We are the owner/GC of some vacation homes. Our real estate company actually owns it and my husband is the GC. We have two houses on one lot. We hired my former cleaning crew who also has a construction in Texas. (How do I find out if they are registered with the state of Texas)? In reading the frequently asked questions this website said they must be registered. We agreed to let them paint one house to start on one property (there are two). We supplied 99%%20of the material. They have been doing work for me for the past four years. They were to charge us hourly and have been $50 per hour. Never once did they tell me the hourly pay went to $70. Per hour. After my husband was on the job site watching them, the father never worked but held the ladder for the girls and moved scaffolding around for he and his wife who were doing the painting. We started asking about half way through the project what was their cost so far and to send us a bill which they never did until two weeks after completion. By this time, it took them five weeks to complete a 850 sq ft house. We decided they were taking too long so we decided to hire another contractor to paint the other house which took a week. We had two bids which were both $3,500 each. When we got the painting bill and they’re trying to charge me $5,200 which I am disputing, I have made an offer of $4,500 which I feel was more than fair considering it was over $1k than the other bids. When discussing the bill, they said their rate was now $70. an hour but was never disclosed to me. That’s where the disagreement begins. They are threatening to file a lien for the $750. difference. Do they have any rights to file?
Anyone can file a lien, issue is whether its valid.
You really should retain a construction attorney to evaluate your situation, review your documents, and to provide advice.
The legal analysis would start with a review of the contract, and then extend to any communications and payments which have occurred.
Even if a contract does not have a set price, Texas law would imply a reasonable price, and a reasonable time for completing the work.
You should consider preparing a letter to mail by certified mail to the company to set out the facts, and to assert your position. Make sure the letter is business like and professional, as it may be evidence later.
Whether or not a mechanic's lien may be valid will depend on the facts and a review of the lien filing itself. If the lien is invalid, the company could be liable for violating the Texas Fraudulent Lien Act, which can assess statutory damages of $10,000, or actual damages, whichever is greater, plus attorney's fees.
Good luck.
I generally agree with Skip's and Brian's comments. Beyond the legal issues, the more practical issue is do you want to have a lawsuit/lien over $750? If you were my client, my advice would be to simply pay the amount in exchange for a lien release, and chalk it up to learning a lesson. You never allow someone to do work without at least a basic contract that covers (1) the work, (2) the price, and (3) time for completion (if important), amoung other terms. Also, since these properties are rental properties, they are not protected by the various homestead protections that make it difficult to perfect a lien on a homestead. Be practical, pay the unreasonable amount (which is really not that much in the grand scheme of things) and accept that you have some responsiblity for creating this situaution, and move on. Good luck.