🚨 Consumer Alert: Financial Risk Level High

The "Double Payment" Trap:
Mechanics Liens

How you can pay your contractor in full and still lose your house to a supplier lien.

Executive Summary

  • THE RISK:Suppliers can foreclose on your home if the contractor doesn't pay them (even if you paid the contractor).
  • THE CAUSE:"Comingling of Funds" by insolvent, unverified contractors.
  • THE FIX:Lien Waivers and rigorous financial auditing (The AboveBoard Standard).

The "High Stakes" Scenario

Imagine this: You hire a contractor for a $25,000 kitchen remodel. You write the checks. The work gets done. You shake hands. Three months later, a Sheriff's Deputy knocks on your door with a lawsuit.

"NOTICE OF INTENT TO LIEN: Unpaid Debt to ABC Lumber Supply."

You show them the cancelled checks. "I paid! Look!" It doesn't matter. In the eyes of the law, you are still liable.

Because your "Nice Guy" contractor took your money, bought a boat, and stiffed the lumber yard. Now the lumber yard is coming for your equity.

Section 1: The Anatomy of the Risk

How is this legal? It comes down to Mechanic's Lien Statutes. These laws were written in the 1800s to protect manual laborers from robber barons. Today, they are often weaponized against innocent homeowners.

The "Triangle of Debt"

  1. You hire the Contractor.
  2. The Contractor hires Suppliers (Lumber, Electricians).
  3. If the Contractor steals the money, the Suppliers can bypass him and attach a lien to Your Property.
The Missing Link

Most homeowners assume paying the invoice clears the debt. It does not. Only a "Lien Waiver"—a legal document proving secondary suppliers have been paid—clears the debt.

Section 2: The Forensic Truth

Why does this happen? The scam is often boringly simple: Robbing Peter to pay Paul.

Unverified contractors often use your deposit to pay off debts from their last job. They are effectively running a Ponzi scheme with lumber and drywall. Without a financial audit (which our algorithm performs), you are handing $20k to a stranger with zero accountability.

Section 3: The AboveBoard Solution

We built AboveBoardPros.com to kill this risk. We act as the "Sheriff" so you don't have to be the lawyer.

  • ⚖️
    Court Record Scans

    We scan civil court databases. If a contractor has a history of non-payment lawsuits, they are banned.

  • 💳
    Financial Solvency Checks

    We utilize commercial credit data to verify they pay their suppliers on time.

Protect Your Assets

Don't risk a clouded title or foreclosure. Only hire pros who pass the audit.