Basically, if you go to court and get a get a judgment, you can file a lien. That's not the same thing, however, as a Mechanics and Materialman's lien. They can file a lien under their state's code without obtaining a judgment. So, for example, if a contractor does a major repair on your home but fails to pay the lumber yard for the lumber, the lumber yard, under most state's laws, would have a lien against your home for the lumber without having to have first obtained a judgment. Put it this way, the burden is on you, the homeowner, to clear that lien and you've got to do it without the lumber yard having first obtained a judgment. On the other hand, as a landman, having been unpaid for an unreasonable period of time are not like the lumber yard. You've got to go to court and get a judgment. So, when a landman says if he's not paid he's going to file a lien, he's spitting up wind. He's got to go to court and get a judgment first. Sorry for the extremely long explanation but it was the best way to explain it.
03-13-2002, 11:51 PM
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