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Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>Can I file a lein if I didn’t send a preliminary notice prior to starting the work in texas

Can I file a lein if I didn’t send a preliminary notice prior to starting the work in texas

TexasMechanics LienPreliminary NoticeRight to Lien

I remodeled a home for a property owner who lives in California but is purchasing homes in Texas to make rentals I took care of the project completely meantime communicating daily with the home owner she sent incremental payments throughout the job as I was purchasing all materials and funding project as well when I finished I sent her a bill for the remaining amount due she then said she wasn’t happy with some things and I ask like what she sent 6 photos and said there is other things to I said well send me all items and i will be there 2 days from now and I will fix all the things your not happy with so two days later I let her know I’m heading there and haven’t recieved any other items so I assume there wasn’t anything else I sent photos before during and after repairs were made and no response so again I requested final payment she says i have To wait for my property management guys to walk the property this has beeen 4-5 weeks ago now she told me yesterday I’m waiting on property management company to give me numbers on repairs I haven’t forgotten you I replied numbers? I’m not sure what you mean I asked you for a list of any issues I repaired the things you gave me were wrong I said o would take care of anything your unhappy with and you haven’t sent anything and once again no response so she owes a remaining balance of 7,387.65 what can I do or would I at least be able to recover the money i spent on materials the remaining amount out of pocket is 1,987.21.. unfortunately I’ve been doing this for 10 years and have never not gotten paid so I was oivious to lein laws

1 reply

Apr 9, 2020
The good news is that parties who contract directly with the property owner for projects in TX are generally not required to provide preliminary notice in order to retain the ability to file a mechanics lien. There are some exceptions with respect to residential projects, and projects on "homesteads" have several additional requirements, but neither of these are applicable if the property is not intended to be used as a dwelling by the owner. For non-residential projects (projects where the owner doesn't live in or intend to live in the property) a direct contractor must file his/her mechanics lien by the 15th day of the 4th month after s/he last furnished labor or material to the project. So, for example, if work was last performed in March, the lien must be filed by July 15th. Texas also provides direct contractors with a "Constitutional lien" that does not need to be recorded to allow the claimant to enforce it through a lawsuit - although, without recording the owner likely won't know it's there. If you want to file a mechanics lien to secure the amount due, you can follow these steps, or you can make the process even easier by taking care of it online here.
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