We were hired by the owner of a property for road construction services and some materials. Started April 2019, last worked 12/2/2019. Our contract documents have a "notice of lien rights" paragraph.
Am I able to send the intent notice?
1 reply
Jan 10, 2020
As you mentioned above, Wisconsin contractors hired directly by the project owner will need to send a Notice of Lien Rights in order to preserve their right to lien - and that document is often contained directly in the contract. If the Notice of Lien Rights has been properly given, then the next step in the Wisconsin mechanics lien process will generally be to send a Notice of Intent to File a Claim of Lien - and this notice must be given at least 30 days before an actual lien claim can be filed.
Importantly, it's also worth mentioning that this Notice of Intent to Lien is a powerful payment recovery tool in its own right, which Levelset discusses here: What Is a Notice of Intent to Lien and Should You Send One?
To be sure - the deadline for filing a Wisconsin mechanics lien is 6 months from the last furnishing date - so, ultimately, a Wisconsin Notice of Intent to Lien should be sent at least 5 months after last furnishing - and if there's a payment dispute at hand, then sending a Notice of Intent could become appropriate far before that time.
Recovering payment before the lien process comes into play
Of course, keep in mind that sending something a little less formal can help with recovery too. For one, sending an invoice reminder can be the nudge in the right direction that leads to payment. Or, escalating things a little bit further with a payment demand letter could do the trick, too.