Mechanic's Liens

[MayDay]

Hello and thank you for your help!
I live in Missouri. We are wanting to have a new AC and furnace installed. The proposal has a little agreement at the bottom as such:
"Consent is hereby given for filing of Mechanic's Liens by any persons who supplies materials or services for the work described in this contract on the property on which it is located if they are not paid." What if the contractor isn't reliabe about paying his suppliers? Is there something to homeowner can do to prevent the filing of a Mechanic's Lien upon payment? Again, thank you.

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

My response:

Yes, there is.

You are correct in your thinking about the potential of the General Contractor taking the money and not paying the sub-contractors, leaving you to hold the "bag" - - twice.

Therefore, make sure that you get business cards and / or names, addresses and phone numbers from each and every person that steps onto your property to do any kind of work, big or small - - even if they are there to merely turn one screw.

Then, when the job is complete, you make sure that within 3 days of completion you get a fully signed and dated "Release of Mechanic's Lien" from each and every person on your list that you made up from the business cards, or otherwise. When you have all of the Releases in hand, then you hand over your check to the General Contractor. DO NOT SETTLE FOR LESS, AND DO NOT FALL FOR ANY "SONG AND DANCE" ROUTINE. YOU WANT THOSE RELEASES !

If even one person fails to sign such a Release, you tell the General Contractor that he'll get your check when that person's Release is delivered, or to hand over all bills he received from that nonreleasing sub-contractor for direct payment by you, and subtraction from the General Contractor's billing.

Otherwise, it's "No Deal".

IAAL

 

[JMac]

Though I have no legal expertise, based on my research due to a similar situation, I would agree with "I am always liable."

If you have an alternate contractor you're willing to work with, you may want to ask your preferred contractor to remove the statements completely or you won't sign with him. Then get the Mechanic's Lien waivers signed too.

I'm not sure how the whole thing will pan out if you sign the contract as is and get the subs to sign Mechanic's Lien waivers. Which would take presidence in court?