Kid comes for a while on Thursday, we are never home, we request they come on Sat, they say not possible. We say no thank you we won’t do business. – After this point, if the kid comes on the property, he is trespassing/breaking and entering – all depending upon how he is getting on the property. When you saw him at your property later, you should not have complained about the service. This would indicate that you tacitly agreed to the continued implied contract despite saying otherwise earlier. You should have yelled at him about trespassing, stopped him, called his boss and called the cops with license and description – you had earlier refused service. Complaining about it now can negate your refusal of service underlines above and indicate that you did have an agreement. The locking of the gate here might help you prove that you no longer wanted service.
We know they came for maybe 2-3 months (never received a bill, nor do we have a contract). – This should present a problem for getting a mechanics lien. The pool service contractor needs to prove that there is a business deal.
Before we can pay he continues to call leaving voicemails and texts and within days sends a text informing us he put a mechanics lien against us and we should “enjoy.”Check with the city if there is now a mechanics lien. It needs to be attached to the property title.
One very important thing I have to say is be consistent on your approach, any changes in direction/intent will undermine you particularly if you have to go to court. Don’t cancel service and then complain about poor service if they still go on your property (did you cancel service or didn’t you?. Don’t consider paying to get ‘out from under’ and then try to argue against the lien.(Is there cause for the lien or not?)
*And have a book/notebook logging every contact/conversation etc – by date and time and method of contact. This is to create a journal, useful if you have to fight something.
Now crazy boss is chest thumping and screaming when we try to call him. We decide to no longer answer his calls.This could also help if you had logged it as it was happening. There are legal guidelines on how debts are collected.
If a contractor puts a mechanics lien on a property illegally, they can lose their license. I also suspect that to place a mechanics lien on the property, they need a valid contractors license. Do they have a contractors license?
