# Builders going out of business/Bankrupt?!!



## prolinefinishes (Nov 20, 2005)

Been in business for a little over a year now. Have done mostly new construction custom homes. 
Right now i have a builder that owes me over 12k. He won't return my calls, i can't get ahold of him, and now i hear from a source at SW that he may be going bankrupt. 
Given the time of year and the ammount of work for a smaller painting company around the Greater Cleveland area, i could really use this cash! He's already well over a month overdue. And as you can guess, it has also cost me money to do the job as I had to pay for materials/labor to do the job initially. So this is kinda killin me right now.

What options do i have to try to collect form this builder? What would you do? Or am i just SOL?

Thanks for any responses.


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## trumps101 (Mar 22, 2006)

I know what you are going thru. I mostly work with builders and and have been screwed in the past. What I do now is get them to sign a notice to owner before you start the job. this will give you legal options.
So if they don't pay you can file a lean on the property and they wont get paid unless you do. This keeps it honest . This is what SW does and most material companies . Ive had to eat alot of money in the past with out this legal doc.


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## jmic (Dec 10, 2005)

Pro,
Don't walk..............RUN to your atty's. office and have him file a lien A.S.A. P.


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## Hammatime (Sep 14, 2006)

Pro, JMIC is right go see an attorney to file a lien on the house. If he is going bankrupt he will be screwing a lot of other subs. You want to be the first lien on the property. I'm assuming the GC is incorporated, if he is the only thing you can do is put a lien on the property. Good Luck!


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