We do business across the country and are a temporary staffing agency in the apartment industry. We are curious if there are any states that do not allow us to file a mechanics lien against properties that do not pay for our services.
1 reply
Nov 4, 2019
Ultimately, as you indicate in your question above, who may file mechanics liens will vary quite a bit from state to state. Unfortunately, Levelset doesn't have a list of which states will and will not allow a staffing company to file a mechanics lien available.
Though, we have published a recent article regarding Oklahoma lien rights for staffing companies: Do Oklahoma Staffing Companies Have Mechanics Lien Rights?
Who is entitled to file a mechanics lien, generally?
Note that mechanics lien rights are generally only available to those who have performed construction-related work that permanently improves the project property. So, if the work that's being done by the laborers sent out by the staffing company, there's a greater chance that the staffing company, itself, may have the right to lien. If the work being done by the laborers does not permanently improve the real property where work is being performed, then it's usually a safe bet that their staffing company wouldn't have lien rights. But, as mentioned in the Oklahoma article posted earlier in this answer, it's not always that cut and dry.
Keep in mind, though - where an individual laborer would have the right to lien, their staffing company may be able to set up an arrangement where the laborer assigns their lien to the staffing company so that the staffing company may recover via the lien. More on that here: Assignment of Mechanics Liens (But Not The Right to Lien).