Legal Question in Construction Law in New Jersey

Can this lien be enforced?

Our contractor filed a residential constuction lien on our house without first filing an NUB with the county clerk in our county. Furthermore he claimed that we were notified by mail on a given date and we did not receive that notice. In addition he mistated the full cost of the work, claiming that the amount he claim we owe him is the same as the total cost of the work (What he claims we owe is less than 10% of what we have already paid him). Oh, and we do not have a written contract. This may be off-point, but we can document numerous violations consistent with more common practices that occur in home improvement construction that may allow a home improvement practices/consumer fraud remedy listed on the NJ State Bar website.

Can this lien be enforced and what can we do to have this lien removed?


Asked on 10/20/06, 4:35 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
John Corbett Corbett Law Firm LLC

Re: Can this lien be enforced?

The Construction Lien Law has been changed and, among other things, does not require the contractor to file advanced notice of the lien in the form of a notice of intent. That said, it does look as if this lien is improper in some respects.

Your most direct approach to the problem is to sue to have the lien removed. The suit would involve a demand for specific performance and you should not try this yourself unless you are familiar with both the Construction Lien Law and the Rules of Court. Depending on what is defective in the lien, you may be able to recover some of your attorney's fees as part of the suit. That can only be evaluated after a full review of the facts.

See also: http://info.corbettlaw.net/lawguru.htm

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Answered on 10/22/06, 10:16 am


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