[quote=svelte]The problem, of course, is that the materials that were not paid for are now a part of your house so the subs have no alternative but to lien your property.
I have also talked to ppl who found a way around this problem. They refused to pay the GC for materials, had the materials drop-shipped to their lot, and wrote a check to the delivery person when the material arrived. I’m sure they met with some resistance to this path, but it is the only way I know of to ensure you pay for materials only once.[/quote]
We did exactly this the first time (big red flag) our first thief contractor threatened to abandon the job… The concrete truck was out front with the mix for retaining walls. The special inspector (another extra expense the city imposed on us) was there being paid by the hour. The crew to do the mortor was there. And the thief contractor threatened to walk off if we didn’t give him more money so he could pay the concrete guy. We paid the concrete guy directly.
2 weeks later he tried to pull the same type of stuff – but with framing materials. We offered to write joint checks. He skoffed at the idea even though that is the advice our newly hired attorney gave us AND the CSLB website suggested.
When he walked off the job, with lots of our money we learned the ins and outs of liens. We had 4 liens filed against us – but 3 were more than 20 days from when the work was done (so they were invalid.) We ended up double paying the 4th one because we wanted him to finish the slab – which was a hazard. (Footings dug, rebar sticking up – a lawsuit waiting to happen if someone fell/tripped/etc.)
We found out, after the fact, that our contractor had done the same thing to two other people. Including forging lien releases from the sub. So I’d add to Carli’s advise about getting lien releases… VERIFY with the sub that they issued the lien release.
PS – We’re considering seeing if our suit – if we go forward would qualify under RICO, since he has made a pattern of how he rips people off. That would also lift the veil of corporation and we could go after personal assets.
