Mike,

I'm sure you have meet with some legal counsel already but I know that depending on where you live hopefully you have some laws passed to help protect you. I know here in the state of AZ only a company you have a signed contract with can put a lein on your property. I had this issue when my orginal builder went under and the steel company tried to put a lein on the property. They just scared us with a preliminary notice but legally could not put a lein on the property. Doing so could in fact fine them up to $20k which is not worth their effort for a job that costs $1.4k.

I would say that by the builder not paying the subs for the work and them pouring the wrong deck that they are in breach of contract so they would have no right to say you are breaking the contract. They also have no right to trespass on your property and take the equipment, I've also heard of contractors switching out equipment when you're asleep with cheaper or broken stuff so be warned as well. Lock all your gates.

Oh I also did loose my contract with the builder but their staff mailed me a copy back. If yours looks like they messed with it, go to their office and review the orginal copy. You have every right to review any records they have on you or your pool. Also look into if your state has a seperate licensing board for contractors. If the contractor has to carry a license then you can make a formal complaint with that department.

Eric