We did a chimney job for a customer back on 3/15/19. We to date have not been paid and have sent several notices of overdue on the invoices. Is it too late to file a Mechanic Lien now? Should we just go through the court system?
3 replies
Oct 11, 2019
In Massachusetts, a mechanics lien has two parts, a Notice of Contract (or Subcontract) and a Statement of Account, both of which must be filed by certain deadlines.
The deadline to file the Notice of Contract (or Subcontract) is the earliest of:
1) 60 days after filing of Notice of Completion;
2) 90 days after filing notice of termination; or
3) 90 days after last furnishing labor and/or materials to the project.
Likewise, the deadline by which a mechanics lien must be filed is the earliest of:
1) 90 days after the recording of the Notice of Substantial Completion;
2) 120 days after the recording of the Notice of Termination;
3) 120 days after the lien claimant last furnished labor or materials to the project.
If work was completed on 3/15/19, and no notice of termination or completion was filed, a Notice of contract or Subcontract would need to have been filed by June 13, and a Statement of Account would have needed to be filed a month later.
If those steps did not occur, the path for recovery likely lies through the courts, collections, or other means besides mechanic liens.
Implementing a policy of tracking potential deadlines automatically, and sending documents based on certain triggers could potentially help you keep deadlines and potential filings in check in the future. You can learn more about implementing a policy like that, and how software can help you do it, here.
0 people found this helpful
Helpful
Oct 11, 2019
Thank you so much for your return answer to this question. Now I know I need to hit the courts. Have a nice weekend :).