Purchase W/lien Against Property?
Hi!
This is a bit wierd. I had a lady call me about her house which she wanted to sell. She had moved out of her house and had a contractor come in and do 10,000 worth of repairs which the lady purchased ( doors,toilets, water heater etc.) After the work the contractor said he wanted to purchase the house for a lower price than she wanted to sell for and she put the house on the market. Well to make a very long story shorter she went to check on the house and found out that all of the items that had been replaced were gone (toilets, interior ,exterior doors etc .etc) even the front and back door. She filed police report, told them it was the contractor, but they said they had no evidence. Well she called contractor and he told her he had took all the items and that he intended to bancrupt her and buy her house cheeply at www.auction.Then told her he had also put a lien against her property (25,000) so she couldn't sell the house. She wanted to know if I had any idea's . Does any body have any ideas?
Cindy
strange but a quick check couold verify the facts. If a lien has been recorded it would show up at the county recorders office. If this happened like the lady states then I would contact the DA and file a complaint, also with the state baord of professional licensing or state contruction contractors license board in your state.
I would check out the property first and make sure the lady had all her marbles first....
[addsig]
Possible but unlikely. Did the lady pay the contractor? Does she have the cancelled checks? If so a suit against the contractor is likely to produce results eventually. Removing the improvements is what is known in the Legal biz as Self Help and is very much frowned upon (go figure-- where I come from Self Help is a good thing). The idea is that even if there was a dispute and the lady had not paid the correct venue is the courts, not undoing the work contracted for.
Hello,
I've heard that some investors I know have vacant lots here and there that they use just for such people.
Here's what I've done when someone's attempted to bend me over.
I call the police; if that doesn't work, I call my lawyer; if that doesn't work, I call my friend who has an amazing God given ability to appear in the irritant's life and resolve 99.99% of all the issues that the police or my lawyer cannot seem to resolve (my wife says I'm too nice -she just calls my friend).
Thanks,
OTW
Thank-You for your help.
I looked at the house and it was as she said,everything gone. I checked county records and he has indeed put a lein (28,000) on her house. She has filed charges and is starting a lawsuit, but is filing banckruptcy next week.
Did she have property insurance? Vandalism and theft are insurable occurances.
i beleive the contractor has to prove the customer DID NOT pay him, that is the only way he can put a lein on the property. It's called a mechanic's lein, and it's legal as long as the contractor can prove he was NEVER paid for his work done on that property. If he took back the items she paid to have installed, it was done so on private property and you'd need to get the police involved in that. I think there may be more involved here than this lady is telling you. I have a hard time believing that story "as is". Something is missing.