I have a client that owes 30,000 for electrical services and I am having a hard time collecting
1 reply
Oct 1, 2019
A soup-to-nuts overview of filing an Alabama mechanics lien can be found here,but I'll provide some of the information a lien claimant needs to know below.
In Alabama, anybody contracting directly with the property owner does not need to send a preliminary notice in order to retain lien rights. But, parties who contract with someone other than the property owner do have notice requirements. If the notice requirements have been met, or if there are no notice requirements, the claimant may proceed with filing the lien claim.
A mechanics lien in Alabama must be recorded in the office of the judge of probate of the county in which the property upon which the lien is sought to be established is situated. And, there are strict timing requirements. For parties who contract with the property owner, the lien must be filed within 6 months of last work on the project, for other parties that deadline is shortened to 4 months for subs and suppliers, and just 30 days for laborers.
It's important to make sure that the lien form itself contains the required information, because failure to list the required information can result in the lien being invalid and unenforceable.
One way to make the process quick and easy is to complete the lien and filing process online - you can do that here.