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Mechanical Lien Rights?

I'm a contractor working directly with the owner on a residential project, we didn't get paid for work done so we filed a mechanical lien. We provided the owner with a 20 days notice at the beginning of the job. We missed the 90 days to file a complaint after filing the mechanics lien on March 3, 2020, however the owner didn't notified us of any Notice of Completion or Cessation . Did we completely lose the rights to claim unpaid work or do we still have time to file a complaint?

1 reply

Jul 17, 2020

You could record a new lien if the deadline hasn't passed yet. The deadline to record a mechanic's lien is 90 days after completion of the work or cessation of the project for 60 continuous days. The deadline is shorter if the owner records a notice of completion - 30 days for subs and 60 days for a direct contractor. However, unless you did more work after recording the lien on March 3, your lien rights have probably expired. Nevertheless, you did not completely lose the right to compensation for the unpaid work. You can still assert claims under your contract or under common law for the value of the labor and material furnished. You just wouldn't have the security and leverage of a valid mechanic's lien. Your contract rights would be primarily governed by the language of your contract. Feel free to email a copy to the address below if you would like for me to review your rights under the contract.

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