I did, but that proves to be pretty much a waste of time in NC, unless you're dealing with a very large bill, since your lien does nothing.

The lien must be "perfected", and that requires a lawyer. A lawyer that will get a very large part of the outstanding debt (33% plus fees), so you end up with pennies on the dollar IF you get lucky.

The same goes for taking the scumbag to court. Yeah, they don't show, you get a judgement. Now you're out all of those costs, and you still have nothing, since you must now hire a lawyer to "perfect" the judgement.



I know a builder that went the distance on a deal like this. The amount owed was 57K. He got $5,700.00 after all was said and done. Considering the time he lost running after that money, he actually lost money in the long run.

The "sort of funny" part of that deal was the homeowner running a collection agency.

They like to collect form deadbeats, but let one of them be the deadbeat, and it's a completely different animal.


The builder did get a new client though, as he build a house for the lawyer he had hired. That was a whole new story, as things went wrong on that deal (Lawyer and wife actually moved in with the builder while he was fixing some major issues on their home).