Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>My contract ends today, we are the subcontractor, and the general contractor has not paid us in two weeks and is refusing our calls. It’s saturday, can I still file a lien even if the contract ends today?

My contract ends today, we are the subcontractor, and the general contractor has not paid us in two weeks and is refusing our calls. It’s saturday, can I still file a lien even if the contract ends today?

General contractor has not paid us in two weeks. We have been working since 03-13-18 and now for the past two weeks he has not paid us(he is supposed to pay every week) per contract. Our contract ends today 04-14-18 and we don’t know where to even start, we are scared because we owe these workers and we are left with no money. He owes us $31,570.00

1 reply

Apr 16, 2018

Texas notice and lien requirements are complex, confusing, and can change depending on the project type and the potential claimant's project role. For subcontractors, there are requirements for both notices and the eventual lien.

For first-tier subcontractors who contract directly with the GC, the "monthly" or "fund trapping" notice deadline is the 15th day of the 3rd month following each month work was performed and unpaid (for non-residential projects), and the 15th day of the 2nd month following each month that work was performed and unpaid for residential projects. Note that a notice must be sent for each month work was performed and unpaid.

The deadline for the lien claim itself is the 15th day of the 4th calendar month after the day on which the debt accrued (or the 3rd month if the project is residential).

This means that if work was performed in March and remains unpaid, a notice would need to be sent by the 15th of May (for residential projects) or the 15th of June (for non-residential). If there was work performed and unpaid in April, as well, an additional notice would need to be sent by the 15th of June or July.

Any lien claim could be filed prior to the 15th day of the 4th month after the last day of the month in which you last furnished labor or materials to the project.

Providing the monthly notice or a "Notice of Intent to Lien" may work to jump-start payment or at least begin a more productive discussion, rather than immediately jumping in with the lien claim. If the proper notices are sent there is a bit of time before the lien must be filed, so communication coupled with the ability to file a lien in the job if necessary can be useful in helping you get paid.

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