I have a question for you legal types out there...

N/a | 03/08/04 | Self

[Robe]

I have a question for you legal types out there... I am one of a couple craftsman who are owed money by a defunct home developer.

[Robe]

I have a question for you legal types out there... I am one of a couple craftsman who are owed money by a defunct home developer. He has liquidated his business assets and paid off some of his suppliers but not us. I have learned that today he has paid off his mortgage and sold his house to his 18yr old son for a $1.00. He and his wife continue to live at the home. Now here’s my question..... Has he committed attempted fraud buy hiding his assets from us?

[Chewbacca]

IMO the answer would be yes.
Take a lean out on his son's property.

[Jaysun]

I agree with Chewbacca. You can file a lien at your local Courthouse for whatever you're owed. I'm not sure about your South Carolina (you need to ask the Courthouse) but here in Alabama a lien holder can foreclose on the property after a certain amount of time - even if it's a second or third lien. Otherwise, a lien does you no good until the son decides to sale the house, at which point he'd be forced to settle up with you.

[Maceman]

How much money are you talking about? I have some limited experience in this area, and my recollection is that he is required to pay his subs before he pays off anyone else. That would arguably give you a claim against the suppliers as well.

My experience is ten years old, but I used to own a company that bought accounts receivable from other businesses. Construction was a unique area, because the subcontractors and craftsmen were covered under special laws that gave them the right to file mechanics liens against the GC.

We made the mistake of buying receivables from a contractor, and even though we had advanced money to him against the invoices, we discovered too late that his subs had first priority to the proceeds, and we took a pretty big hit.

My recollection is somewhat rusty, but I think you have all sorts of rights here. The only thing is, if you pursue them legally, it will take a long time and a lot of legal expenses to recover your damages. Is the rabbit worth the chase? If you're only talking a few hundred (or even a few thousand) dollars, you're out of luck as a practical matter. But if the money owed is substantial, it could be worth your while.

Make sure that you go to a lawyer who has specific construction-industry related experience, though. Don't go to an attorney who has never handled a construction-related case like this before, or you will pay extra to finance his research into the issues.

[Robe]

Hey thanks for your insight...I need to get it from a construction perspective....
The $ amount is a little over$5,000.
I'm gonna see a lawyer on this.
Here's the situation.....
By profession I'm a High School Teacher, My hobby is restoring old wooden boats ( Like Chris-Craft runabouts)
This guy had the slip next to me and admired my inlay work on the boat.
He asked me to do a inlaid compass rose in the entryway on a lake house he was building. I did the job over the summer. He just never paid me.
I'm concerned that he knows that I'm not a Licensed sub and has blowen me off

[Little_Fish_In_Big_Pond]

I'm so sorry about your set-back. Oh my Gosh... selling his house to his 18yr old son for a $1.00? is that guy out of his mind? (excuse my language)...

I have a question about it... is it legal for an 18-year-old to buy something like that (even if it's a "low" price)? Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't he supposed to be 21 or something?

[GovernmentShrinker]

It's not clear that he has hidden any assets from you, much less committed fraud. If you are owed money by his defunct company, and presumably that company was a corporate entity, then you don't have any rights to his personal assets unless he gave you a written personal guarantee. Just because someone owns a company doesn't mean they are personally liable for its debts.

Do you have anything in writing from him, syaing that he was going to pay you to do this job? If not, you're almost certainly screwed. And even if you do, if his company's assets were insufficient to pay all its debts, you may still be screwed. Was his liquidation done via a bankruptcy proceeding, or did he just decide to go out of business and sell the company's assets? If it was a bankruptcy proceeding, AND you have written proof of the company's debt to you, AND he failed to list that debt in his bankruptcy filing, THEN you may stand a chance of recovering some of what you are owed.

And are you sure you need to be a licensed subcontractor for the type of work in question? It sounds more like artwork, than construction-type work.

[GovernmentShrinker]

18 is legal adulthood in this country and the son most certainly can purchase real estate. And $1.00 is the usual price for real estate transfers between family members.

[Lawgvr1955]

See the lawyer. One question is, did he hire you for his company or for work on the home? If it was corporate work and the corporation went bankrupt, you may get cut off. If you did work on the house, you will most likely file a mechanic's lien on the property that was improved. Selling his home to his son for a dollar to get assets out of his name isn't going to do him much good. In the law it is called an illusory transfer (deceptive transfer), and the court will most likely set it aside and let you attach the asset. Your best bet is to see a lawyer to collect your money, what you need to do is kind of hard for a non lawyer to do by himself.

[Robe]

Thanks to all of you for the kind advice.
I'm off to find a appropriate Lawyer
Thanks Again
Robe

[FoxInSocks]

Can you take the inlay back?