Completion of construction occurred on Aug. 20 and a lien was timely recorded by the claimant who provided labor and materials. Therefore, the deadline to foreclose is this Feb. 20. Homeowner says they need more time to have a structural engineer inspect for further issues, so they won't settle before the litigation deadline. The claimant would prefer not to litigate, but is unwilling to let his leverage expire with the statutory deadline. It appears he will not to file for foreclosure to preserve his rights, even if the homeowner later finds no issues and wants to settle. Is there any way to extend the 6-month deadline for filing the foreclosure action?
There is no way to extend the deadline to file the foreclosure lawsuit. The first thing your attorney would want to review is the exact deadline as it is based on the later of three events. They will then want to be sure your intent to lien and lien filing were timely and correct. If the foreclosure suit must be filed in 12 days as you claim, you need to hire a construction attorney now as they must order a litigation guarantee and have time to file.
If you miss the deadline, you can't enforce the lien. I should say, you could try a lien foreclosure suit after the deadline but you face the risk of it being determined as invalid and you could be liable for their attorney's fees and costs. Rememeber, even if can't enforce the lien you still can sue for breach of contract and others claims and those statutes run to years, depending on the exact claims. In short, talk to a construction attorney shortly.