poor painting, mechanics lien?

[moxnix]

From CA: I signed a contract with a painting comapany to paint the exterior of my house.The painter checked boxes on the contract to sand,scrape, and spot prime all areas. He also specifically wrote : "Scrape, sand, prime all areas", "work to be done on consecutive days", and "daily progress reports". Work was done on non-consecutive days and no progress reports were given. More importantly, most areas were not scraped sanded or primed. You can see old paint in many spots. I told him on 3 occasions that I wanted the work completed per contract before I would pay. Contract also states (in his writing) "No payment due until full customer satisfaction". He has offered to touch up the work.
Now his Corp VP is threatening to attach a mechanics lien for the $1900 balance.
What are my options?
Thanks,
Steve

 

[HomeGuru]

File a complaint with the Contractors License Board.

 

[moxnix]

Thank you- I would certainly like to complain to the Board- but what happens after that? Do they investigate every complaint and does it mean anything to the contractor? Should I inform him of my intent as a method to get him to withdraw the lien threat? He has $350 of my deposit and I would almost prefer to finish the job myself at this point.
Thanks again,
Steve

 

[HomeGuru]

It's better than doing nothing.
Give them a call and find out.