How to protect oneself from overreaching Mechanic's liens? (1 Viewer)

[e9999]

Here in California, and likely in other states, there are apparently very strong laws about mechanic's liens on house work. As in if a contractor doesn't get paid he can put a lien on your house. Fair enough if applied judiciously.
However, it gets potentially nightmarish when it comes to subcontractors.
For instance, I will have my house fumigated. The pest control company will not do anything, they just subcontract to a fumigation company and tack on a fee. Annoying enough but there seems to be no choice. Where it can get bad is if I pay the pest control company but they don't pay their subcontractor -the fumigation company. Because the subcontractors can -I believe- still put a lien on the house even though I'd fully paid the contractor. Not very likely if I choose well but there is something very wrong with this scenario in principle. And the same goes for any work done by a general contractor I imagine.
So how do I protect myself if need be? One thought comes to mind and that is to make 2 checks: one to the pest control company and one to the fumigation company, but I kind of doubt the pest control company will go with that as it will reveal their fee. Some sort of release? Other ways to deal with this?
Or would I have enough recourse after the fact if the contractor is bonded?
Thoughts?

 

[ferg]

Have you addressed this concern with the prime contractor? Definitely address it with the sub before they start any work.

 

[Weedhopper]

That's easy

A written receipt from the pest guy paid in full. Then the sub has to get the money from the principal guy.

 

[Living in the Past]

This scary and not that uncommon. I found out I had a leave on my home for something that had nothing to do with me. Had a cousin with a pet grooming business. He lost someone's dog. Owner took him to court and got a five hundred dollar judgement against him. Didn't paid and person put a lien on my house. Same last name but his name is Jerome and my is John. He goes by Jay and court just used J and the last name. Cousin had other problems and his house was in his wife's name only. Only found out it was there because when applying for a pool loan the credit union said my credit was all good except for the lien I knew nothing about. Good the court to ammend the judgement to Jerome since he signed the document in court with his full name. Took a day off work getting it straightened out. Bothered me the court did not nodify me a able the loan. I didn't sell the house for almost thirty years after that. Nothing came up but not sure how I would have handle if I did. Hard to say if the court would even have the record I got ammended.

 

[snobdds]

Having a very good attorney on retainer is very handy to have. They will send a letter to the sub contractor informing them they better understand the procedure of the law, not just the intent.

The sub contractor just can't slap a lien on whatever they want, maybe in California, but the procedure of the law must be followed or they open themselves up to liability.

A good attorney will clear this up ASAP.