Sorry for the length of this post but this is totally unfamiliar territory to me.
Story:
A neighbor and I hired a contractor to replace a shared retaining wall. I am on the low side of the wall and therefore most work was performed on my side. Work started about 1 week after some heavy rains and the skid steer that was being used rutted my yard and broke some sprinkler heads. Approximately two weeks into the job the contractor called me out and said he was concerned his tractor would get stuck and we agreed to stop using it. The sprinkler had not been turned off and of course filled the ruts where the lines were severed. He asked for more money for smaller equipment and I said let's tackle other portions of the project and come up with a game plan. Fast forward to that evening and he has "gained permission" from the neighbor to run his skid steer all afternoon to move gravel to the back of my lot. This caused the ruts to go from ~12" deep to almost double in some spots and put enough pressure on a retaining wall shared with another neighbor to damage that wall enough to warrant full replacement of some parts and repair of others. I haven't paid this contractor anything yet and I wanted to negotiate damage costs out of the invoiced amount. He's unwilling to do so and instead is threatening a mechanics lien against me. He did offer to come back and repair the retaining wall if I paid him 95% of the amount owed. I have received a bid for repairs to the ruts, sprinkler and retaining wall and the total bid exceeds the amount I owe to him. My question is what recourse do I have? Will his lien be valid considering the excessive damage done to my property?
TLDR: Contractor hired to replace retaining wall used heavy machinery and damaged a different, perfectly functional retaining wall, sprinklers and yard. Won't negotiate amount owed and threatening lien for non-payment.
Story:
A neighbor and I hired a contractor to replace a shared retaining wall. I am on the low side of the wall and therefore most work was performed on my side. Work started about 1 week after some heavy rains and the skid steer that was being used rutted my yard and broke some sprinkler heads. Approximately two weeks into the job the contractor called me out and said he was concerned his tractor would get stuck and we agreed to stop using it. The sprinkler had not been turned off and of course filled the ruts where the lines were severed. He asked for more money for smaller equipment and I said let's tackle other portions of the project and come up with a game plan. Fast forward to that evening and he has "gained permission" from the neighbor to run his skid steer all afternoon to move gravel to the back of my lot. This caused the ruts to go from ~12" deep to almost double in some spots and put enough pressure on a retaining wall shared with another neighbor to damage that wall enough to warrant full replacement of some parts and repair of others. I haven't paid this contractor anything yet and I wanted to negotiate damage costs out of the invoiced amount. He's unwilling to do so and instead is threatening a mechanics lien against me. He did offer to come back and repair the retaining wall if I paid him 95% of the amount owed. I have received a bid for repairs to the ruts, sprinkler and retaining wall and the total bid exceeds the amount I owe to him. My question is what recourse do I have? Will his lien be valid considering the excessive damage done to my property?
TLDR: Contractor hired to replace retaining wall used heavy machinery and damaged a different, perfectly functional retaining wall, sprinklers and yard. Won't negotiate amount owed and threatening lien for non-payment.