Owning a home requires a lot of money. You have to pay the mortgage, pay for insurance and take care of everything that breaks. You also need to make regular upgrades if you want to eventually sell the property for a good price.
When you hire someone to make repairs, upgrades or expansions to your existing home, you likely make payment arrangements with them. You may pay them a portion of the cost up front and then more when they finish the work. If you don’t pay in full for services or labor, you could wind up facing a mechanics lien against your property.
Determining whether the lien is valid
The first step to take when you find out that there is a mechanics lien against your property is to validate it. You probably learned about the lien either because a contractor notified you of it or because you tried to sell your property or refinance your mortgage.
Sometimes, mistakes in communication can mean that a mechanics lien moves forward even after you have repaid your obligation to the business. You may have negotiated alternate terms with the contractor, possibly because of defects or other performance issues.
If the mechanics lien is valid, you will need to pay it off in order to have it removed from the title for your property. If it is not valid, you can request a court hearing and provide proof that you paid it or that the claim is not valid, thereby allowing a judge to remove it.
Anyone dealing with questionable liens on their property or other title issues will likely need legal help protecting one of their biggest investments.