Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>Which states allow for hand-delivery of pre-lien notices? OH allows it with written receipt, but which other states grant this?
Which states allow for hand-delivery of pre-lien notices? OH allows it with written receipt, but which other states grant this?
We have Retail branches that would like to exchange notices with customers on-site when they don't pay COD. In OH, it looks like that can be done as long as a written receipt is obtained, but what other states allow this?
1 reply
Apr 4, 2018
This is a pretty broad question, so it will be hard to provide a "one size fits all" answer. Preliminary notice requirements vary greatly from state to state, and may also change within a state depending on the project type, the role of the party providing notice, and the specific type of preliminary notice being given. However, in some states, even where hand delivery might not be the designated method for service, proof that a notice was actually given and received may be sufficient to fulfill notice requirements (but it's certainly not a good idea to deliver in a method other than what a statute designates). Anyway, the following states appear to allow hand delivery for at least some of their required preliminary notice documents: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, Texas, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin. Keep in mind - even where hand delivery is permissible, it may be required (and it's always advisable) to obtain written receipt from the party to whom notice is given by hand. Also keep in mind that there could be other requirements surrounding such a notice - so referencing zlien's state-by-state FAQs should help provide clarity. Here's that FAQ question ("How Should the Ohio Preliminary Notice be Sent?") for Ohio. Any other state can be selected at the top left of the page.