That contractor guy left a lien on my house for work he never finished

I hired a local handyman from Craigslist to fix my patio in Austin, paid him $1,200 up front (big mistake), and he stopped showing up after three days. Now I found out he filed a mechanic's lien against my property for 'materials supplied' even though he never brought anything but a busted mixer. Has anyone else dealt with getting a bogus lien removed without paying a lawyer hundreds?

2 comments

2 Comments

mila_sullivan14d ago

Did you try contacting the county clerk where they filed the lien? Tbh sometimes those offices have a form you can fill out to dispute it without needing a lawyer, just a small fee. Ngl your best bet might be to go straight to small claims court like that other person said and bring every receipt and message you have.

wilson.claire14d ago

My buddy in Round Rock had almost the exact same thing happen with a fence guy who took $800 and ghosted him. He ended up filing a "suit to remove" through small claims court for like 50 bucks, showed the judge screenshots of the texts where the guy admitted he never bought materials, and it got tossed out in about a month.