Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>We are trying to find out the deadline for filing a lein in LA- Is the date of substantial completion a date filed by the GC with the county or our companies last invoice ?
We are trying to find out the deadline for filing a lein in LA- Is the date of substantial completion a date filed by the GC with the county or our companies last invoice ?
We did work on New Orleans airport and haven't been paid- trying to figure out what the date of substantial completion means for a lein?
2 replies
Aug 17, 2018
Deadlines are definitely important to monitor since not paying attention and letting one pass by can be the difference between getting paid, or being left out in the cold.
For mechanics liens in Louisiana, the deadline to file depends on the claimant's tier on the project, and whether or not certain other documents were filed by other project participants. Specifically, If a notice of contract was properly and timely filed, all parties other than the general contractor must file their lien within 30 days after the filing of the notice of termination of the work.
If a Notice of Contract was not properly or timely filed, the deadline for those parties is extended to 60 days after the filing of a notice of termination of the work. Its only in the case in which there were both no notice of contract AND no notice of termination that the substantial completion of the work comes into play as a deadline. In that situation, the lien filing deadline is 60 days from the substantial completion of the work. Substantial completion is not determined by invoice - but by actual work and completion of the project.
Additionally, though, this deadline is not the same for public improvement projects. A public statement of claim must be filed after the maturity of the claim, but within 45 days from either: recordation of notice of acceptance of work by governing authority or from notice of default by contractor or subcontractor.
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Sep 10, 2018
Great answer, Nate.
If you did work on the New Orleans Airport, then the general contractor should have filed a notice of contract at the beginning of the job. But regardless, you will need to look for the owner and general contractor to file an "acceptance of work." From the date the acceptance is filed you will have 45 days to file your lien. This is assuming that your contract is for work on a public project.
Please feel free to comment more if you have questions. Or you can reach out to my office in downtown New Orleans, https://www.smileyfirm.com/