Greensboro homeowner blocked from selling after painting company bankruptcy lien

Maria Soto says a $4,000 mechanic’s lien tied to Oak Ridge Painting Co., LLC has stopped her from selling her Greensboro home and leaving for California to be with her son. The painting company filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of North Carolina on May 26, 2026, with the notice time-stamped at 5:49 p.m.; court records list the case as a no-asset filing before Judge Benjamin A. Kahn and show 90 creditors.

Soto hired the company to paint her house so it would be ready for sale, but she says the job went badly and damaged items inside the home. When she withheld part of the deposit while waiting for a response, the company responded by placing a lien on the property. Soto says that lien now prevents the sale from closing until it is paid or otherwise cleared.

The case shows how quickly a contractor dispute can become a title problem in North Carolina. State law requires claims of lien on real property to be filed with the clerk of superior court in the county where the property is located, and the clerk indexes the lien under the property owner’s name. The North Carolina Bar Association says mechanic’s lien procedures are technical and time-sensitive, which means homeowners need to move fast if they believe a filing is wrong or incomplete.

Oak Ridge Painting’s bankruptcy has added another layer of risk for customers and subcontractors. WFMY News 2 reported the company owed about $392,652 to businesses, customers, subcontractors and employees, and documents in the case said there was no money to pay customers, suppliers, subcontractors or employees. That leaves Soto in a narrow lane: her home cannot be sold on schedule, and the bankruptcy process has put the lien fight into a separate meeting expected in August.

For Guilford County homeowners, the warning sign is not just a bad job, but a contractor with financial stress large enough to reach Chapter 7. Once a lien is filed and indexed, it can sit on a home title until the claim is paid, challenged or discharged, turning a simple remodeling dispute into a barrier to moving, refinancing or closing a sale.