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Filing a lien in MD

We’ve been told that we could mail in the required documents to the court instead of having a lawyer physically go up to the court to file the lien – do you know if that is accurate for Montgomery County? And if so, what documents would we need to send?

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Aug 23, 2019

To establish a Maryland lien, an action must be filed in a court of the county in which the property to be subjected to the lien is located. Montgomery County Circuit Court does not specifically mention the ability to file by mail on their website. Instead, in the court's instructions on "How to Start a Case" a petitioner is to: "Bring the ORIGINAL forms and papers and "service" copies that you want to file with the Court to the Civil Department window. The clerk will stamp them as ‘filed’." A claimant needs to make sure they comply with the requirements for the mechanics lien itself (Prepare the lien form, taking care to include the necessary information, and be sure to include both an affidavit of the claimant setting forth the facts upon which you believe you are entitled to the lien and copies of the supporting information), and complete the proper forms to being a case (including the CIVIL - NON-DOMESTIC CASE INFORMATION REPORT). Remember that in Maryland a mechanics lien requires a court action, so an individual lien claimant is likely able to represent him/herself, but since Maryland, like other states, has prohibitions related to a non-lawyer representing another party in court, it is unlikely that an LLC or corporation can “represent itself” through an employee or officer rather than through a hired attorney. Since a lien enforcement action is a real-deal court case, it is likely the best approach to enlist the assistance of a mechanics lien Additionally, a Maryland mechanics lien claimant is required to initiate his enforcement of the lien by filing a Petition to Enforce the lien within 1 year from the date on which the Petition to Establish the lien was filed. As a practical matter, the two petitions can be, and usually are, combined in a Petition to Establish and Enforce Mechanics Lien. Also keep in mind that the defendants named in the petition must be served a copy. More information on filing a Maryland mechanics lien can be found here. More information about Montgomery County Circuit Court can be found here.

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