- Jurisdiction
- Colorado
I understand how a mechanic's lien works for, say a subcontractor who was not paid by the GC... even though that GC has been paid by the homeowner, the subcontractor can still put a lien on the house rather than going after the GC (or maybe in addition to). And more obviously, a mechanic who has not been paid by the owner of a car does not have to release the car until payment is made.
I'm a bit more confused with this scenario though and not sure it applies. Maybe someone can shed some light....
Suppose a auto body shop is working on a car that was in an accident and thus being paid for by insurance. It's going to take a while so the shop has agreed to reimburse the owner of the vehicle for rental car charges (a sign of good faith and to show that they have a stake in finishing the wok as soon as possible) .After a little bit of work a supplemental claim is submitted for newly discovered damage that was caused by the accident. And this causes the insurance company to pull the plug and declare a total loss. The owner of the vehicle signs the title over to the insurance company and gets their check then returns the rental car. Now the insurance company owes the shop for storage fees which they are refusing to pay.
Under the mechanic's lien, can the shop refuse to reimburse the owner of the vehicle for the rental car until they are paid the storage fees (or given the title to the vehicle, which they agreed to in lieu of storage fees) by the insurance company? To me it's similar to the situation with the subcontractor but not exactly the same thing. Maybe I'm missing something blatantly obvious. If anyone has any wisdom to impart, i'm all ears.
Thanks!!
I'm a bit more confused with this scenario though and not sure it applies. Maybe someone can shed some light....
Suppose a auto body shop is working on a car that was in an accident and thus being paid for by insurance. It's going to take a while so the shop has agreed to reimburse the owner of the vehicle for rental car charges (a sign of good faith and to show that they have a stake in finishing the wok as soon as possible) .After a little bit of work a supplemental claim is submitted for newly discovered damage that was caused by the accident. And this causes the insurance company to pull the plug and declare a total loss. The owner of the vehicle signs the title over to the insurance company and gets their check then returns the rental car. Now the insurance company owes the shop for storage fees which they are refusing to pay.
Under the mechanic's lien, can the shop refuse to reimburse the owner of the vehicle for the rental car until they are paid the storage fees (or given the title to the vehicle, which they agreed to in lieu of storage fees) by the insurance company? To me it's similar to the situation with the subcontractor but not exactly the same thing. Maybe I'm missing something blatantly obvious. If anyone has any wisdom to impart, i'm all ears.
Thanks!!