HI, I hired a Asphalt company to pave my yard in April 2019 and I paid him in full. Now; the supplier wants to put lien on my property because of my contractor didn’t pay for material around 32k. The contractor is filing bankruptcy. I did not receive any lien notice either from contractor or supplier at the time of signing the contract. Can they put lien on my property? What do I need to do? Thanks,
Good afternoon,
It sounds like there are a few things that need to be done. First, was your project completed last year? If so, the supplier's lien (recorded now) is almost certainly untimely. And if you never received a preliminary notice, that is also a problem for the supplier. Feel free to provide some more information!
Court notices? What kind of court notices? Sounds like you need to engage an attorney as soon as possible as if you do not respond timely to the summons and complaint (assuming those are the court notices you are referring to), you could have a default judgment entered against you.
A supplier can legally lien your property IF then previously sent you a Preliminary Notice by certified mail. If they didn’t, they have no lien rights against you or your property. They can only go against the contractor that hired them. The best way to handle this is to have an attorney write the supplier a strong letter telling them they have no lien rights since they didn’t timely and properly serve you with a preliminary notice and threaten them with legal action if they do put a lien on. I’ve written many such letters for my clients in the past. Feel free to call me if you have any questions.
Cathleen M. Curl, Esq.
Law Office of Cathleen M. Curl
700 El Camino Real, Suite 200
Millbrae, CA 94030
T 650-871-5955
F 650-588-7101
If the supplier didn’t send you a Preliminary Notice, then they have no lien rights against your property. When that happens, I generally write a strong letter to the supplier or their attorney explaining the lien and demanding that they immediately release the lien against the property. I also enclose a Release of Lien form for them to sign and return. This works probably 90% of the time. If they still don’t release the lien, you can wait out the 90 day lien period and then file a petition with the court to have the court release the lien for you if they haven’t filed suit to foreclose the lien.
The provider has no lien rights against your property if they failed to issue you a preliminary notice. When that occurs, I usually send a stern letter to the supplier or their attorney outlining the lien and requesting that they quickly remove the lien of the property. A Release of Lien form is also enclosed for them to complete and return. Probably 90% of the time, this is effective. You can wait out the 90-day lien period and then file a petition with the court to have the court release the lien for you if they haven't filed a lawsuit to foreclose the lien if they still refuse to release the lien.