Walk It Through: The Unpaid Contractor
90 days to record the claim of lien, and 1 year to sue on it.
A contractor finishes work on a house, and part of the bill goes unpaid.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One unpaid bill on one house. The notice of commencement, the protection for an owner who already paid the contractor, and discharging a lien are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Security depositA deposit a landlord may require for a rental unit, which may not exceed one and a half months' rent.
- Construction lienA claim on improved real property that a contractor, subcontractor, laborer or supplier who improved it has a right to, which ends unless the claim of lien is recorded within 90 days after the claimant's last furnishing.