Charlotte Construction Law

[Venu Vedre]

Can anyone please recommend a good attorney in Charlotte area who specializes in construction /contractor law disputes? 

This is the story: I was shopping for a general contractor for my ground up townhome construction project and got a referral from a local realtor. I met with that GC and showed him the project site and asked for estimates. This was in Dec 2020. He had sent me the estimate for horizontal only(clearing the wooded lot/stormwater bmp etc) and for some reason thinks that now i owe him 1% of the construction costs (~ 10,000 USD) for providing the 'Qualified Itemized estimates' . He in fact copied an attorney from Cotney Construction Law,charlotte and trying to file a Lien on the property. Is this possible? He says that my text messages are proof that i owe him money, and those can be used against me.(you guessed it, i never said i will pay him money for estimates)

I never signed ANY sort of contracts/paperwork . I always thought GC estimates are free, anyone seen this before? Thinking of finding an attorney myself and reply to that email/send him a letter. I still can't believe this is happening lol. Any advise is appreciated.