In February and March we renovated the kitchen (gutted and put in new cabinets, linoleum, moved plumbing) plus one bathroom (also gutted, new drywall, sink, tub and fully tiled) in the home we have a lease purchase agreement to buy the home. We only went forward with these recent renovations because the landlord stated she was willing to wait until next year (July 2023) for me to buy the home via mortgage. She wants us out now (30 day notice and raising rent 30% if we stay) to sell the home but also does not want to pay for any of the renovations done this year. We specified that we did the renovations only because she said she was willing to wait and we never would have done anything if we knew she was going to sell the house and push us out. We advised her to buy us out and pay for the materials and labor we put into the home because she is breaking the agreement we made (oral). Can we put a Construction/Mechanics lien on the home for repairs and labor? FYI my husband who did the work was a licensed Contractor in 2020 but we never renewed for 2021 in state of OH. So technically right now, not licensed. Thank you in advance for the assistance.
Unfortunately you do not have a right to file a mechanic's lien, for two reasons.
First, the underlying work related to a mechanic's lien must be performed pursuant to a contract between a contractor and the owner. While you and your husband fit the definition of a contractor just fine, you did not have a contract with the owner related to the work, so the work is not lienable.
Second, the timeline to file a mechanic's lien for a home construction project such as this is 60 days from the last date of work. If the last date of work was sometime in March, then the time to file a lien passed a few months ago.
Having said all of that, a lien is not necessary in situations such as this. It appears that you have, at a minimum, an unjust enrichment claim against the owner (he stated that you would be able to remain in the property, and you relied on that statement in making your decision to pay for the kitchen remodel and materials).
This claim, along with a mechanic's lien claim, would both be against the owner only, so they are duplicative. Mechanic's liens are most helpful for subcontractors, as the lien serves to increase the amount of parties responsible for payment to the subcontractor (both the general contractor and the owner become liable). In your case, a judgment for unjust enrichment is just as good as a judgment on a mechanic's lien claim.
It also appears you may have a breach of contract claim, in the event your lease purchase agreement is in writing in some way (including possibly by email, text, or otherwise).