We transported a brand new 4 box home and then set it up onto their foundation. Now they are refusing to pay for more then half the invoice can i take a mechanics lien out on them?
1 reply
Feb 5, 2018
Whether or not a Colorado mechanics lien will be available will depend on a number of factors, including whether the work done was lienable work and whether required notices and deadlines have been adhered to.
First, the Colorado lien statute provides broad lien rights to those who improve real property. Specifically, Colorado law allows a “person who furnishes or supplies laborers, machinery, tools, or equipment in the prosecution of the work, and mechanics, materialmen, contractors, subcontractors, builders, and all persons of every class performing labor upon or furnishing directly to the owner or persons furnishing labor, laborers, or materials to be used in construction, alteration, improvement, addition to, or repair, either in whole or in part of any building” to file. Plus, Colorado courts have also been very inclusive when deciding whether a party has lien rights.
As for notice requirements, Colorado does not require any notice prior to performing work on the project (though a Notice to Owner may be sent). However, a Notice of Intent to Lien must be sent 10 full days prior to any mechanics lien filing - and sending that document will not extend the lien deadline. So it may take a little planning.
If lien rights are available, and as long as a Notice of Intent to lien has been sent at least 10 days prior, a lien claimant will have either 2 months or 4 months to file a Colorado mechanics lien claim. For laborers who did not provide materials to the project, the lien must be filed after the last labor was performed and within 2 months of that date. For everyone else, a lien must be filed no later than 4 months after the last day labor or materials were provided to the project. Note, though, that on a one or two family home, the time frame may be shortened to 2 months if there is a bona fide purchaser of the dwelling - but that only applies when a third party has purchased the property before a lien has been filed.
Note also that while a Colorado mechanics lien may be extended by filing a Notice of Extension of Time to File a Lien, such a filing would likely not extend the deadline for a 1 or 2 family residential project.