I heard that the Governor issued an order in Louisiana extending all legal deadlines. Does this mean that mechanics lien deadlines are suspended? If so, until when? And should I delay my filing because the deadline is extended?
1 reply
May 27, 2020
John Bel Edwards' Proclamation 59 suspended legal deadlines in Louisiana until Friday, June 5, 2020. That proclamation was extremely broad, and it makes sense that most would assume that mechanics lien deadlines would be suspended.
Louisiana's mechanics lien laws are housed within Title 9 of the state's revised statutes. And, Section 3(H) of that proclamation states that "any such deadlines set by law within" Title 9 (among others) will be suspended. So, presumably, lien deadlines may be suspended.
However, most of that subsection from the order refers to legal filings - as in lawsuits. So, there's a way to read the order in a way that does not, in fact, suspend mechanics lien rights.
Regardless of deadline suspensions, best practice is to file mechanics liens according to the deadline
Regardless - best practice is absolutely to assume the deadline isn't suspended and to go ahead and file lien claims in accordance with the ordinary deadlines. That's especially true if the deadline would otherwise be expired after the deadline suspension period. In many cases, this shouldn't be a problem since Clerks of Court are still generally accepting documents.