Are Bond Claims Actually Filed With The Recorder or Clerk of Court?

Since so many in the construction industry confuse mechanic lien rights on private projects with bond claim rights on state, county or federal projects, there is a common misconception that bond claims are filed in the county recorder or clerk’s office similar to a mechanic’s lien claim.  In general, this is not the case.

Generally speaking, bond claims are not recorded with the county recorder or clerk of court.  The reasoning in simple.  These recording offices function to maintain property records.  While mechanic liens affect title to a proeprty, a bond claim doesn’t, and so they have no business being lodged in the property records.

There are some exceptions to this (for reasons I don’t understand). Bond claims against state and county projects must be recorded with recorders in the states of Louisiana and New Jersey.

Most states, however, do not require any filing with the recorders office.  However, that doesn’t mean that these claims need not be filed.  In many instances on state and county projects, the law reads requiring the claimant to “file” their bond claim with the public entity commissioning the work.

Accordingly, while your document will not be filed in the county recorders office with an associated filing fee, you may be required to deliver your document to a public office where they will theoretically “file it.”  There are usually no filing fees and usually the document does not get stamped (you must save proof of delivery to prove filing), but there are occassions when the opposite is true.

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