ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Can He Do That? What is the Law where you are?

From personal experience as a consumer - here in MO - Tom's comments hold true.

If the contractor did not pay for materials then the homeowner is liable. The sub or supplier (as is often the case) can put a lien on the property and that is all they can do.

Again, just like Tom said here in MO it is a very good idea to get the waivers from the subs and suppliers.

What would be interesting is to know why this law works this way. Could be that at one time homeowners and contractors were scheming to cheat the subs?

Or maybe it was just the contractors and the lawmakers determined that shifting liability to the homeowner would force them keep contractor honest.

Just reading back through some older threads and this one really struck me as rather strange.
That plumber really sounds like a dodgy sort of character.
You wouldn't get away with that here!.

I seem to remember from law class that the same apply in Sweden. Perhaps this is more or less universal. At least here it is easy to hand the case to the (state) enforcement and get them to extract the money.

From Tom:

...and California

Wow,
You guys have Marae's in CA as well?.

Hey Trunpy,
What exactly is a Marae? The above def was lacking. Also, what is the law down there?

Gidday there EE!.
Pretty much, a Marae is the central point of all Maori community activities.
It is built on a site called a Pa.
The Marae is used for greeting guests to the Pa, (called a Pohiri), community meetings (called a Hui) and also for funerals (called a Tangi).
The Marae is a very traditional place and there are a lot of rules and protocols to be followed while "on" the Marae.
But, I could go on for ever and send everyone to sleep.
However, the laws here, with regard to this situation with the plumber not being paid and returning to repossess the equipment, would make the plumber liable to tresspassing and theft charges, as it is the guy that he was formerly employed by that he should be seeing about payment.
Besides, what would ripping all the work out solve anyway?. Duh!!

Also from what I understand, which is not much, the Mäori men are known to be a bit on the violent side. There culture was once a Warrior based until european colonization, with great pride taken at feeling no pain, and usually very large men who enjoyed a physical challange. I was Stationed in the US military with one, he was not one to be messed with. 6'5" 300lbs, and hands about the sized of bowling balls. The Plumber might have a harder time trying to extract anything if men were involved, or wouldn't bother to try. Just my opinion... Reguardless, the Plumber should be going after the one who hired him.

Each state here in the US has slightly different rules for filing leins so we should all know what those rules are in our area. In Maryland you have 180 days to file a lein, but if you are working through a general contractor and have no contract directly with the homeowner, you only have 120 days to notify the owner you are going to file a lein. If the contractor has already been paid you are SOL here.