Mechanics liens are powerful tools to go construction industry participants paid – simply simply like whatever other powerful tool, they can be abused. Whether the abuse is intentional, or a potential claimant merely didn't meet the strict statutory requirements to merits a valid enforceable lien, property owners or other interested parties may need to take steps to accept an insufficient lien removed.

There are multiple options when a lien is filed against your property. Three of the almost common are:

Improper-lien-filed-on-your-property--Heres-what-to-do

  • 1) immediately dispute the lien (whether through statutorily provided preliminary means, a need to/against the claimant, or a total-blown lawsuit)
  • 2) strength the claimant to file suit to enforce the lien in a shorter menses (if bachelor in your state)
  • 3) just look it out

For our purposes hither, we volition use a hypothetical Pennsylvania-based construction project to briefly examine options available when an bereft lien is filed. While these potential steps are specific outlined past Pennsylvania law, some other states have similar options to contest or remove invalid liens, and a review of the lien law statutes in your country can provide some guidance.

How to Remove Mechanics Lien Chop-chop

Pennsylvania has many specific requirements that must be met in club for a claimed lien to be valid and enforceable. These requirements include: a debt of more than $500, find requirements (for parties that did not contract straight with the property owner), timing requirements, and filing and service requirements (Pennsylvania has strict service requirements after the lien has been recorded). Failure to comply with any of the to a higher place requirements, including the $500 floor, can all be enough to render the lien invalid / unenforceable.

Competition the Claim by Filing "Preliminary Objections"

Pennsylvania mechanics lien police (forth with that of many other states) provides for a procedure for contesting a lien merits that does non comply with the mechanics lien act. In Pennsylvania, an owner is allowed to file "preliminary objections" to the lien claim with the court, and the courtroom will make a determination. If there is a question of fact related to the conclusion of whether the lien is or is not valid, the court may take evidence to assist in the determination (like a degradation of interested parties or other show).

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A belongings owner who has been made defendant in a procedurally or substantively defective lien can file these "preliminary objections" in an attempt to have the invalid lien removed in a quick and relatively cheap way. To best position themselves for the removal of the bereft lien, the possessor should set forth all bases for belief that the lien is improper in the preliminary objections. The objections may exist filed prior to the lien claimant initiating an enforcement action, and likely should exist, to avoid the requirement to file a regular answer to the enforcement activity.

This is an action in courtroom, and while an individual may represent him/herself, it is rarely a good thought, and it may be worth while to enlist the services of an chaser. Additionally, there are more often than not prohibitions about business entities representing themselves in court deportment.

Further Reading:

Frivolous Mechanics Liens: Intentionally Fraudulent vs. Honest Mistakes

How to Remove a Lien

Some other Option, Merely Only on Some Residential Projects

There is potentially another selection to have a lien removed quickly (that also requires a court action). But, this option is but available if the projection was on a single or double residential project, and the owner has paid the GC the full contract amount. In such situations, liens are disallowed by law. If a lien is filed in that instance, the owner tin petition the courtroom for an immediate discharge of the lien.

While these exact procedures are specific to Pennsylvania, there are many states with similar options to get a fraudulent or facially bereft lien removed. Just because payment problems are common in construction, and liens are a powerful tool to combat those issues, doesn't meant that they are always advisable, and sometimes, there must be a way to get them removed quickly.

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