Legal Question in Business Law in Virginia

Re: warrant in debt subcontractor not paid

Your defense is "payment in full." If you have paid the contractor in full, you should not have been sued and a mechanics lien would not have worked for the sub (since payment in full to the contractor is a defense to a lien). Take your paid receipts and canceled checks to court with you on the date on the warrant in debt and show them to the judge.

Re: warrant in debt subcontractor not paid

Yes, you appear to be correct regarding the mechanic's lien remedy rather than the warrant in debt with respect to your involvement in the matter. However, strict time frames apply to such liens and the subcontractor probably allowed too much time to elapse before taking action and, consequently, the warrant in debt action was all that likely remained to him as a practical matter.

Your defense should be just as you've indicated, i.e., you've already remitted payment in full to the contractor in conformance with your contract and the plaintiff's remedy(if any)lies not against you but rather soley against the contractor, and, therefore, the court should dismiss you from the case. This should form the basis for your answer to this warrant which must be filed with the court within 21 days.

Re: warrant in debt subcontractor not paid

Your defense is the payment you made to the only party with whom you had a contract. The contractor has now exposed you to litigation because of their nonpayment under their subcontract. A call to the subcontractor's counsel and showing him or her proof of payment may result in you being voluntarily dismissed. Unless this is pending in the small claims division, the corporation can only appear through an attorney licensed to practice law in Virginia.