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Canceling a preliminary notice

How do I cancel a preliminary notice? I received one from a materials store and they acknowledged it was a mistake after the subcontractor contacted them and sent me an email asking me to disregard the notice. Would this suffice in case they want to actually lien the property?

4 replies

Dec 28, 2021

There is no way to cancel a preliminary 20-day notice. However, all that notice does is preserve the contractor's right to record a mechanic's lien at a later date if the contractor is not paid. If payment is made and no lien recorded, a preliminary 20-day notice has no legal effect at all on either the non-paying contractor, the owner or the property itself.

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Dec 28, 2021

Do they still have the right if the notice was sent by mistake and the supplier sent me an email asking to disregard? Can I have a potential problem down the line?

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Dec 28, 2021

I do not believe an Arizona court has addressed whether a preliminary 20-day notice is invalid if sent by mistake. The purpose of the notice is just to provide the property owner with notice of a potential lien at some point in the future. No notice, no lien rights. So I don't believe the notice is invalid if sent by mistake, as long as the notice contains all of the information required by the statute. But that is just an educated guess. There is no way to know the answer until the court of appeals weighs in on the question. Whether you have a problem later on depends less on whether a notice was sent, and more on whether you fail to pay the supplier and whether the failure to pay is justified under the circumstances. If a supplier records a mechanic's lien for money that it is not owed, the lien is still invalid regardless of whether the preliminary 20-day notice is sent. Bottom line: there is always the possibility of a payment dispute regardless of whether there is a valid preliminary notice sent, and since as of right now there is no such dispute, the notice is nothing to worry about. It only matters when a dispute arises and a lien is recorded.

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Dec 28, 2021

I see. The problem is that I pay my subcontractor but I do not know if they will pay the supplier and I Do know this material did not go to my job. Thank you for answering I very much appreciate it, If anything arises I’ll be sure to call you.

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