Oklahoma Mechanics Lien Form

Oklahoma general contractors who haven't been paid for their work are generally entitled to file mechanics liens to force payment. Generally, it looks like Oklahoma GC's may be entitled to file a mechanics lien even after their customer sells the property - but consulting with an Oklahoma construction lawyer would help to clear that up. Additionally, note that sending a Notice of Intent to Lien to both the seller and the purchaser could help to force payment. If both of those parties understands that you haven't been paid and that you may put the property title in jeopardy as a result, the seller may be more inclined to pay you what you're owed. What's more, the purchaser will likely want this lien to go away - and, as a result, they may put additional pressure on your customer or even discuss making payment, themselves. Finally, keep in mind that other recovery options may be on the table as well. Sending a demand letter and threatening to pursue other avenues could also lead to payment. More on that here: Construction Demand Letters – How To Write One That Gets You Paid.

As a general contractor in Oklahoma, you aren't required to send a preliminary notice in order to secure your OK mechanics lien rights. So, at this point, timing is the main issue. For general (direct) contractors, the deadline to file an Oklahoma mechanics lien is 4 months after the last date labor or materials were provided to the project. This is a hard deadline, if you miss this cutoff, you will lose your ability to file a mechanics lien. One optional way to try and get paid before filing your claim is to send a Notice of Intent to Lien. This isn't a required notice, but is a very effective way to induce payment. Think of it as a final warning shot. It should state that if you aren't paid within a certain amount of days, you are ready to file a lien against the property. That's usually enough to get the property owner's attention. If not, here are some resources that can help:

• How to File an Oklahoma Mechanics Lien And Get Paid
• File a Mechanics Lien through Levelset

Good luck!

In most scenarios, a mechanics lien filed for the tenant improvement or in this case for the rental of a dumpster for the tenant's benefit, will generally attach to the owner's interest in the property as if it was the owner him/herself contracting for the improvement. The owner is presumed to gain the benefit of the improvement whether or not if they contracted for the work to get done. Therefore the owner likely will bear the responsibility to make sure the parties get paid unless a notice of non-responsibility has been filed. A notice of non-responsibility can work to shield the owner's interest in the property mechanics liens. If the notice was filed, the potential mechanics lien claimant has the same protection on tenant improvement as they would if the owner contracted for the improvement directly. Yet, this is not always the case. In some states, the consent of the owner is not presumed and mechanics liens can either be disallowed or forced to attach to the interest of the party that contracted for the work. Contacting an Oklahoma construction attorney likely will be helpful to discover if the mechanics lien will automatically attach you as the property owner.