Mechanic's Lien on Property After Closing

[Jack Martin]

PLEASE HELP!

The house I just purchased on December 6th has just received mechanic's lien for $15K for what I would assume would be for the new the roof the seller's put on the house prior to closing... Can this lien be enforced on me, the new property owner?  Reading through the Title company's (Chicago Title) policy makes it seem like they can easily get out of paying for it even though I have title insurance. Please help. 

[Patricia Steiner]

Call the Title Company immediately; ask them to provide proof of settlement from the seller for the roof and the affavidat stating that all work performed in the past 90 days was settled.  The mechanic's lien may be due to a timing issue.  Either way, get the title closer involved in resolving this.  Also, was a permit pulled and a Notice of Commencement signed?  Those should have shown up in a lien search performed by the title company.  

In Florida, a Mechanic's Lien has a life of one year and it cannot be extended.  A property owner can file a Notice of Contest of Lien and the "deadline to initiate an enforcement action is shortened to 60 days after the notice. If the claimant is served with a 20-day notice to show cause, the enforcement deadline is 20 days after the notice."  If the roofer has not been paid, the fastest remedy is to file a lien against the property.  An enforcement action must still be taken or the lien just falls off after a year.

Start with the Title Agent.  Hopefully that's where it will end.

Best...