Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>In filing with the court does a construction lien have a monetary minimum in the state of Oregon ?

In filing with the court does a construction lien have a monetary minimum in the state of Oregon ?

Is there a minimum amount of money where a lien may be perfected ? does the contractor have to demonstrate a level of indebtedness before the lien may be perfected for foreclosure ? I assume a judge would not permit the perfection of a lien for a $50 fine but would permit the lien for $2000 What is that boundary and is there a statute or is it more of a guideline ?

1 reply

Jun 15, 2020

I'm not aware of a minimum threshold for filing a mechanics lien claim in Oregon. Also, it's worth noting that a judge's approval isn't required for perfecting a mechanics lien. Rather, a mechanics lien is perfected upon filing the claim. Though, I'd agree that a judge would probably not allow for a $50 mechanics lien to be enforced, without other claims present. With that being said - keep in mind that filing a mechanics lien isn't free. Typically, getting a lien filed will cost a few hundred dollars. That limits the number of diminutive claims filed. Further, enforcing a lien requires a lawsuit - so that'd be particularly cost-prohibitive for minor claims. As for showing indebtedness - when an Oregon claimant files their mechanics lien, they're stating they're owed money for labor, services, material, or equipment provided for the improvement of the project property. In fact, Oregon lien claims must be signed and notarized, and the claimant swears an oath that the information on the lien is true. As a result, filing a baseless lien claim can result in serious legal penalties for the claimant - which also curbs questionable, frivolous, or outright fraudulent mechanics lien claims. At the least, a Class A misdemeanor would be in play.

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