mechanical lein

Date 02-27-2011 00:57

As you can see by the title this is a bad place to find yourself. I am starting to think I may need to file a mechanical lein on a former employer and am wondering if any of y'all have had to do the same and if so what are some pointers you can give. Just to give some specifics but not enough to be particular. I am a copntract rig welder in Pa working for an outfit here in Pa. based out of Texas. I have worked for them since the start of the year and now they are trying to hold my last check because of an inssue with billing from the begining of January. The issue was hashed out and a solution was agreed upon by myself and the outift. I wrote a new bill and both myself and the upper managament signed the ticket. it has been about 2 weeks since the final bill has been signed and no payment. The work that needs to be payed for is about a month old now. Therefore in short I am trying to collect payment for work preformed about month ago and they are holding my check becuase of an issue with work preformed 2 months ago. I have started to look into the mechanical lein as a way of geting my money but am wondering how to do it. Do I file it in Pa. against the shop here or try to file it against the head quarters there in Texas. Also if a lawyer needs to be contacted which one do you need to find that is knowledgble with these type of matters.I REALLY don't want to have to do this as I am a very peaceful person but I can't stand for a company to wrong me any more than they already have, (politely put). So please any help or advice with this matter will be greatly appreaciated. Again this is a last ditch effort but I don't want to burn up anymore of my time waited for something that may not come without a little persuation.

Thanks

By 1mancrew (**)

Date 02-27-2011 09:15

J.ustahand.

I feel for you. Been there myself a couple of times.

First thing, yes contact a good business lawyer and even he will likely refer you to an attorney who specializes in filing leins. Do not attempt to file one yourself. If you misspell something or make an error in punctuation it will be thrown out.

Secondly, I believe you will need to do this in the area where the work was performed since you are leining an asset (equipment,,facilities, etc) not the company itself.

For what its worth I only started this after the thirty day mark but it all depends on your terms. My invoices gave customers thirty to pay. But, you may start anytime you feel you no longer stand a reasonable chance of collecting. If however you wait more than 120 days, you are out of luck. Statute of limitations expires and you will have very little recourse beyond this point.

Hope some of this helps. I'll check back on this post and see if I can be of any further assistance.

GH Weidman

By NWPAwelder (**)

Date 02-27-2011 11:06

" If however you wait more than 120 days, you are out of luck. Statute of limitations expires and you will have very little recourse beyond this point. "

This is an interesting point you make. I have heard of some of the companies being 120 days out to pay you, but never have had to experience it. (and hope I dont) Never heard about the 120 day statute. I have heard of subs putting leins against the facilities owners which then prompt those owners to get involved and have known that this sometimes is enough to make the company in default pay if they want any continued business with the owner. This may not always work, but it may be worth writing a formal letter to the deadbeat in hopes of making them realize that it is goping to the next level of collection.

By Cumminsguy71 (*****)

Date 02-27-2011 13:20

This is a good post and I will be watching intently as I too have found a deadbeat. 35 days out I called, "oh, the check is on my desk and going out today". Two weeks later still no check and considering that maybe I'll just go remove the gate I installed that is still mine. I'll be checking back here on this thread for sure.

By joe pirie (***)

Date 03-07-2011 13:30

I do believe once you attach the gate to their property you can no longer
legally remove it even if they haven't paid you .be careful hate to see someone get in trouble
what is morally right but might be legally wrong

By Cumminsguy71 (*****)

Date 03-07-2011 16:16

I figured if it came down to it I'd call one of them sharks....I mean lawyer. Sent them an ugly fax with another invoice explaining to them that they promised to pay within 30 days when I agreed to the job. Told them it was two days before Christmas when the called in a rush and I made a special trip 200 miles away to pick up their decking and another to pick up the steel and had it completed the next week in order to satisfy their client and then ended it with "and now we are 30 days past due on top of the 30 I expected. Sent that last monday, got check in mail on thursday.

By Cactusthewelder (*****)

Date 02-27-2011 14:06

All you have to do is call the Drilling Contractor that the work was done for. Tell them you are about to lien their Rig. You will be suprised how fast you get paid

By hillbilly delux (***)

Date 02-27-2011 14:01 Edited 02-27-2011 14:11

It always seems ironic when you sub to a main contractor and you never have a billing issue untill you finnish the job and for some reason your invoice gets tossed in the trash or lost in the acountants paperwork. I have been truly burned once. But usually if you kill them with kindness they eventually get you paid. Which maybe three months from today. (I call that my savings account) I know this is not the most professional approach but I have done this manuver on two occasions and have had good success with it, Keeping in mind that you probably wont be doing business with that particular main contractor again. Once for an invoice of 64k and another for 16k (if its a 2k invoice I just write it off as a loss). What I did on one was just drive right to Sheridan Wy from Oklahoma and just straight walked up in the main office open the owners office door and asked if we had a problem. I got paid on the spot. Another time I had to pull this manuver the one for 64k I drove from Oklahoma to ND walked right into the monday morning corprate meeting and started snatching up company truck keys and said I am getting paid today one way or the other. I that one got pretty hairy but I did leave there with a check in hand. They even called me two months latter to do some more work for them. Guess when you need the work done it dosent matter cause it all come down to you need a guy to do that work. Also you can call the gas company that the main contractor is working for and report a problem that usually works and another is to option is report it to the better buisness beuro.

By 1mancrew (**)

Date 02-27-2011 16:46

One more point I forgot to make in my initial reply is that it might be worth it for you to spend a little money with an attorney and have him write a service contract for you. You would get your customers to sign this before you start to work for them. You spell out things like rates, payment terms, what is incuded/not included in you hourly rate, etc. Most importantly, when worded properly this contract allows your attorney to collect late fees and penalties from the customer. Also they may end up paying your attorney fees, not you!

I had one written up and I am secretly hoping somebody stiffs me so I can see this thing work.

GH Weidman

By 99205

Date 02-27-2011 18:48

Another thing you may want to put into that service contract is a "Payment Due Performance Clause". It should have 45 day, 60 day and 90 day and then every 30 day payment penalty.

By justahand (*)

Date 02-27-2011 22:17

Thanks for all the replies. Uhnfortanetly the company I did the the work for in not a rig company and I did the work in their shop. So unfortanetly I cannot threaten a rig with a lein, or even their main customers as the work I am triyng to collect was work preformed directly for the company that contracted/employed me. So that kinda limits the outside pressure from other and bigger people leining on this smaller outfit as they would want the lein to be taken off of them. Also I appreciate the suggestion to have an attorney establish my own contract. So in essence when I go to work for a company as acontractor I sign their contract stating what they expect of me and then I get them to sign my contract stating my expectations in regards to what is supplied, billing methods and timeframes, etc. Again thanks for all your input and I will keep y'all up to date as to what is happening with the situation.