We are private homeowners. AT&T hired a construction company to install a small wireless light post a couple of blocks away. The construction company rented equipment to dig up the streets. We just received a preliminary notice via registered mail that our property is being used as collateral (i.e., equipment lien). We have absolutely nothing to do with this project. How is it possible that our property is being used for the contract between the construction company and equipment rental company? There is no way this is legal.
The notice you receieved sounds like a preliminary 20-day notice, which a subcontractor or material supplier is required to provide in order to record a lien on a project at a later date. The notice is not a notice of an actual lien, just notice that the supplier or contractor is doing work on the project. In your case, if the work is not on your property, then they cannot record a lien on your property. In all likelihood, the supplier sent the notices to all the homes on the street out of an abudance of caution in the event someone's property has an easement impacted by the work.