I have been reading this great forum for about a month, so much information to absorb. In the past year I have purchased 2 sfh, which
I have renovated and have rented out with $150.00/mo cash flow.
My problem is the Property Management company that I am maintenance supervisor for. I have also invested with the owner of
company. The problem…I completed a renovation of a 2bd/1bath that I covered the expenses on, the house went into escrow while I was working on it. I was to be paid thru escrow at the closing. It closed last friday and I was not paid. I’ve got $19,000.00 tried up in it and need to get paid. I am not a contractor and I work for this company only. I’m in California. Any suggestions or input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks to all for your great knowledge laden site. ???
You can probably put a mechanic’s lien on it since you did work and did not get paid. Too bad you didn’t do this before it closed or they would not have had clear title.
Under California law a contractor must be licensed to file a mechanic’s lien – but an employee need not be licensed. The person claiming to be an employee would have to prove that he was not an unlicensed contractor. There are a number of time limits pertaining to the filing of this type of lien – for the amount of money involved here I would see a lawyer now. Since this property has already closed escrow, your rights may have been lost but you should be able to sue your employer.
In the future you should always file a Preliminary Notice within 20 days of starting work on a project. This notice may be served in person, by first class mail, registered or certified. It must be sent or given to the owner, the construction lender, and the prime contractor. Next, you have to record the lien. I suggest that you either get a good lawyer to help you or read a good text on legal aspects of real estate in California.
Good luck
Thank you both for your replly, can you suggest a good text to read? I’ve contacted an attorney and will meet withhimthiss week.
Property Manager do you have any suggestions? Thank you in adavnce.
Hi Bybeerc,
While you are addressing your loss of the $19,000 plus whatever you spend on attorney’s fees, you’ll probably want to start looking for another job. The road you are about to venture out on will lead to a major dispute with your employer in addition to the fact that if they would do something like this to you, they’re clearly not credible or trustworthy. Not the kind of place I’d work.
This is not a ‘property management problem’ but an unethical business person problem. Not all property management companies operate this way. Many do, but many do not.
Good luck to you.
Cate
You are leaving out key pieces of information. Have you talked with the owner yet? What did he say? What was your original partnership agreement? Did you get paid to do the work only or will you get some of the profit too? ETC ETC
I was to be for doing the work on this property, no profit split on it. I also do all the maintenance work on a dozen other propertis for this company. I’m usually paid when work is completed. The owner has gotten behind in payment the last couple of months. I have become aware of some other facts this past week. Like forged douments on deeds and trust deeds, so I am definately getting out of this position once I get paid off. I spoke with the assisant manager yesterday and she is leaving also but he owes her money too. She’s found some things that she feels are illagal that he has been doing and does notwant to be connected with him any longer. It’s turning into a bigger mess the either ofus relized. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks again.
Yes, I spoke with him regarding non payment and he is saying he has moneycoming in from someplace else to cover this. I can’t get a straight answer as to when and where. He will not meet with me personnally it’s all been over the phone since this happened. I want paperwork stating he owes this money but he is not wanting to do that. The fact that I submitted paperwork as requested to escrow as did the assisant manager and neither of us were paid does not seem right. I thought by submitting the papers we shouldhave gotten paid. Escrow did not notiy either of us that we were not going to be paid. Is it escrows responsibility to notify those withbillstobe paidthru escrowthatthey will not receivepayment?
It is not the job of the escrow company to tell anyone that they will not be paid. Escrow has to do what the principals in a transaction tell them to do. Both buyer and seller have to agree and then instruct escrow in writing to do an action or who and how much to pay someone.
A good text is “California Real Estate Law” by William H. Pivar & Robert J. Bruss published in 2005 by Dearborn Real Estate Education. ISBN-13: 978-1-4195-1516-3.
Thank you for the text I will pick it up tommarrow. It just seems odd that he would tell me to submit paperwork to escrow and then not pay it. So it had to be signed by owners to have it paid thru escrow and hedid not sign it. I have his memo stating I would be paid thru escrow so hopefully this will help my case. I’m going to really do some investigating on all the properties he has had me work on and any others he has had deals on. The assisant manager has been checking out the deals she has paperwork on and has found more questionable signatures and insurances and loans that are o.o. when these are rentals. It seems to be moreunethical the more we look into it.