We are a subcontractor; we completed our work on 02/08/2022 and the general contractor received the notice of occupancy on 02/10/2022. What is the deadline for us to file the lien?
You have 90 days from actual project completion to record a lien, absent the recording of a notice of completion. If a notice of completion is recorded, you will have 30 from project completion date stated in that notice to record your lien. The notice of occupancy likely will be considered the actual project completion date. But there is no reason to let things get that close. Provided that you served preliminary notice, any valid notice of completion will be sent to you. It must be recorded within 15 days of project completion so should be recorded by now. As long as there is no, notice of completion recorded, you should record your lien as soon as it becomes apparent that you may not be paid or at least 30 days before the expiration of your deadline to do so. This creates a buffer in case your lien gets rejected for some reason or if there are other recording issues. Once recorded, you have 90 days from recording the lien to file a lawsuit to foreclose if necessary. It often makes sense to send a demand letter during this period to the owner to escalate things further without the necessity of filing suit.