Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>We were hired to do a job by the super who was overseeing the job for a construction company in Colorado but the job location was in Wyoming. We worked on the job for a short time and sent our invoice in to be paid and have not received payment yet (it has been almost 30 days). I want to file an Intent to Lien but need to know if I need to follow Wyoming lien laws (which is what I think since the property is in Wyoming and technically you are filing on the property not the company who hired us) but am not 100% sure. The problem I have with this is following Wyoming law I should have filed a preliminary notice with the property owner or agent before we did any work, but did not know then. So can I move forward to the Intent to Lien even though no prelim. was sent or should I do the prelim. even though it is after the fact now. Please advise I would greatly appreciate you sharing your expertise on this matter. I will be anxiously awaiting your answer. Cindy

We were hired to do a job by the super who was overseeing the job for a construction company in Colorado but the job location was in Wyoming. We worked on the job for a short time and sent our invoice in to be paid and have not received payment yet (it has been almost 30 days). I want to file an Intent to Lien but need to know if I need to follow Wyoming lien laws (which is what I think since the property is in Wyoming and technically you are filing on the property not the company who hired us) but am not 100% sure. The problem I have with this is following Wyoming law I should have filed a preliminary notice with the property owner or agent before we did any work, but did not know then. So can I move forward to the Intent to Lien even though no prelim. was sent or should I do the prelim. even though it is after the fact now. Please advise I would greatly appreciate you sharing your expertise on this matter. I will be anxiously awaiting your answer. Cindy

We and the Company contracted to do the work are located in Colorado but the jobsite is in Wyoming which Lien laws must I follow. To answer the next question "Select state where situation occured" is a grey area because the work was performed in Wyoming but everything else ie: being hired, sending invoicing, etc. has all been in Colorado but I am pretty sure the property location is going to dictate what happens from here.

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Dec 20, 2018

Great question, Cindy! You hit the nail on the head - the lien laws of the location of the project are the ones that will apply, and that's because the lien will attach to the property, not a company. Thus, if the project property lies in Wyoming, the lien laws of Wyoming will apply. It's very important to send a preliminary notice - without it, the right to file a valid lien will not be present. Under § 29-2-112 of the Wyoming lien statute, this notice must be sent within 30 days of first providing labor and/or materials to the project. When contracting directly with the property owner, notice must only be sent prior to receiving any payment from the property owner. Unfortunately, in Wyoming, this is a very strict requirement and there is no apparent leniency for late notice. Of course, a claimant could certainly attempt to send late notice, and the party in receipt may be none the wiser and think lien rights are in play - but if push comes to shove and some legal review is performed, it may become apparent that the right to lien has been lost. Of course, regardless of whether lien rights are actually present, sending a document like a Notice of Intent to Lien can be effective. If you'd like a little more background on Wyoming's lien laws, this resource should be helpful: Wyoming Lien and Notice FAQs.

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