[CLC-Discussion] Fwd: Online Lien Co. Hits Ohio State Bar With Antitrust Suit

[Barry Kalmanson]

The correct facts are:
 
 
Employees of notice companies are routinely preparing and signing the liens. Not just filling them in with information from the lienor and having the lienor execute the document.
 
Just last week I found several in Sarasota County prepared by and signed by employees of Zlien.
 
This is common in S. Florida.
 
 
 

Sincerely,
 
Barry Kalmanson
500 N Maitland Avenue
Suite 305 
Maitland, Fl. 32751
407-645-4500 x 215
 
www.barrykalmanson.com

 
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Vega <DVega at TEVTLaw.com>
To: Larry Leiby <Leiby at mkpalaw.com>
Cc: clc-discussion <clc-discussion at lists.flabarrpptl.org>
Sent: Tue, Dec 12, 2017 9:55 am
Subject: Re: [CLC-Discussion] Fwd: Online Lien Co. Hits Ohio	State	Bar	With Antitrust Suit


You all are blowing this way out of proportion. 


The lienor is signing a form that includes data provided by the lienor.  


The notice Company is not preparing the lien. 


The notice Company facilitates the lienor’s preparation of the lien and records it for a fee.  


In South Florida, this service is extremely valuable to the very people who are actually physically performing the work.   










Sent from my iPhone


Daniel R. Vega
Board Certified in Construction Law
Taylor Espino Vega & Touron, P.A. 
2555 Ponce De Leon Blvd., Suite 220
Coral Gables, Florida 33134
Telephone: (305) 443-2043
Facsimile: (305) 443-2048
Cell: (305) 962-5186
E-mail: dvega at tevtlaw.com 


On Dec 12, 2017, at 9:51 AM, Larry Leiby <Leiby at mkpalaw.com> wrote:




The issue is that the Florida Bar doesn’t want non lawyers giving legal advice.  The landmark case on this was Florida Bar v Carmel.  Where a notice company puts that they prepared the lien on the lien it is red meat for the Bar unlicensed practice of law committee.  That is why they simply put the customer’s name as preparer. A non lawyer can prepare a contract, or prepare a lien for itself.  The notice companies, and anyone else, are prohibited from practicing law or giving legal advice to others.  Some notice companies refer requests for claim of lien to counsel to avoid the issue.  Some notice companies simply prepare the lien for their customers, which is prohibited to the extent that the notice company makes legal decisions.  Preparing a claim of lien is fraught with legal decisions.
I see the notice companies running afoul of the law, yet in many instances helping their customers. When they screw up it is going to come back to bite them.  Also, any owner can claim that the lien is invalid due to being prepared by a nonlawyer (if that is established, likely by deposition).  Whether a court will invalidate such a lien is still an open question.  The possibility is there.
 
Happy Holidays, Larry
 

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