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Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>In the state of TX if there is a job that has invoices due in the 4th month from supply and also invoices from the 3rd or 2nd month from supply do we have to place a lien on the property based on the oldest invs or the most current?

In the state of TX if there is a job that has invoices due in the 4th month from supply and also invoices from the 3rd or 2nd month from supply do we have to place a lien on the property based on the oldest invs or the most current?

TexasLien DeadlinesMechanics LienPreliminary Notice

We currently have a customer that owes us balances on a job in TX from Septemeber, October, and Nov. We did our letters for 2nd month and 3rd month but January was 4th month from supply on the September invs. Did miss our lien rights on this job since we did not lien by 1/15?

1 reply

Jan 23, 2018
This is a common question - since the notice requirements in Texas generally seem to be a complete mess, and difficult to deal with - there is a lot of confusion surrounding how many notice need to be sent, and when; and, how that relates to the calculation of the lien deadline itself.

For parties who did not contract with either the property owner or GC, there are notices required to be sent by the 15th of both the second month and the third month after each month in which labor/material was furnished for which that party remains unpaid. This means that there can be 2 notices required for each month of a project.

The lien deadline, however, is defined a little bit different than the notice deadlines. While the notice deadlines occur after each month in which labor/material was furnished for which the party remains unpaid - the deadline for the lien claim itself is triggered by the "accrual of indebtedness." Texas statute specifies that: "the person claiming the lien must file an affidavit with the county clerk of the county in which the property is located . . . not later than the 15th day of the fourth calendar month after the day on which the indebtedness accrues."

The statutes go on to define what is meant by "the day on which the indebtedness accrues." For the purposes of determining a lien deadline for a subcontractor of any tier, "[i]ndebtedness . . . accrues on the last day of the last month in which the labor was performed or the material furnished." (emphasis added)

So, there is only one lien deadline. And, if all required notices were sent, a lien claim in timely to protect all amounts due provided it is filed by the 15th day of the 4th month after the last month the claimant delivered labor or material to the project.
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