I have an existing lien for a customer which was due to lift on 9/22/21; however, I have filed an urgent extension before the deadline. Unfortunately, I was not informed by Levelset that the homeowner would need to sign off on the extension for it to be filed. Today I received an unsigned "Release of Mechanics' Lien" from the homeowner requesting the lien be lifted by October 4th. What are my options to keep the lien in tact and pursue foreclosure?
You have 90 days from recording a lien to file an action to foreclose. If you fail to do so, you must release the lien within 10 days of the owner's written demand that you do so. If you fail to release the expired lien, the owner can file a petition in court to expunge the lien and be awarded the attorney's fees and costs required to do so.
A lien extension is only good if it is signed by the owner and recorded before the expiration of the lien. Thus there is no way to revive your lien at this point.
However, even though your lien must now be released, you still have legal rights against the owner for breach of contract. The difference now is that your claim is not secured by the property.
Your best option now is to release the lien and threaten to proceed (and if necessary actually proceed) with a breach of contract action based on non-payment.