[TThomas]

I find myself in the land of stupid, once again. I did a job for friends of ours, my mistake; they are getting their house ready to put on the market. Of course I gave them the super friend pricing. Well they do now not want to pay the full amount. I busted my butt for them and I get the felling that they are trying to see if I will go for their offer. I told them I could/would not accept anything less than what I charged them. I do not have a written contract with them as I thought they were friends and I didn’t nee it. I need the $4500. Do I have any legal recourse here, one guy told me I could put a work lien on the house but might not win but would put pressure on them if they sold the house because it would show up when the sold the house. Any help please

Signed
Dummy
Todd

 

[Boden Painting]

A true friend wouldn't try to screw you, put a lien on the house and find new friends.

 

[EricTheHandyman]

You may not be able to file a lien without a contract in place

 

[Ken S.]

I would advise seeking some input from a lawyer that specializes in construction law.

You do/did have a verbal agreement , which can be valid, and courts will allow it, with documentation of how it came about.
As long as the work was done, you may have a valid claim.

I have also learned from the school of hard knocks and now will not start a job without a signed agreement along with a deposit( I call it "good faith") on the project.

I would move forward with a "Notice to owner", and check out your legal rights under your states lien laws(do a "goggle search"), and process required to make it a correct legal issue.
You should very well be entitled to recovery of labor and overhead costs, with material consumed. Keep receipts of material, time sheets, conversations(write them down now, so you don't "forget" a critical detail of what transpired. Spend the time and money to verify your position with the legal counsel.

Also, small claims court maybe an avenue.

I hope you are are in compliance with local ordinances as far as your credentials(important)?

We work too hard for what we do get paid.

Good luck!

 

[JNLP]

You do/did have a verbal agreement , which can be valid, and courts will allow it, with documentation of how it came about.
As long as the work was done, you may have a valid claim.

Yep what he said. Even if your chances of winning are small for one reason or another, do it anyway to put the pressure on them when they get that notice to apear. Many times they cough it up in fear unless you did something wrong which is causing them to not pay.

Just don't sit around & wait on it. These types of things need to be acted upon fast.

 

[GMack]

You may not be able to file a lien without a contract in place

No doubt you can lien the property and what a perfect time to do it, while they're trying to sell. My best guess is that you'd be paid shortly after they are aware the lien has been filed . . . Some friends, huh?

 

[vermontpainter]

Have your lawyer send them notice of your intent to lien. That may be enough to show them that you are serious about being paid. If that doesnt work, file the lien.

 

[Brian]

I wouldn't be too quick to go lawyer. All that does is create greater animosity. I'd suggest sitting down over a cup of coffee or a beer and talking about it.

You are in the driver's seat. You can file a lien, and that is your trump card. But don't play it too fast.

Brian Phillips

 

[GMack]

I wouldn't be too quick to go lawyer. All that does is create greater animosity. I'd suggest sitting down over a cup of coffee or a beer and talking about it.

You are in the driver's seat. You can file a lien, and that is your trump card. But don't play it too fast.

Brian Phillips

If I did a job for my friend at an agreed upon price and then the friend told me he wasn't going to pay me, he will have already created the animosity. It's on him, not me. I say file the lien.

 

[Brian]

If I did a job for my friend at an agreed upon price and then the friend told me he wasn't going to pay me, he will have already created the animosity. It's on him, not me. I say file the lien.

I agree that he created the animosity. However, the lawyer becomes a middle man, and he will want his cut of the pie. Who does that benefit? A cup of coffee or a beer is a lot cheaper than a lawyer.

I recently did a job for a friend. I was very nervous. But I did my normal routine-- written contract, meeting with her to review it, etc. It went well, but if it hadn't, my first thought would not be to sue or file a lien.

We have to look at the facts. If we treat someone differently because they are a friend, there must be some reason for this. Do we cast aside the friendship simply because they become a jerk? Do we not have some part in this? After all, we treated them differently. In this situation, there was no written agreement.

It is a mistake to treat a friend differently in a business deal. That really created the problem. But if we do that, we have to accept our responsibility in the situation.

Brian Phillips

 

[GMack]

I agree that he created the animosity. However, the lawyer becomes a middle man, and he will want his cut of the pie. Who does that benefit? A cup of coffee or a beer is a lot cheaper than a lawyer.

I recently did a job for a friend. I was very nervous. But I did my normal routine-- written contract, meeting with her to review it, etc. It went well, but if it hadn't, my first thought would not be to sue or file a lien.

We have to look at the facts. If we treat someone differently because they are a friend, there must be some reason for this. Do we cast aside the friendship simply because they become a jerk? Do we not have some part in this? After all, we treated them differently. In this situation, there was no written agreement.

It is a mistake to treat a friend differently in a business deal. That really created the problem. But if we do that, we have to accept our responsibility in the situation.

Brian Phillips

I agree that it is a mistake to treat a friend differently in a buiness deal and that that is the root of the problem.

I don't think we really disagree too drastically because liening the property would not be my first thought either. I'm going by what Thomas has told us, that his friend doesn't want to pay the agreed upon amount. For sure, I'd call him up and try to talk some sense to him but, if he still wasn't paying, I'd lien.

 

[slickshift]

States differ, but in some you can put a mechanic's lien on the house with a verbal agreement (like your mechanic might)
Usually the first step is a Letter Of Intent To Lien
This is usually enough to shake the leaves from the trees

I would not wait if you want to play hardball, you have a limited window in which to do so

If that doesn't loosen the purse strings, you basically might have to go through with the lien, and keep it active for years until they try and refinance or sell

Or you could try Small Claims

At that point though, I'd suggest chalking up the lost money as tuition to the school of hard knocks, and never working for friends, family, or working written-contract-less, again

 

[crow]

You get you some ducktape and find a tree out in the middle a nowhere, and bring some honey and molasis, and,, no I betta not tell that storie, (its a old Indian lie detecter test) it works. you have to do what your heart tells you to do, by all means you should have legal rights, but, every bodys opion here isnt what may be best for you in your problem, youll have alotta folks scream sue! but look ahead of the path first, every little thing has a return of some sort, now you know though, Im sure going into this you had that little voice cause wonder in your head man, ( not sayin I hear voices) its a costly lesson, try sittin down and workin it out, even if you do go down$, its betta than just gettin screwed! right? then after all is done. be done.

 

[Housepainter]

If they are using a Realtor.. Give them a call... they hate it when closings might get messed up due to a possible lien...

Let them know where you stand... Customer...

 

[TThomas]

Thanks for the great advice, looks like the lien is the way to go. He works out of town 4 days a week so I am suppose to talk with them today. Never heard anything but how happy they were with everything, so I don't believe it was the work. I'm located in TN and will be checking into the lien laws with a lawyer. I think she is try to pull one over on me for being so accommodating to them. Lesson learn on family/friends and for breaking my own rules on a signed contract, I trusted them. :happybday: You are right about the stress, not sleeping, wife pissed, afraid she is going to bump into them at the store and going to say something.

His brother called yesterday looking for some work done to their house as they as going to be selling soon as well. Told him I was booked with that kind of work.

Thanks again.
Todd

 

[Mopaint]

They are obviously strapped for cash. I would take the "offer" let's say its 2500 as a payment on act. and offer to get the 2000 upon closing. That way you are not broke in the interim. Get this deal in writing and you will have a lot more clout. In Utah no contract no mechanics lein. In small claims court however a verbal is binding. Going to court will take longer to get your money. If you prevail all the judge will do is put a judment on them and ask you to go out in the hall and work out a payment plan. MOPAINT

 

[slickshift]

They are obviously strapped for cash.

It's possible, but absolutely not obvious
It is actually way more likely they feel they f/f discount should be about 1/2 to 2/3 of the actual bid
In most cases like this there isn't any cash strapping whatsoever
It's the reason I don't do f/f type work unless I can eat it or just plain donate it
I'm a little short this month, I could understand
Here ya go, this should be enough just pisses me off

 

[aaron61]

It is a mistake to treat a friend differently in a business deal. That really created the problem. But if we do that, we have to accept our responsibility in the situation.

Brian Phillips

These situations seem to arise with all of us. I think that some of it is the lack of respect for our trade by others. Would they do this to an electrician?

 

[TThomas]

Well meeting got moved to today so he could be there, which is better for me, I'm thinking this is her idea. They don't seem to be strapped for cash but they may be broke at a higher level than I am and putting on a show, don't know but they don't seem to go without anything that's why this comes as such a shock to me. if I get the "we have no money" excuse I'm going to suggest they write a check off of one of their credit cards and tell them "that's what I'm going to have to do to pay the bills!" I talked to him a little bit on the phone and told him I haven't been able to sleep worrying that they are not happy with the work and he said that they are more than happy and just needed to talk about it.
Thanks again for all of your help in this matter. lesson learned.:jester:

will keep you update to the out come

 

[johnthepainter]

how can an old indian lie detector test involve duct tape?