Legal Question in Civil Litigation in North Carolina

My husband is a subcontractor in NC He installed cabinets for a Cabinet Company who is out of state. The Cabinet company has not paid him. Last time he worked in the house is less than 120 days, We filed in Iredell County "Notice of Claim of Lien upon Funds by First Second, or Third tier Contactor. We listed the homeowners, Contractor and the cabinet company. We have been adivsed that we need to perfect the lien with a lawsuit.

1. How do we file a lawsuit?

2. Since the amount is less than $5000.00, can we file small claims against the homeowner, contractor or cabinet company?

3. Should we file a mechanic lien on the property?

4. Is there any other questions we should ask?

Thank you for your time.


Asked on 4/06/11, 10:56 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Jeff Rosner Rosner Law Firm P.A.

Unforutnately these are situations where you really need an attorney. There are too many different things to explain on this fact scenario - for instance did you serve the notice of claim of lien on funds on the parties? You may have no claim against the owner at all if you did not serve him with a notice of claim of lien. Also if the owner has already paid the contractor in full, you have no claim against the owner.

You cannot file a small claims action against anyone to enforce a lien. You can usually just file a small claims action against the cabinet company for breach of contract but I don't think you can even sue in small claims if this is an out of state defendant.

- Jeff

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Answered on 4/06/11, 1:24 pm


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