Contractor Lien advice

[rebekah.g]

Hi everyone I am hoping someone can help me. I know what a contractor lien is put dont know how to go about it. We have a problem with an owner which has been discussed on another page and the owner has county court judgements against them in the usa. We and a few other people who rented their property are having problems getting our security deposits back. We have been recommended if necessary and the time now is right to put a claim ( contractor lien) on their property which basically means when they sell their property or try to sell their property any monies owing are paid back. Sadly we really didnt want to have to take this step but with trying to speak to them via telephone, email, mobile and letter they dont give a damn how we are feeling.

could someone advise me how I go about this and is their a fee. The search engines dont really give us much information on this.

I look forward to some advice on this matter.


thank you

rebekah and Kevin

[florida4sun]

You can place a lien but it would mean nothing. A contractor lien is for construction costs i.e. A pool compnay will take out a lein on your home before doing any work, this ensures they can get there money if you default.
You could put a regular lein on the house and try and enforce it, this would be difficult to say the least. If you managed it then you would have to pay any property taxes that are due and also pay off the mortgage before you take out money owing to you (plus anyone else inline before you). Also the only people who can issue a lien are the ones directly owed money.



<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by rebekah.g
Hi everyone I am hoping someone can help me. I know what a contractor lien is put dont know how to go about it. We have a problem with an owner which has been discussed on another page and the owner has county court judgements against them in the usa. We and a few other people who rented their property are having problems getting our security deposits back. We have been recommended if necessary and the time now is right to put a claim ( contractor lien) on their property which basically means when they sell their property or try to sell their property any monies owing are paid back. Sadly we really didnt want to have to take this step but with trying to speak to them via telephone, email, mobile and letter they dont give a damn how we are feeling.

could someone advise me how I go about this and is their a fee. The search engines dont really give us much information on this.

I look forward to some advice on this matter.


thank you

rebekah and Kevin
[/quote]

[normajohnp]

Could you not go to the small claims court?
Norma

[flyrr100]

I'd go with the lien. With a lien on a property it'll never be sold. So if the owner want's to sell he'll have to clear all liens.
I'm doing my Florida State Realtors License.

[rebekah.g]

I thought this was connected with contractors myself when I read up on it but the one who advised me is someone who knows what they are talking about. I am going to look into this further.

I dont want this owner getting away with anything. They are a disgrace to real owners who want to make a go of their business and treat their holidaymakers with respect. These owners break every rule in the book. I want they to pay for what they have done to us and other families.

[florida4sun]

This is not correct, the lien has to link to construction work on the house. The debt is a personal one and not anything to with the house. You could take out a lien on the house but it would just fall away at closing. Its more of a scare tactic than anything else. Plus people need to know exactkly what they are getting into. 'If' the lien did work it would cost lots more than secuirty depoist to enforce.
Take anything they teach you at ifrec with a pinch of salt!!! Been there done that.

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by flyrr100
I'd go with the lien. With a lien on a property it'll never be sold. So if the owner want's to sell he'll have to clear all liens.
I'm doing my Florida State Realtors License.
[/quote]

[florida4sun]

Sorry but they are giving you the wrong advise, the problem is that you are not a contractor and you are not based in the USA. To place a lien you would need to go to the county court to do so (means flying over). Whilst every owner on OV would sympathise with you, I think this thread points out the merits of booking through somewhere like this site. <span style="color:red">For anyone reading this - the booking was NOT made through this site.</span id="red">
To try and get your money back, the only valid options I see are:

Dispute the charge if paid by Credit Card (by far the best)
Complain to the state (MC will give you details)
Complain to Licensing (MC will give you details)
If the owner is UK based go through the small claims court. This can be surprisingly usefull.

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by rebekah.g
I thought this was connected with contractors myself when I read up on it but the one who advised me is someone who knows what they are talking about. I am going to look into this further.

I dont want this owner getting away with anything. They are a disgrace to real owners who want to make a go of their business and treat their holidaymakers with respect. These owners break every rule in the book. I want they to pay for what they have done to us and other families.
[/quote]

[rebekah.g]

thank you Martin and others who have given us advise. Very much appreciated. I will take your advise I will try complaining to the state and the licensing. I was only just replying to one of the owners on this site who has been doing alot of work for me behind the scenes with other owners and they have given me alot of advise. They did mention the small claims court but in their experience can take up to three years. They suggested a debt collection agency. we may just go down that road.

I am hoping the other families who rented their villa have been watching this site and would dm me.

the mc isnt at all impressed with what has happened and wants to know the outcome as they dont want owners on their books who treat clients as we have been treated.

thank you
rebekah and kevin

[dcnurse]

Our management co. has defaulted on many bills eg. pool care, Lawn maintenance etc. Although we have been paying our mc (ex) for these services the money has not been passed on. These companies have now contacted us saying we are liable and if we dont pay they will place a lien on our property. Where do we stand with this? Any advise appreciated[msnscared]

[chrisflowers]

Unfortunately you are responsible for those bills.

Same thing happened to us at the begining of this year when we found our bills had not been paid and our utilities were being cut off, when the MC went bust and ran off with our money.

As they fled back to the UK, and not traceable, the advice we have been given is that a debt collection agency has more of a chance of sucess at retrieving your money, even though they take a cut. To use a small claims court you need correct info such as current address as otherwise the judgement cannot be enforced.

The owner Rebekah has been dealing with keeps moving house and not getting mail forwarded. As a result, it is not possible in our experience, to get very far in the small claims court in this instance.
[msncry][msncry]