Good news on the bond claim. If you have clear proof, which it sounds like you do, the bond route is a good way to reduce your losses.
Your right about arbitration costing both parties. If it’s a large claim, it costs more… and if the other party can’t won’t pay you can either pay more (pay their portion) or the AAA will halt the process. IMO it’s a very consumer unfriendly system.
Mechanics Lien-update
Here is the latest..
Had two suppliers that had not been paid and I chose to pay them off to avoid liens on my home. Put some pressure on contractor-he was able to reimburse me for one lien for around $3000. Checks cleared-yeah!
I put in claim against his bond for second lien of $13,500. His bond was $12,500 which is the standard size bond for contractors. I emailed all docs to Insurance company and they take the first 15 days to review my paperwork and contact the contractor to hear their side of the story. If no other claims filed in the next 30 days then Insurance company will send me the check for $12,500.
Lesson learned- at the first sign of an issue-immediately file a claim with the Insurance company and pray no other claims are filed within the 45 day period. If other valid claims are filed the proceeds will be distributed pro-rats. If a claim is filed after you receive the check- to bad for the other claimants as bond is exhausted. Thanks to all of you who helped guide me through this. If you have a job bigger than $12,500, I suggest either paying the suppliers/subs directly or getting an Unconditional Release of Lien from every sub or supplier or you bear the risk.
Over
Thanks for sharing the details of your story, booter. It’s so helpful to hear about these cases, because I think many people tend to think that hiring a “licensed and bonded” contractor gives them more protections than it really does.
If not for UCGal, we probably wouldn’t have known to get **unconditional** lien releases before paying for various phases of the work.
Glad to hear things look pretty good for you on this deal. I hope you end up getting 100%, but even if you only get the $12,500, it’s a lot better than zero.
Best of luck to you as this gets sorted out.