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Enforcing a Mechanic's Lien in Colorado

ColoradoMechanics Lien

I provided labor (no materials) to a contractor at two properties for which I have not been paid. I prepared the 10-day notice and Mechanic's Lien documents for filing. I will need to record two documents with my county recorder at an expense of approximately $18.50 each. Each filing requests payment of approximately $200 each, totaling $400 in unpaid work provided to a single contractor. If I do all this and I am still not paid, I understand that to ENFORCE the liens, I must enter into a lawsuit and employ an attorney. Both claims are for a total of $400 and I'm sure attorney costs are more than that. If I win the lawsuit, then attorney fees may be reimbursed. I don't know if my filing fees, including Lien release filing costs, will be reimbursed. This is a convoluted process for a working person to recover unpaid monies under $500 from a contractor through the courts. Why doesn't the law support the working person with a more sensible process? It sounds like I'm better off forgetting the debt owed to me. How is this process just? Do I have any other options in your opinion?

1 reply

Oct 22, 2019
The process of filing and recovering payment through a mechanics lien can be quite convoluted. And, there's little doubt that it's an imperfect process with plenty of warts. Typically, lien filings are for sums that exceed a few hundred dollars - making the prospect of potentially enforcing a lien claim much more palatable. But, I agree with your sentiment above - for smaller debts, some functions of the mechanics lien process can be pretty unfair and impractical. Can the cost of filing a lien be reimbursed upon enforcement? As you may know, filing fees or attorney fees can't be included in a lien claim, itself. Other amounts (such as filing fees, attorney fees, etc.) may be awarded if a lien claimant successfully enforces their lien - but that would ultimately be up to the court. I'm not entirely sure whether courts would be more or less inclined to award filing and attorney fees to a victorious lien claimant - but, in cases where a contractor has clearly wronged their laborer resulting in the claim, it wouldn't be surprising to see costs and fees awarded. Is an attorney required for enforcing a filed mechanics lien? It's generally not a good idea to represent yourself in court (rather than hiring an attorney), but if a lien claimant is filing a mechanics lien in their individual capacity, then they may be able to enforce their lien claim without the use of an attorney. But again - it's typically a bad idea to proceed with a lien enforcement action, and if the lien claimant is filing their lien on behalf of their business (rather than their own behalf, individually), proceeding pro se without an attorney may not even be possible. Small claims court may present a cheaper option to recover a debt Mechanics liens are generally more powerful of a tool than actions small claims court. Levelset dives into that idea here: File A Lien Or Go To Small Claims Court? However, actions in small claims court typically don't require an attorney. So, a laborer might be able to file an action in small claims court to recover payment under a basis of something like breach of contract. Plus, unlike with enforcing a mechanics lien in state court, a business may be able to represent itself in Colorado small claims court. In either event - small claims court tends to be much more efficient and cost-effective than traditional litigation. So, when a small amount is in play and where a mechanics lien filing might not make sense, small claims court can sometimes be a viable alternative.
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