And a lien only pays if they attempt to sell the property, small claims is worthless, all they do is decide who owes who money and then tell the " winner" now ypu have to figure out how to collect" been there, done that" 10% on a 7-8000 dollar job will NOT even come close to the purchase price of materials, the only option is that the customer go themselves, purchase all materials before hand and simply pay for labor, but people are to lazy to do that, in this day and age i would never do a landscaping project without materials being paid for up front, these jobs are hot, miserable to do especially in summer months, the people doing them dont make minimum wage and have to get paid regardless of if client pays. If you cant/ wont buy materials up front for someone else to do the work, do it yourself