Without a mechanic’s lien, a contractor can only sue the party whom they contracted with. With a lien, they can sue the property owner, those up the contracting chain from them, and the surety bonding the project. A mechanic’s lien can prevent a property from being sold, transferred, or refinanced.

Kelly Davis, Esq.
Few construction lawyers have the first-hand experience to understand fully the complex issues that their clients face. When Kelly Davis was a child, her father started a small residential construction business, and there began Kelly’s love of construction. She was the little girl that would be running all around the construction projects. Over the years, her father’s business grew into developing commercial buildings, and high-end residential homes. As a result, Kelly has grown up, worked in and lived around the construction industry her entire life.

In this CLE class clip, Kelly discusses reasons to file a mechanic’s lien & how to get it right.

Watch the Full Construction Law CLE Class

Without a mechanic’s lien, you have no security when filing suit over the breach of contract claim. With a lien, your claim has the property as security. In addition, a mechanic’s lien can survive bankruptcy in some circumstances, since it is tied to the property, not the person, unlike a lawsuit or judgment.

Here are the top reasons people get a mechanic’s lien wrong:

1) They miss key components required by the property codes in their jurisdiction as part of their notice or mechanic’s lien.
2) They send it to who they think is the owner, or general contractor and that turns out to be the wrong name, partial name, wrong address, etc.
3) They do not have the correct legal description, so the lien does not attach to the correct property.
4) They calculate the deadlines wrong, so the notice letters or lien is late and invalid.
5) They do not serve the correct people, or they have improper service (send it regular mail, or email when statute requires certified mail).
6) They site on the lien for several years and miss their statute of limitations to file a suit for foreclosure.