We are flooring company. We filed a lien against a homeowner. The homeowner is claiming the lien in invalid and threatening lawsuit against the company as well as me personally if we don't remove it. These are the specific questions: 1) If a preliminary lien notice was sent a week after the mechanics lien was filed, does it invalidate the lien? 2) If our contractors license was not valid at the time the lien was filed, does that invalidate the lien? The contractors license was valid at the time of material purchase and when the verbal contract for installation services was agreed to. Our contractors license had not been renewed on the dates the work was performed. We hired an independent contractor to install material, who is also a licensed contractor. Do any of these facts invalidate the lien?
I agree with Bernard. Additionally, regarding your clarification: parties hired directly by the property owner generally won't need to send a preliminary notice, unless there's a construction lender present. If a lender is present, then that construction lender must receive a timely preliminary notice within 20 days of first furnishing labor or materials.
But, if a 20-day preliminary notice wasn't actually required, then failure to send one - or sending one late - would't affect the validity of a mechanics lien claim. Granted, other factors like licensing issues could still pose a serious issue.
I think these resources should be useful to you, as well: