Can another company put a lien on our home?

What is the name of your state? Michigan
We hired a company to concrete our driveway. A flyer was on our mailbox, that's how we heard of them. We got a decent estimate with a 10% discount if hiring them for the job right away. The owner and my husband both signed the paper stating the price for the job and a basic description of what would be done. No time frame for the job being completed is documented. The verbal estimate was 3 days, it's now going on over 2 weeks. We've paid the owner just over 1/2 of the agreed price. The owner just yesterday told the concrete driver we were supposed to pay him for the concrete he poured, which was not the deal. The concrete driver is now saying he is going to put a lien on our home if he doesn't get paid. He also said he's going to sit in our driveway to prevent another person from coming in and pouring additional concrete. The job is unfinished and the owner will not return calls. I couldn't find the company name listed in our counties DBA directory. The owner also threatened the concrete driver saying he was coming over to kick his "you know what". Also there were empty beer cans in the yard.
Any suggestions of steps we can take to get a handle on this situation?
Can the concrete driver put a lien on our home when our agreement wasn't with him?What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state?

First of all, read every single line of the contract your hubby signed. If I am not mistaken, your contract written/verbal is not with the concrete driver at all, now is it? Make certain he is not mentioned, and that his payment for services is also not mentioned.

Send a letter to the owner via certified mail, return/receipt requested stating that he has 10 days to complete the work or you will find another company to complete the job. At the end of those ten days, if work is not completed, you will forfeit your deposit and hire another company to complete the job. Include you telephone number and request that he call you immediately to attempt to remedy this situation. Determine during this call why the driver believes you should pay him, when you didn't hire him in the first place. (The way this works is you pay the contractor, and the contractor pays the sub, so I don't know why he's getting upset about getting paid unless he does n't trust the contractor to pay him). Anything agreed upon during the subsequent call should be put into writing as soon as possible and signed by both parties as an amendmend/addendum to the first contract within 72 hours of the agreement.

Should the concrete driver attempt to make good on his threat to block your driveway, get the license number from his truck, and contact the police immediately. If you see him boozing it up in the truck, contact the police and have him charged with drinking in public, open container in a vehicle, and possibly a DWI.

As far as the beer cans mentioned in your first post are concerned, they may have been dropped by some neighborhood teenagers drinking on the street. Unless you actually saw the driver drinking the beer and tossing them onto your property, this won't play into your case if it goes to court.

Hope this helps you out. Keep us "posted"

I have concerns about the driveway being partially poured. I believe the concrete slab will be compromised if new, wet cement is poured over the top or butting up against dried concrete. The wet won't bond with the drye. Someone with concrete expertise might comment. The whole thing (partial pour) might have to be torn out and re-poured?

hottensm said:

What is the name of your state? Michigan
We hired a company to concrete our driveway. A flyer was on our mailbox, that's how we heard of them. We got a decent estimate with a 10% discount if hiring them for the job right away. The owner and my husband both signed the paper stating the price for the job and a basic description of what would be done. No time frame for the job being completed is documented. The verbal estimate was 3 days, it's now going on over 2 weeks. We've paid the owner just over 1/2 of the agreed price. The owner just yesterday told the concrete driver we were supposed to pay him for the concrete he poured, which was not the deal. The concrete driver is now saying he is going to put a lien on our home if he doesn't get paid. He also said he's going to sit in our driveway to prevent another person from coming in and pouring additional concrete. The job is unfinished and the owner will not return calls. I couldn't find the company name listed in our counties DBA directory. The owner also threatened the concrete driver saying he was coming over to kick his "you know what". Also there were empty beer cans in the yard.
Any suggestions of steps we can take to get a handle on this situation?
Can the concrete driver put a lien on our home when our agreement wasn't with him?What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state?

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Can the concrete driver put a lien on our home when our agreement wasn't with him?

Yes, the owner-driver, or the concrete company, (whoever is supposed to be paid) can file a lien on your home because they provided material which is now part of your property and they weren't paid for it.

And LindaP777 is correct. The concrete is now set. If someone places new concrete in contact with the old concrete, there will be a cold joint and you'll have unsightly cracking in the future.
It depends on how the first concrete was placed, but a REAL professional concrete contractor can prep the old concrete to properly bond with the new concrete.

Thanks for the replies. My husband ended up paying the guy who poured the concrete. He told the guy he originally hired we were taking the money out of what we still owed him. The guy said ok but now he owes us $1200. (which i doubt we'll ever see)
My husband then hired a different peron to finish the job. So, now the concrete is done.
However, there is a mess from the first group. There are still 2 pieces of equipment that have been sitting out in our yard now since the job began. They are close to the same size as a push mower but are used to compact the dirst/stone prior to pouring the concrete. Not sure what to do about them. Cannot get in contact with original guy as phone #'s have been disconnected. My husband did not get an address either and there was nothing listed on the flyer. Also, there was a small saw....not sure what kind, that was left, a cooler full of empty water bottles and beer cans. (i picked most up from the grass), a jacket, a long hadled tool used to smooth the concrete, and a emptly 5 gallon bucket. (not to mention the pieces of 2 by 4's left laying around and other pieces of materials used to form the concrete). All this stuff is laying out close to the road and it's been quite embarrasing as the neighbors have been looking at quite an eye sore for the last 2-3 weeks.
Any suggestions as to what to do with the equipment?

danno6925 said:

(The way this works is you pay the contractor, and the contractor pays the sub, so I don't know why he's getting upset about getting paid unless he does n't trust the contractor to pay him).

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Quite often in concrete work the concrete is not added into the estimate for the simple fact that the price is always changing. It will be written into the contract that the homeowner is to pay for this cost when the concrete is delivered. OP should have read the contract in full and made sure that it was included.

hottensm said:

Thanks for the replies. My husband ended up paying the guy who poured the concrete. He told the guy he originally hired we were taking the money out of what we still owed him. The guy said ok but now he owes us $1200. (which i doubt we'll ever see)
My husband then hired a different peron to finish the job. So, now the concrete is done.
However, there is a mess from the first group. There are still 2 pieces of equipment that have been sitting out in our yard now since the job began. They are close to the same size as a push mower but are used to compact the dirst/stone prior to pouring the concrete. Not sure what to do about them. Cannot get in contact with original guy as phone #'s have been disconnected. My husband did not get an address either and there was nothing listed on the flyer. Also, there was a small saw....not sure what kind, that was left, a cooler full of empty water bottles and beer cans. (i picked most up from the grass), a jacket, a long hadled tool used to smooth the concrete, and a emptly 5 gallon bucket. (not to mention the pieces of 2 by 4's left laying around and other pieces of materials used to form the concrete). All this stuff is laying out close to the road and it's been quite embarrasing as the neighbors have been looking at quite an eye sore for the last 2-3 weeks.
Any suggestions as to what to do with the equipment?

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Move the stuff away from the road, find a way to contact the guy and send him a notice CRRR that if his equipment is ot picked up in 10 days (or whatever your state law says, it may be 30) that you will dispose of them as you see fit.

Then take the floater($139.00) the two compactors ( app. $600.00 each) and whatever else he left and sell it to recoup some of your money.