Easy Reference Guide: Our Top FAQ
We get asked a lot of questions, and these are the most frequent.
⓵Complete our online form at your own speed.
Answer a few questions and we'll create your mechanics lien document. Our online process guides you step-by-step. Most people finish in under 10 minutes.
⓶We double-check your work and then do the paperwork.
After you submit the online form, our specialists carefully review it and perform a property owner verification search.
⓷Sign and return your documents, and you're finished.
We email your documents to you for signature, and when you return the signed documents we'll do the rest.
Once any discrepancies with your order form are worked out, we prepare, serve and file the document ordered by you. In short, we do the following:
+ Property research to obtain owner information and legal property description
+ Filing of the lien document with the appropriate government agency
+ Service of the document on the appropriate parties (owner, contractor, etc.).
You provide us with the project information and we prepare your lien documents, file and serve them. LienItNow's professionals review your order. We double check your order form for certain errors and confirm the name and address of the owner of the property against whom the lien is being filed. If an error is detected, we will inform you and will assist you in resolving it.
Because we double check the name of the property owner with the appropriate government agency, in most cases it takes about 2 business days to process the order and email you with the draft of your order. If you choose to use our "Rush Service", we will email you with a draft of your document the same day it is ordered, as long as it is ordered before 4:00 P.M. EST, Monday through Friday. For your document to be filed, it must have your original, notarized signature. After we provide you with the completed document via email, you must send it back to us with your original, notarized signature. Once we receive the signed document back from you, we immediately submit it for filing. Generally, it takes a few days for the government clerks to complete the filing. Some clerks, however, take longer than others, and we cannot guarantee how long it will take for a document to be filed.
The filing of a lien claim is perhaps the greatest protection afforded to contractors and suppliers who have not been paid. It is a right derived from statutory law. Consequently, the filing requirements are strictly construed and many mistakes in the filing of the lien will leave a contractor or supplier without lien rights. For example, many lienors assume the name of the owner is the name on the contract. That is very often not the case.LienItNow.com searches for the recorded fee simple owner’s name, along with the proper block and lot numbers needed for filing.
LienItNow.com provides you with a simple form to complete, which sets forth all of the information needed to file a lien. With that information, LienItNow.com prepares the appropriate lien claims. Construction Lien Claims must be signed by an officer of the company. Therefore, please leave as much time as possible for the processing and filing of lien claims.
LienItNow.com diaries the filing of your lien claim and records your deadline for enforcement of your claim. If the filing of the lien claim does not result in payment by the contractor or owner, LienItNow.com will refer you to a law firm that is uniquely experienced in the enforcement of lien claims.
Many States have preliminary requirements that must be fulfilled prior to the filing of a mechanics lien. A prelien notice is required in most States, especially if you do not have a direct contract with the owner. The purpose of the pre-lien notice is to let the owner know who is on the project, and, in some cases, to warn the owner that a mechanics lien is going to be filed. Failure to file a preliminary notice can compromise the amount or validity of the mechanics lien. Check the FAQs for your specific State to see the preliminary notice requirements.
While the mechanics lien is the most popular way to obtain security for payment, Stop Notices and Bond Claims can also be very effective, especially when used in conjunction with a mechanics lien.
A Stop Notice can be filed on both public and private projects, and is a notification that has the ability to enhance the effectiveness of a mechanic’s lien. A Stop Notice, or a notice to withhold funds, is sent to the owner or company that is financing or funding the construction funds for a project. Once that company receives the Stop Notice, that company has notice that it should withhold sufficient money to satisfy the stop notice claim. The purpose of the Stop Notice is to provide the lender, financiers or funders of the construction project notice that there is money owed to a contractor, subcontractor or supplier so that an inquiry can be made as to why that money is not being paid. Usually, the funder will stop payment until the non-payment issue is resolved.
A Bond Claim in the construction context is a notice against a prime contractor's surety company that a claimant is owed money on a project. In nearly all government projects exceeding a certain contract amount, the contractors that have a contract with the owner are required to obtain a bond that ensures that everyone performing work on the project will be paid in full. Since government property generally cannot be liened upon, the surety bond obtained by the prime contractor provides a mechanism for subcontractors and suppliers to obtain security that their claims will be paid. Generally, the bond claim must be submitted within a certain time frame required by Statute or by the terms of the bond itself. In some States, the bond claim is an additional remedy to a government mechanics lien, or municipal mechanics lien.