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How do you bond around a lien in Montana? We are a general contractor that performed a job in Great Falls and one of our subs has filed a lien.

MontanaBonding Off Lien

We are a general contractor located in Pennsylvania and did a project in Great Falls, MT. One of our subs filed a construction lien which we feel is incorrect. He is not owed the amount that he is claiming. We do owe him about half of what he is claiming but he would not sign and notarize the waivers required for payment.

1 reply

Apr 19, 2019

That's a good question. Montana, like many states, allows for a mechanics lien to be bonded off in order to discharge the lien from the property. But, certain steps must be followed. First -the timeframe. A lien claim may only be bonded off before the lien claimant has commenced legal action to enforce their lien, or, within 30 days from when the complaint to enforce the filed lien was sent. Next - the bond. The bond must be in an amount that's 1.5x the amount of the lien claim - and that can be a cash deposit, or a bond from a corporate surety company. As for what to do with the bond... If the bond route is taken (rather than cash) - that bond would still need to be approved by a judge (but, most sureties should be familiar with any requirements and should be able to make sure there's no issue with the bond getting approved). Once secured and approved, in order to discharge the lien, the must be filed with the court. But, if the cash route is taken, no approval is necessary and it can simply be filed with the court. If a bond is secured, the surety should be able to walk you through the process of actually getting the bond filed - but that should be a relatively easy procedure. Though, in order to file it with the court for review, it may require the use of an attorney. Hope that was helpful! Here are some resources I think might be relevant, too: (1) Primer on Mechanics Lien Bonds and Bonding a Mechanics Lien; and (2) Montana Lien and Notice Overview.

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