From the Office of the Illinois Attorney General:
- Attorney General Lisa Madigan and Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez [Wednesday] both filed lawsuits against a Chicago mechanic’s lien filing service for filing invalid liens against property owners and for intimidating homeowners either to pay debts they don’t owe or to overpay for debts incurred with contractors.
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- According to the Attorney General’s complaint, Contractor’s Lien Services (CLS) and its founder, Steve Boucher, analyze, prepare and file mechanic’s liens on property on behalf of general contractors and subcontractors. CLS allegedly misrepresents to contractors that it has valid cause for filing mechanics liens against homeowners when, most often, those contractors do not actually have valid claims under state laws.
- CLS also allegedly files liens without the knowledge of some contractors and, in other instances, CLS files liens against homeowners when contractors have not performed work at the properties in question.
- After filing foreclosure liens, CLS allegedly files foreclosure actions against consumers who don’t pay off the debts. Some contractors claim that CLS collects money on behalf of contractors but then fails to redistribute the collected debts to them.
