Name:   Lifer - Subject:   None so blind as he who will not see Date:   5/26/2018 9:26:16 PM (updated 5/26/2018 9:39:11 PM)

Hound your lawyer gave you some bad info. A lein can be filed without a contract. No contract or proof thereof is required to file the Lein. I known this from personal experience. I have an active lein against a property right now. I know  what it took to file it, which was filling out the forms and paying the nominal fee. The only way to have it removed is to negotiate or go to court and let a judge settle it. Then a contract will be helpful, but not required to be in writing. A verbal agreement is as good  and  binding as a written contract, just not as easy to prove.

In your case he could easily file the lein but would most likely loose in court when challenged as long as you show proof you paid the general contractor. The subs issue is with the general contractor who didn't pay him, not you. It is nice threat to hold over a homeowner, but has very weak legal standing. Most get settled because it is cheaper to pay something to the sub-contractor and get an immediate release than it is to pay lawyers to fight it out in court.

I am not a lawyer but I know I am correct. There are lawyers that read the forum. If I am wrong let any of them come on here a make a case for anything other than what I have written. As my name is well known anything short of a lawyer stating his real name and putting him reputation on the line will not be accepted however.

If one does I will promptly apologize for posting "fake news" and move on, but I know I am right as I have actually done it. Most lawyers never have and never will. They deal in text book law and not real world law. I'm sure the textbooks say you need a contract to win a lein but you most certainly don't have to have one to file it. The lein process was  instituted to give small business folks an access point to the courts without having to hire lawyers. If the subcontractor you dealt with didn't file the lein I am certain  he knew he didn't have a leg to stand on and was simply trying to scare you into paying him. He certainly deserved to be paid, but by the GC that hired him, not you. As long as you paid the GC and I  am certain you did.

And to answer your question, absolutely a title search would absolutely answer the question. Earlier in the thread I offered to hook him up with a very competent one. A very dear friend of mine that I actually called you sister. She happens to be asleep in the recliner within arms reach of me as I type this. If you were in Tallapoosa County instead of Coosa I would actually check to see I'd the sub-contractor actually followed through with his threat to file a lein. If he did you wouldn't know it without doing a search. You don't have to hire an abstracted to find d out. You can probably just call the courthouse and ask for the records room and ask whoever answers the phone. It is probably worth finding g out now as opposed to later. If you can't contact me and I can ill be happy to meet you at the courthouse in Rockford and search it out for you. I doubt he did but you need to find out before more time passes.