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May we re-file a lien if promised payment falls through?

If we release a lien based on the assumption of payment, may we re-file the lien if they fall through on their promise to pay regardless of whether or not any additional material/services were supplied to the project? This is also assuming we're still within the initial deadline from "last delivered."

1 reply

Sep 25, 2019

Knowing exactly when to release a mechanics lien is tough when you've been promised payment. In fact, we've written about the subject a few times - including Construction Lien Release Process: the Timeline is Tricky & Can I Re-File a Mechanics Lien After I Remove the Lien? Anyway - whether or not a mechanics lien can be refiled after it's been released will usually depend on two things... For one, the deadline will be crucially important (as you hinted at in the question above). Even in a situation where a lien could be refiled, if the deadline passes, then the right to lien would be lost anyway. Another crucial factor will be the language of the lien release, itself. If the language of that release states that all lien rights are thereby released on the project, then a claimant might not be able to refile a lien after they've released a previous lien. Commonly, the language of a mechanics lien release will prevent the future re-filing of a mechanics lien. And, this release language is sometimes even required by statute, thereby preventing a re-filing. With the above being said, typically, when a mechanics lien has been filed and released, a claimant often won't be entitled to re-file a valid and enforceable mechanics lien claim. Granted, such a claim could certainly get recorded, and then it'd be up to a court (if the dispute got that far) to determine the lien's validity.

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