Contractors

I hired a painter (One Man and a Brush); who by his own admission, his subcontractors did a bad job. After an attempt to fix the issues and various conversations and emails the owner stated to have the painters leave and he would refund my payment ($1195.00). He then retracted this statement in an email stating after further consideration I had paid the bill thus indicating I was happy with the work performed and he would not refund payment. Further email discussions led the owner to again reconsider and he sent me a release of liability that we both signed which exchanged for a full refund ($1195) for release of liability and me not contacting BBB or otherwise giving his business a negative reputation. Then, he said he didn't have the money and could not pay me the refund. I would like to sue him for my refund. I have email where he states that the work performed had issues and needed to be fixed. I also have the contract where he agreed to refund the payment. His argument is that I paid and therefore I must have been happy with the work. I only paid because the paint was wet when the subcontractors left and could not the see the defects. As soon as I noticed them I contacted the owner and he came over. He then sent the email admitting the job had issues. I never paid because I was happy. Do I have a case?

What ways can a contractor lose there lien rights?

A lien was filed on Sept. 18th 2008 on my property but no notice was sent to me. I found out about it and was told by the clerk I could file a 'Contest of Lien' which I did last week. But the lien was filed more than 90 days after the last day of any work. Can it be voided and what should I file to get rid of it if it can be voided?

We own a tile installation business and are attempting to collect the balance due on a completed residential project. Calls to the owner are not returned and our invoice has not been paid. On March 18, 2009, we purchased a 'Notice of Unpaid Balance and Right to File Lien form from US Legal Forms and filed the form at the county clerk's office. We mailed it certified on March 20, 2009. It was returned to us yesterday, April 13, 2009, as 'Return to Sender, Unclaimed, Unable to Forward'. Now we are back to square one in a lien process that has a very strict time line. We cannot file the Construction Lien until this NUB is filed first if we understand it correctly. A previous certified letter to the same address was accepted and the owner of the property is still there as we have observed. What recourse do we have now before our time to file has disappeared entirely?The home owner has another residence not far from this newly constructed residence and owns a periodontal business in New Jersey as well.

My home owners insurance gave me money to replace my roof and for interior painting. The money was put in an escrow account by my mortgage company.The roof is finished and the contractor has 90% of the available money. The interior painting was not yet executed. After 30 days of finishing the roof the contractor filed a lien without warning me. The amount of the lien includes the cost of the interior painting nevertheless the work was not done.To get the last 10% of money from the escrow account the contractor had to issue a Waiver of lien. Again they included the amount of the interior painting as outstanding. At that point I did not yet know that they already filed a lien. (the notice came 3 days later) Needless to say I was humilated. Now I want to get another company to do the interior. Do I have the right to do so? Is the construction Lien superseded by the Waiver of lien?