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What is needed to file a lien

I am the office manager for a general contracting company. We performed labor and purchased materials with the agreement that all materials would be reimburse and all labor performed by us would be paid. It has now been months and this company has not paid us for everything owed. I sent out a lien notice and have not heard anything, I assume the next step is to file a lien. In order to file a lien, do I need the home owners name and address or do I file it against the company that owes us for the work & material?

1 reply

Nov 7, 2018

Maryland is one of only a few states in which the filing of a lien is accomplished through filing a petition in court to establish a lien. The Petition to Establish lien must be filed with the court in the county in which the improved property is located. Since it can take some time for the court to establish a lien from the date of filing the petition and because there is a deadline by which the lien must be enforced (or it will be extinguished and become unenforceable) claimant will often combine the original filing and enforcement in a joint Petition to Establish and Enforce Mechanics Lien.

Liens are security interests in the improved property itself - not merely a claim against a party that owes money. Accordingly, the property owner is a necessary party to a lien filing and the description of the property improved is required.

Maryland is also unique in other aspects of mechanics lien requirements, specifically, if the lien claimant is a corporation, it must be registered in the State of Maryland in order to maintain a mechanics lien; and, if the construction giving rise to the mechanics lien is not part of a new construction, mechanics liens are only allowed if the property is repaired, rebuilt, or improved to the extent of 15% of its value.

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