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Arizona 20-day Preliminary Notice must be delivered to owner, prime contractor and construction lender within 20 days of providing labor services or materials. | Arizona Mechanics Liens Must be filed within 60 days of filing of Notice of Completion, or within 120 days after completion. Action to enforce lien must be filed within 6 months after recording lien. |
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Arizona 20-day Preliminary Notice must be delivered to owner, prime contractor and construction lender within 20 days of providing labor services or materials. Actual laborer exempt. | Arizona Mechanics Liens Must be filed within 60 days of filing of Notice of Completion, or within 120 days after completion. Action to enforce lien must be filed within 6 months after recording lien. |
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Arizona 20-day Preliminary Notice must be delivered to owner, prime contractor and construction lender within 20 days of providing labor services or materials. | Arizona Mechanics Liens Must be filed within 60 days of filing of Notice of Completion, or within 120 days after completion. Action to enforce lien must be filed within 6 months after recording lien. |
Arizona Mechanics Lien Frequently Asked Questions
It’s easy to file Arizona mechanics liens with Zlien, the web’s leading mechanics lien compliance manager and filing service. Plus, Zlien prepares and files Arizona mechanics lien releases, 20-day Preliminary Notices, Stop Notices and more. To learn more about Arizona’s mechanics lien laws, read the frequently asked questions below.
Arizona Mechanics Lien FAQs
Who can file a Mechanic’s Lien?
You are qualified to file a mechanic’s lien in Arizona if you furnished labor, materials, professional services, fixtures, or tools, in the construction, alteration, repair, or improvement of any building, or other structure pursuant to a contract with the owner, or with an agent of the owner. Design Professionals are protected by Arizona’s mechanic’s lien laws provided they have a written contract with the property owner, or a written or oral contract with the architect who has a written contract with the owner. Only parties who have a written contract with an owner-occupant may file a lien against his dwelling. Suppliers to suppliers are not qualified to file a mechanic’s lien in Arizona.
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When is the Deadline to File a Mechanic’s Lien?
If a Notice of Completion has been recorded on the project, a mechanic’s lien must be recorded within 60 days after the Notice of Completion was recorded. Otherwise, a mechanic’s lien must be recorded within 120 days of completion of the improvement. In Arizona, the time to file a mechanic’s lien is triggered by the completion of the improvement, not the time an individual lien claimant last provided labor or materials to the project.
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Do I Need to Send Notice the Lien Was Recorded?
Yes. Arizona law requires that a lien claimant make duplicate copies of his mechanic’s lien, record one with the county recorded in the county in which the property is located, and “within a reasonable time thereafter” serve the remaining copy on the property owner, if he can be found within the county. “Serve” in this context means at least registered or certified mail, with the sender obtaining a certificate of mailing, receipt of registration, or receipt of certification.
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Can I Include Attorney’s Fees, Collection Costs, or Other Amounts in the Lien Total?
No. However, if you foreclose on the lien, the court may award the prevailing party the money paid for recording the lien, attorney’s fees, and the necessary expenses incurred by the attorney, as costs.
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When is the Deadline to Enforce a Mechanic’s Lien, or, How Long is My Lien Effective?
Arizona law requires that a mechanic’s lien be enforced within 6 months from the lien’s filing. If this 6-month period passes without an action being filed to enforce the lien, the lien expires. Arizona requires both the filing of the foreclosure action, and, within 5 days of filing suit, the recording of a Lis Pendens.
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Will My Lien Have Priority Over Pre-Existing Mortgages or Construction Loans?
No. An Arizona mechanic’s lien has priority over liens that attached to the property after the mechanic’s lien attached. All mechanic’s liens arising out of a single contract have equal priority.
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Must the Lien Include a Legal Property Description?
Yes. A mechanic’s lien in Arizona must include a legal property description to be valid.
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Must the Lien Include be Notarized?
Yes. A mechanic’s lien in Arizona must be notarized to be valid.
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Can I File a Lien if I’m Unlicensed?
No. According to Arizona law, a person who is required to be licensed as a contractor but who does not hold a valid license shall not have lien rights. Also, a person who furnishes professional services but who does not hold a valid certificate of registration shall not have the lien rights.
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Can I File a Lien on a Condominium Project?
You may file a lien against an individual condominium in Arizona, provided you are a party otherwise allowed to file a mechanic’s lien.
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Who Cancels the Lien if/when I get Paid?
Arizona law requires that the lienholder shall release the lien within 20 days after satisfaction, or within 20 days of the owner-occupant’s written request if the lien was incorrectly filed against the dwelling of an owner occupant. Failure to grant the release subjects the lienholder to personal liability of $1000 and liability for actual damages.
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Are there lien rights when work initiated by a tenant?
Maybe. A mechanics lien may be enforced against a property owner for work requested by a tenant if the tenant acted as the owner’s agent. In DeVry Brick Co. v. Mordka, 96 Ariz. 70, 71, 391 P.2d 925, 926 (1964), the Arizona Supreme Court addressed whether such an agency relationship existed when a lease term required the tenants to make extensive improvements to the leased premises pursuant to plans approved by both owner and tenants, holding that it did “create an agency relation between the lessors and the lessees for the purposes of the lien laws.”
Even if the tenant is not the owner’s agent, there may still be hope, as claimants may file a mechanics lien against the tenant’s leasehold interest in the property.
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Arizona Preliminary Notice FAQs
Do I need to send a Preliminary Notice?
Yes. Arizona law requires that a preliminary 20-day notice be sent by every person who furnishes labor, professional services, or materials for which a lien may be claimed as a necessary prerequisite for the validity of the lien rights. The failure to provide a Preliminary 20-day Notice is fatal to a mechanic’s lien in Arizona. A lien claimant who underestimates the labor and/or materials he will provide to the project is protected up to 120% of the amount contained in the original notice.
When do I need to send a Preliminary Notice?
The Notice must be given no later than 20 days after the claimant has first furnished labor or materials to fully protect the lien claimant. A lien claimant who failed to provide a 20-day Notice within 20 days of first providing labor or materials may provide the notice at a later date, but will only retain lien rights for materials and/or labor furnished within the 20 days preceding the late notice, and the labor and/or materials provided thereafter.
What if I send the Preliminary Notice Late?
How Should the Preliminary Notice be Sent?
Do I have to send the Preliminary Notice to Someone Other than the Owner?
Yes. In Arizona, the Preliminary 20-day Notice must be given to the Owner, the general contractor, the construction lender (if any), and the party with whom you have contracted.
Is the Preliminary Notice Considered Delivered When Sent or When Received?
The requirement to send a preliminary notice is fulfilled upon mailing. This is made clear by ARS § 33-992.01(F) which provides that ”Service is complete at the time of the deposit of notice in the mail.” Further, courts have held that “actual receipt” of the notice is not even required. So long as the notice is mailed to the right place in the right way, the potential claimant has satisfied its obligations. (Case is Columbia Group v. Jackson). See blog article: What If Owner Refuses To Accept Preliminary Notice Mailing in Arizona?
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Arizona Legal Updates
- May 14th 2013
Send Your Arizona Notices On Every Job
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Maricopa County Mechanics Lien: Digital Recording Program
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Arizona Mechanics Lien Law: Court Rules on Attorney Fees Issue
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Arizona Mechanics Liens: Appeals Court Rules on Attorney Fees Related to Lien Priority
See original article at Arizona Mechanics Liens: Appeals Court Rules on Attorney Fees Related to Lien Priority... - April 3rd 2013
California Preliminary Notice: Should I Add 20% To The Estimated Contract Value?
See original article at California Preliminary Notice: Should I Add 20% To The Estimated Contract Value?Short ...
