[sirtimo]

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Before you submit final payment to your contractor you are supposed to get an affidavit. He is supposed to prove that he has paid his contractors and that your property is free and clear of mechanic's liens. I'm guessing you didn't do this.

Did you even keep a retainage (10%?) of the Contractors fee?

If I were you, I'd first call your contractor and tell him to pay the guy, because he placed a lien on your property. If the Contractor is at all ethical, he will take care of it (especially since he f***ed you already by accepting final payment without paying his subs).

A phone call might be all it takes.

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I guess I didn't know about this kind of stuff, although it makes sense in retrospect. The thing is that my contractor would have signed something saying he paid all his subs because I'm sure he did. It's that the sub didn't pay his supplier.

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It goes on down the line. A reputable General Contractor should be getting 'release of lien' papers signed at every payment he gives to a sub. A sub providing turnkey materials + labor should be providing a signed 'release of lien' from his material supplier to the GC in order to get paid. Sounds like this isn't the case.

Anyway, you signed a contract with the GC not the sub or the supplier so that is who you deal with. The GC should pay the balance of what is due and backcharge his sub. Whether or not he is still in business don't matter, it's still a debt. If the GC doen't have it taken care of in 30 days, take him to small claims court.

oh, a lien on your house doesn't do any to you or the house until you try to sell it.