{"id":897949,"date":"2020-09-15T14:21:24","date_gmt":"2020-09-15T20:21:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=897949"},"modified":"2020-09-15T14:21:28","modified_gmt":"2020-09-15T20:21:28","slug":"construction-liens-what-not-to-do","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/construction-liens-what-not-to-do\/","title":{"rendered":"Don&#8217;t do this When it Comes to Construction Liens"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>David Adelstein | <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.floridaconstructionlegalupdates.com\/dont-do-this-when-it-comes-to-construction-liens\/\" target=\"_blank\">Florida Construction Legal Updates<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When it comes to preparing and recording a\u00a0<strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/construction-liens-florida-timing-manner-perfection-critical\/\">construction lien<\/a><\/strong>, this case is an example of what NOT TO DO! \u00a0 I mean it \u2014 this exemplifies what NOT TO DO! \u00a0It is also a case study of why a party should always work with counsel in preparing a construction lien so that you can avoid the outcome in this case\u2013your lien being deemed\u00a0fraudulent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In&nbsp;<em>Witters Contracting Company v. West<\/em>, 2020 WL 4030845 (Fla. 2d DCA 2020), homeowners hired a contractor to renovate their home under a cost-plus arrangement where the contractor was entitled to a 10% fee on construction costs.&nbsp; The contract also required extra work to be agreed in writing between the owner and contractor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During construction a dispute arose.&nbsp; The contractor texted the owner that it will cancel the permit and record a $100,000 construction lien if the owner did not pay it $30,000.&nbsp;&nbsp; Shortly thereafter, the contractor\u2019s counsel sent the homeowners a demand for $59,706 with back-up documentation.&nbsp; Less than a week later, the contractor recorded a construction lien for $75,000.&nbsp; The owners initiated a lawsuit against the contractor that included a claim for fraudulent lien.&nbsp; The contractor then amended its construction lien for $87,239.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The trial court found that the contractor\u2019s claim of lien was&nbsp;<strong>fraudulent<\/strong>&nbsp;because it was compiled \u201c<strong>with such gross negligence as to the amount claims therein to constitute willful exaggerations<\/strong>.\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp; A trial was held on damages and $87,239 was awarded as punitive damages against the contractor, plus attorney\u2019s fees and costs, all of which were permissible when a lien is deemed to be a<strong>&nbsp;fraudulent lien<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Think about it.&nbsp; The contractor asked for $30,000 under the threat it will record a $100,000 lien.&nbsp; It then sent a demand letter for $59,706.&nbsp; Then it recorded a construction lien for $75,000.&nbsp; Then it amended the construction lien to $87,239.&nbsp; This was all in a very short time period.&nbsp; And, this is likely why the lien was deemed to have been compiled with such gross negligence as the contractor, evidently, had no clue what he was owed under the cost-plus contract or, if he did, he went about it incorrectly. &nbsp;It is possible the contractor was owed something, but the manner in which he went about it created the wrong perception. &nbsp;It is unclear whether his counsel was involved in preparing the lien or why the lien was different from the amount in the demand letter sent by counsel. &nbsp;Nevertheless, clearly, this is the perception you want to avoid and why working with counsel in preparing a lien is vital.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>David Adelstein | Florida Construction Legal Updates When it comes to preparing and recording a\u00a0construction lien, this case is an example of what NOT TO DO! \u00a0 I mean it \u2014 this exemplifies what NOT TO DO! \u00a0It is also a case study of why a party should always work with counsel in preparing a&hellip; <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/construction-liens-what-not-to-do\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Don&#8217;t do this When it Comes to Construction Liens<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10772],"tags":[9895,279,94,9016],"class_list":["post-897949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mechanics-lien-law","tag-advise-consult","tag-construction-lien","tag-florida","tag-fraud","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Don&#039;t do this When it Comes to Construction Liens - Advise &amp; Consult, Inc.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When it comes to preparing and recording a construction lien, this case is an example of what NOT TO DO! 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