Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>We have a lien filed on a property where there are warranty items we need to address. If we work on the property, do we void our lien rights?

We have a lien filed on a property where there are warranty items we need to address. If we work on the property, do we void our lien rights?

We have a project where we have not been paid for a Change Order (work is complete), nor the final draw, nor retention. However, the owner is now wanting us to come back and take care of some warranty items and then says they will pay us. However, we are concerned that if we come back to do warranty work, we will end up voiding our lien rights which we do not want to do. Can we get some clarity on this?

1 reply

Jun 28, 2019

That's an interesting question. First, it's worth noting that providing additional work, in and of itself, should have no effect on the right to lien for work previously provided that hasn't been paid for. So, if work was done but not paid for, that work can still be liened - regardless of whether additional work has been provided.

Now, one concern that some claimants have when returning to the job site for punch work or warranty work is what date serves as the project's completion or the final furnishing date . On that front, note that punch list work or warranty work will not push back the deadline to lien. Rather, that will be based either on when the project was substantially completed or when the last substantial furnishing occurred, pursuant to the contract. Which date the deadline runs from will vary depending on the type of work that was done and on the project type (more on that in the link below).

Finally, keep in mind that Colorado requires that lien claimants provide a Notice of Intent to Lien before a mechanics lien can be filed. That notice must be sent at least 10 days prior to the filing of a Colorado mechanics lien, so it's important to keep both the lien deadline and the Notice of Intent to Lien deadline in mind when proceeding with a claim. But, generally, a Notice of Intent to Lien can be a powerful payment tool all by itself, so it may be wise to send the notice a little sooner than what's required.

For more information on Colorado's lien deadline and some background on the Colorado Notice of Intent to Lien, these resources will be valuable:
(1) Colorado Mechanics Lien Overview
(2) What Is a Colorado Notice of Intent to Lien?

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