Protection against bad contractors

[James Sinclair]

I have heard a number of people tell about how they paid a contractor to do a job and then have a lien filed against the property because the contractor didn't pay for the materials or something else. Time is money and to have property tied up and having to pay for something twice would ruin my day. Have you had any simular problems and how do you protect yourself?

[Steve K]

I'm not familiar with lien laws in Texas, but if they are similar to Florida you'll want to make sure that your contractor provides lien releases from material providers before issuing payment. If it's a good sized job ( new construction ) you could probably outsource the process to a bank and they could handle the inspections and title searches if that helps your comfort level.