A Lien on Your House
ORC 1311.06 — sixty days on a home, and paying the contractor is not the end of it
The thing that surprises homeowners about construction liens is that the person filing one is frequently somebody they never hired, never met, and never owed anything to. A subcontractor or a material supplier who went unpaid by the general contractor can reach the property, and having paid the general contractor in full does not automatically answer it.
Who handles this in Ohio: legal aid programs, lawyer referral and the state offices, listed in the Ohio directory.
Sixty days on a home, seventy five on most other work. A lien is asserted by filing and serving an affidavit, and the clock runs from the date the last labor or work was performed or the last material furnished. For a one or two family dwelling, or a residential unit of a condominium, the affidavit has to be filed within sixty days of that date. For work that is not a residential dwelling, it is seventy five. A lien filed outside the window is a lien with a problem on its face.
The notice of commencement is the document at the other end. It is filed by the property owner with the county recorder before work begins on a project that may give rise to a lien, and it is the mechanism by which the people working on a property become visible to the owner rather than appearing later as claimants.
A satisfied lien does not remove itself. After the amount of a lien has been satisfied, or adjudged against the lienholder in an action on it, a lienholder who does not cause the lien to be released within thirty days is liable to the owner for the damages that follow, up to the amount of the lien and costs. The record does not clear on its own and a paid claimant has no natural incentive to tidy it up.
| Situation | The number |
|---|---|
| SituationLien on a one or two family dwelling | The number60 days from the last labor or material |
| SituationLien on other work | The number75 days |
| SituationBefore work begins | The numberThe owner's notice of commencement, filed with the county recorder |
| SituationAfter a lien is satisfied | The number30 days for the lienholder to cause its release, or damages up to the lien and costs |
“What date was the last work done, and when was this filed.”
Lien waivers, the notice of furnishing a subcontractor may have to serve, escrow and the process for contesting a lien each sit in their own provisions of the same chapter and are not on this page. Public projects run under a different set of provisions entirely. Whether a particular lien is valid, whether it was served correctly, and what a payment to a general contractor did or did not discharge are questions for a licensed Ohio attorney, and a title company will usually spot a lien before anybody else does.
Sources for this section (3)
- ORC 1311.06 — The affidavit that creates a mechanic's lien, and the days to file it
- ORC 1311.04 — The notice of commencement an owner files before work begins
- ORC 1311.20 — A lienholder who does not release a satisfied lien within thirty days, and the damages
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of September 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Ohio attorney.