When hiring a contractor, check those subcontractors, too
DUVALL, Wash. -- A couple thought they'd done everything right when they hired a contractor to install a new roof on their house. But after paying the contractor, they were threatened with a lien against their home.
"They were insured, they were bonded, all that. License was OK at the time that we checked," Mike Ethredge said of the company he and his wife hired last spring to install a new cedar shake roof on their Duvall home.
The couple is very pleased with the roof installation, but months after the work was done and paid for, they received notice of a lien against their home by a company that supplied some of the roofing materials. The primary contractor failed to pay the supplier, so the supplier came after Ethredge.
"It was approximately $12,000," Ethredge said.
By state law, if your contractor fails to pay sub-contractors, suppliers, or laborers, those who are owed money can look to your property for payment. But they must notify you within a certain time frame. Luckily for the Ethredges, they did some investigation and wife discovered the supplier had missed the notification deadline.
"It was a matter of timing," said Ethredge. The lien claim was dropped.
To avoid contractor liens, insist that the primary contractor disclose the names of all subs and suppliers on your project. Contact the suppliers if they don't contact you. By law, supplier and sub-contractors must notify you within 10 days of delivering materials to your home or completing work on your project.
When paying for work that involves a supplier or sub-contractor, make your payments by check, payable to both parties. That way both parties must endorse the check to get their money. Withhold final payment until you have a signed lien release from all suppliers and subs.
Even after you hire a contractor, keep checking their records on the state Department of Labor and Industries website. Things can change. In this case, the roofing contractor that appeared to be fine when the Ethredges first checked, started generating dozens of complaints after the work got under way. The Ethredges were not the only roofing customers to get nailed by this common contractor trap.
"When I found out about it, there were 30 other cases," Ethredge said.
Hiring A Contractor:
lni.wa.gov
apps.leg.wa.gov.
"They were insured, they were bonded, all that. License was OK at the time that we checked," Mike Ethredge said of the company he and his wife hired last spring to install a new cedar shake roof on their Duvall home.
The couple is very pleased with the roof installation, but months after the work was done and paid for, they received notice of a lien against their home by a company that supplied some of the roofing materials. The primary contractor failed to pay the supplier, so the supplier came after Ethredge.
"It was approximately $12,000," Ethredge said.
By state law, if your contractor fails to pay sub-contractors, suppliers, or laborers, those who are owed money can look to your property for payment. But they must notify you within a certain time frame. Luckily for the Ethredges, they did some investigation and wife discovered the supplier had missed the notification deadline.
"It was a matter of timing," said Ethredge. The lien claim was dropped.
To avoid contractor liens, insist that the primary contractor disclose the names of all subs and suppliers on your project. Contact the suppliers if they don't contact you. By law, supplier and sub-contractors must notify you within 10 days of delivering materials to your home or completing work on your project.
When paying for work that involves a supplier or sub-contractor, make your payments by check, payable to both parties. That way both parties must endorse the check to get their money. Withhold final payment until you have a signed lien release from all suppliers and subs.
Even after you hire a contractor, keep checking their records on the state Department of Labor and Industries website. Things can change. In this case, the roofing contractor that appeared to be fine when the Ethredges first checked, started generating dozens of complaints after the work got under way. The Ethredges were not the only roofing customers to get nailed by this common contractor trap.
"When I found out about it, there were 30 other cases," Ethredge said.
Hiring A Contractor:
lni.wa.gov
apps.leg.wa.gov.
