After practicing law for almost three decades, I am glad to see that I have not become jaded. Occasionally, I find a client’s problem particularly sad. Often times, the sadness is a result of my knowing that the client could have easily avoided the problem, if only he had known what to do. My firm’s moto is “Life Requires Navigation”. Navigation means knowing exactly where you want to go and how to get there. Getting off course can be expensive if not dangerous.
A few days ago, an elderly gentleman came to my office for help. It is easy to have a soft spot for senior citizens, but this gentleman took the cake. He was the kindest old soul that I have met with in quite some time. He was so kind, you might even call him naïve. He was trusting and expected everyone to treat him as he would treat them
This client had hired a roofer to put a new roof on his house. The roofer did just that and at a fair price. The work was well done, neat and prompt. My client paid the contractor for the work. A few weeks later my client found out that the roofer had not paid for the shingles, and that the supplier of the shingles had placed a lien on my client’s house for $5,000. The roofer cannot be found. He appeared to be legitimate, but the roofer turned out to be a scoundrel. My client had to pay the shingle supplier in order to have the lien released and avoid foreclosure of his home.
The point of this sad story is that the client did nothing wrong, but there was little I could do to help him. That is a very sad situation made even worse when the victim is a truly nice elderly gentleman. The client simply did not know how to navigate the construction process.
Whenever you are about to enter into a contract involving a substantial amount of money, contact an attorney and get some advice before signing the contract. In other words, “Life Requires Navigation”. Whenever you enter into a contract, you are about to take a journey. Be sure to get good directions; make sure you understand the route; and know where you will be at the end of the journey. This applies to not just this specific issue, but to any situation involving a contract.
In this specific case, Chapter 713 of the Florida Statutes provides that all subcontractors, suppliers, and laborers for construction projects can become lien holders on the property if they are not paid. Those construction liens can be foreclosed and the property can be taken by the subcontractor. Property owners can protect themselves by getting lien waivers from the subcontractors and suppliers before paying the general contractor. My client simply did not know to demand a lien waiver from the shingle supplier before he paid his roofer. Imagine how easy it would have been to tell the roofer “I’ll be happy to pay you just as soon as you give me the supplier’s lien waiver”.
The moral of this sad story is not that Florida Construction law is unfair, or that my client should have known better, or that the dishonest roofer should not have been granted a contractor’s license. The moral of the story is that “Life Requires Navigation”. Protect yourself by getting proper directions. Here at Jay McClendon, P.A. we stand ready to help you with construction law issues and a wide variety of other legal matters as well.