Legal Question: Do Consultants have lien rights in Florida?
I performed some consulting services for a client in Florida. The short version of the story is this.
- Client owns a portion of an existing shopping center, and some of his portion is undeveloped (the “surplus property”).
- I attempted to buy the surplus property for my own development purposes, but I could not come to terms with the Seller.
- Seller (not a real estate guy) decided to attempt to self-develop the surplus.
- This is where my “Seller” became my “Client” as he hired me to handle the development for him.
- I’d put in a lot of time, but now the only way to monetize the opportunity was to pull out some consulting fees.
- He hired me (yes, we had a contract) to determine what to build, how much rent could be expected, to coordinate with the other tenants, navigate through the leases, the REA, etc.
- It now appears he is not going to pay me the last installment of my fee.
Can I file a lien? If not, do I have any other recourse?