[DPayne]

I've had a real estate attorney do work for me in exchange for me bringing him clients to use him for closings. Try some sort of barter if you don't want to spend the money. However, I think a threatening letter from an attorney will scare the ole contractor into paying you.

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The issue here is whether the costs (both financial and non-financial) are worth the benefits. The high costs associated with the legal process often make recovery of such small amounts (relative, of course) not worth pursuing.

[DPayne]

That is why i'm saying send a letter of some sort addressed from XYZ Law Firm with some wording threatening legal action and see what happens. It will tend to scare most people into paying, but if it doesnt, I wouldn't pursue it. I would just move on, with a lesson learned.

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Originally Posted by DPayne

That is why i'm saying send a letter of some sort addressed from XYZ Law Firm with some wording threatening legal action and see what happens. It will tend to scare most people into paying, but if it doesnt, I wouldn't pursue it. I would just move on, with a lesson learned.

Do you mean that he should hire an attorney to draft a demand letter, or write a letter himself but draft it so that it appears to have come from a lawyer?

Be sure to think this one through.

[DPayne]

No, I mean to hire an attorney to draft a demand letter. It won't be that expensive to do that. I would never recommend to pose as an attorney.

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OK. Thank you for clarifying that, as I was under the impression, from your previous post, that you were suggesting another course of action.

There are likely three options that would include hiring an attorney:

1) Pay the attorney by the hour just to draft the letter.
Pros: You will be able to find an attorney to do so.
Cons: If no payment is made, you are out the money.

2) Pay the attorney by the hour to draft a letter, and if necessary, pursue other legal remedies.
Pros: You will be able to find an attorney to do so.
Cons: If no payment is made, the cost of pursuing recovery could easily exceed the amount recoverable.

3) Hire an attorney on a contingent basis to pursue recovery of the amount owed.
Pros: If you are unable to recover, you will not be any worse off financially than when you started.
Cons: It may be difficult to find an attorney to take the case on a contingent basis, as the amount is very low and may require extensive time and effort for recovery.

This is my opinion, and not any form of legal advice, but it is worth considering. At the very least, you should speak with an attorney, if not several, in a free consultation to determine the best course of legal action.

[LookingforSuccess]

As a sub contractor in the state of VA. I can tell you a lawyer will be the expensive way to do what you can do yourself for $13. Go to the courthouse in the city / county the work was performed in and file a labor lien on the property. It doesn't matter that the contractor doesn't own said property, as soon as the property owner gets this labor lien, he will pay you and his lawyers will go after the contractor because as long as the property has a labor lien against it, it is worthless to the owner, he can not rent it or sell it.I have had to do this a few times and it has never failed to get me paid within a week.

[DPayne]

I thought about recommending a mechanics lean on the property, LookingforSuccess, but my personal ethics tell me not to get the property owner involved in a dispute between a contractor and myself. I see where you are coming from, but I hate to get people involved who did contribute to the problem. Just my $.02

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Originally Posted by DPayne

I thought about recommending a mechanics lean on the property, LookingforSuccess, but my personal ethics tell me not to get the property owner involved in a dispute between a contractor and myself. I see where you are coming from, but I hate to get people involved who did contribute to the problem. Just my $.02

As with previous suggestions, you should consult an attorney regarding a mechanic's lien, or any other legal remedy.

DPayne, didn't the property owner contribute to the problem by hiring the contractor? Didn't the property owner know, or at least shouldn't the property owner have known, that a mechanic's lien could be placed on his property if the contractor failed to pay any subcontractors (assuming that is the law in that state)? Isn't that a risk that the property owner knowingly accepted?

And for that matter, isn't a subcontractor's right to assert a mechanic's lien against a property in such circumstances a situation which the state's legislators considered and deemed necessary in order to protect such subcontractors?

[DPayne]

Yes, Jonathan, the property owner accepts that risk when hiring a contractor. I know legally this is a remedy to solve this problem, but I guess being a real estate guy, I understand that some contractors (if not most) are flakes, but most are great at hiding it. This being said it makes it hard for me personally to recommend a mechanics lean. Legally, it is perfectly fine, but my personal convictions make this the last resort. I don't like dumping my problems on the property owner. If the contractor owned the property, it would be a completely different story . I would have liens all over the place.

[LookingforSuccess]

Let's view this from the sub-contractors point for a minute. I provide materials and the labor of my crew which on some jobs can end up being a large sum of money. I'm sorry but someone will eat that cost and if I let it be me then I wouldn't stay in business long at all. The bottom line is no matter if I get paid or not I have already supplied the materials that the property owner is benefiting from, I have to still pay my employees because my ethics tell me that they did the work with all trust that I would collect and pay them just as I trusted the contractor. Now it is my job to collect and if it means inconveniencing the property owner, so be it.

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A subcontractor's lien against a property is merely a means of shifting risk. The property owner accepted this risk, that if he hired a contractor who did not pay the subcontractors, it would be the property owner's responsibility to recover against the contractor. The property owner could just have easily contracted this shift in ri