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Why a subcontractor is filling a lien on my property?

Hello, I live in Redmond WA and I need help how to resolve a claim of lien filed on my property last month. I had a leak in my master bathroom back in March and my home insurance sent me a contractor company to make an estimate for the repairs. After signing the contract with this company in May and giving them a check for a deposit, it took 5 months to finalize all the repairs. This contractor company would send subcontractors to make estimates for the repairs and no job was scheduled because this company would claim all of the subcontractors were over budget . I complained with my home insurance about the delays and things started speeding up after that. In September 27th a subcontractor was sent to my house to start the tile installation and the job was completed in 5 days. By the end of October all the repairs were completed and the contractor company got a check from my insurance as well from me. On December 9th a person came to my house claiming he was in charge of the subcontractors that did the tile installation and they didn’t received a payment from the contractor company. We explained to him the whole payment was made to the company who hired them so he needed to go directly to them. Last week I received a claim of lien from the this subcontractor with a file date of December 20th. This subcontractor only did the tile installation, so he didn’t bring any material to my house. The contractor company brought all the material. I contacted my insurance to let them know about it and they promised to work in fixing this. My concern now is having this lien in my property when I made all the payments for the repairs done in my house. Why is this person able to file a lien on my property in spite of that? How can I resolve this issue so my property is cleaned up of this lien? Do I need to hire a lawyer to find my insurance responsible? Any help and advice with this matter would be greatly appreciated. Thank you. Ivonne

1 reply

Jan 9, 2020

It's unfortunate, but not all that uncommon, for a contractor to be paid in full yet fail to pay their subcontractors. And, in these situations, it's also relatively common for an owner to end up with a mechanics lien filed against their property due to their contractor's failure to make payment. Levelset discusses that here: Yes, Property Owners Can Be Forced To Pay For Construction Work Twice. Subcontractors are generally entitled to file mechanics lien claims when they've gone unpaid. Granted, those subs will typically need to send a preliminary notice to the owner before they can file a Washington lien - that way, an owner knows of their presence on the job and knows that, if the job goes sideways, the sub may be entitled to file a lien claim.

Responding to a subcontractor's mechanics lien filing

As for how to respond to a sub's lien filing, that can vary quite a bit depending on the situation. For some basics, this article has great information: A Mechanics Lien Was Filed on My Property – What Do I Do Now? Further, as you mentioned above, consulting a local construction or real estate attorney can provide a lot of clarity on how to respond to a lien claim and resolve the issue. It's also worth mentioning that, pursuant to RCW § 60.04.151, an owner will be able to hold a fully paid contractor responsible for liens filed on the property by subs and suppliers. And, it appears that a fully paid contractor will also be required to defend any action brought against an owner in pursuing payment via a lien claim. Finally, while it won't make a lien claim disappear, note that an owner is entitled to bond off a Washington mechanics lien - and that could free up the property title from the dispute. And, if push came to shove, any recovery action on the claim would be made against the new mechanics lien bond rather than against the property, itself. Plus, a contractor may bond off Washington mechanics liens - and an owner may well be able to force their contractor to bond off the lien, too, by making legal threats against the contractor. Ultimately, though, it'd be wise to consult a local attorney if a lien has been filed on your property considering the potential fallout from a filed mechanics lien claim.

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