperfections exists), the final or any payment is NOT done until the issue is corrected, the contractor stops responding to the calls, I wake up with mechanical lien the next day. I am not sure you can bond out of the lien for closing purposes in IL. I am not trying to screw anybody but if the electric outlets are all messed up with paint or tiles have multiple (½ or ¼) grout lines that needs to be corrected. What happens next ? I cannot close with a lien on the PIN. then ...what would be my next step if contractor refuses to cooperate ?