States That Require Claimants to Send Notices of Intent to Lien
On December 6, 2010
By Scott Wolfe Jr
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In 2008, I posted: All Notices Are Not Created Equal: Prelim Notice v Notice of Intent to Lien. I posted this in response to some confusion from clients about the differences between these two types of documents.
While frequently confused, preliminary notice and notices of intent are often misunderstood.
A preliminary notice is a notice sent by a subcontractor, supplier or equipment lessor before or immediately after work begins. These notices are frequently sent to the prime contractor or property owner, and typically must be sent within a certain period of time from when labor and/or materials are first furnished to a project.
Preliminary notices are usually sent before any disputes arise, and therefore, before you’re actually owed any money.
A notice of intent to lien is very rarely sent at the beginning of a project. Instead, this notice is sent immediately before filing a mechanic lien when unpaid on a project. The purpose is to notify the owner or the prime contractor that you will lien the project if payment isn’t received within a certain period of time.
Is it Required by Law?
Notices of Intent are very popular. Subcontractors and suppliers send this notice before proceeding with the more expensive mechanic lien filing because it frequently does the trick, causing the non-paying party to make payment.
While some deliver a notice of intent to lien voluntarily, there are some states that require these notices. In these states, a lien claimant is prohibited from filing a lien until after the notice of intent is sent.
These states frequently require the notice of intent be sent “10 days” or “15 days” before filing a mechanic lien.
Claimants must be careful when calculating the lien period in light of these rules, as the delivery of a notice of intent rarely extends the lien period. So, for example, if you have 90 days from work completion to file a lien, but must deliver a notice of intent 10 days prior to filing a lien…the notice of intent must be delivered 80 days after work completion at the latest.
Here is a short list of the states that require delivery of a Notice of Intent to Lien. Get more free information about your state’s mechanic lien requirements at MechanicLien.com.
- Arkansas (10 days before filing lien)
- Colorado (10 days before filing lien)
- Connecticut (Within 90 day lien period)
- Louisiana (material suppliers on residential projects 10 days before filing lien)
- Missouri (10 days before filing lien)
- North Dakota (15 days before filing lien)
- Pennsylvania (30 days before filing lien)
- Wisconsin (30 days before filing lien)
- Wyoming (10 days before filing lien)
Related articles
- Is Preliminary Notice Required In My State? List of Notice and Non-Notice States (zlien.com/blog)
- How To Prepare For A Non-Paying Project (zlien.com/blog)
Related posts:
- All Notices Are Not Created Equal: Preliminary Notice vs. Notice of Intent to Lien
- Is Preliminary Notice Required In My State? List of Notice and Non-Notice States
- Are Mechanic Lien Laws Changing Across The Country To Require More Notice?
- Is Utah’s SCR (State Construction Registry) A Model For Rest of States?
- Did You Know? Filing Preliminary Notices
About the Author: Scott Wolfe Jr
Scott is the founder of Zlien, a nationwide mechanics lien and preliminary notice filing service. Zlien publishes the Construction Lien Blog, and has done so since 2007. Scott has been a leading contributor and author on the blog since it's initial publication. Scott is also the founder of Wolfe Law Group, a construction law firm that practices along the West Coast and in Louisiana. He lives in New Orleans, LA, where he was born and raised.
[...] the states that require a “Notice of Intent to Lien” are in the minority. We wrote a blog post listing out the states that require notices and when these notices must be filed. While every state is a little different, the “Notice [...]
Twitter: KCconstrlawyer
Missouri also has a requirement for “original contractors” (those with a contract directly with the owner) to provide a separate specified written Notice early in the project (rather than just right before the lien is filed).
Twitter: scottwolfejr
True. Thanks for noting this Rob. Really, I should be more specific when I post about preliminary notices. When writing from a national perspective, since the rules are so varied, it’s tough to get everything discussed. Mostly though, when I talk about preliminary notices, I’m referring to traditional preliminary notices required by subs and suppliers. However, you bring up an interesting point, and that is that many states have notice requirements for prime contractors, and other parties (sometimes, even the owner!). And certainly, in the case of MO (congrats on the Cardinals pennant win, by the way!) they have a requirement for primes.
[...] is not required in most states. It is true that the requirements exists in a few jurisdictions (see list of notice of intent states here), but the general rule is that these notices are not [...]
[...] requirement, but it is exactly that. If passed, Virginia would join only nine other states in having a notice of intent to lien requirement, and its requirement for the notice to be filed 30 days before the mechanics lien would make [...]