I'm sorry to hear you've gone unpaid. First, constitutional liens are available in Texas only to those parties who directly contract with a property owner. So if a claimant has contracted with someone other than the property owner, a constitutional lien won't be an available option. If a party is under direct contract with the property owner, filing a constitutional lien can be a good way to compel payment while also avoiding the strict notice and deadline requirements of statutory liens in Texas.
Perhaps the biggest advantage of a constitutional lien is that no filing is technically required. The lien arises by virtue of the work performed with no subsequent action required by the lien claimant. As a practical matter, though, filing a constitutional lien in the same manner as a statutory lien is generally a good idea - unless the lien claim is filed, forcing payment via the lien would be tough. Plus, if the property is sold or mortgaged and a constitutional lien has not actually been filed, the claimant's rights will suffer.
As for actually filing the constitutional lien, it's pretty simple. A claimant can do so by filing a document identified as a constitutional lien in much the same way that a statutory lien is filed. For more info on how statutory liens are filed, this article should help: How To File Your Texas Mechanics Lien and Get Paid.
But again - recall that there's no deadline for a constitutional lien, but also that a constitutional lien should be filed prior to the sale or further leveraging of the property for best results.
The information presented here is not legal advice and should not be construed as such. Rather, this content is provided for informational purposes. Do not act on this information as if it is advice. Further, this post does not create any attorney-client relationship. If you do need legal advice, seek the helSee More...See More...