When it comes to a mechanic’s lien, the preliminary notice is going to be a major part of the process. The standard practice is to send out a preliminary notice before you ever start any type of construction project. Essentially, you are going to want to send out a preliminary notice for every project that you possibly can. However, often times there are going to be mistakes that have been made.
For example, you may forget to send out the preliminary notice when it comes to a certain project, or maybe somebody simply decides that they are not going to send one out at all for whatever reason, but then some type of payment issue pops up later on down the road. With this being said, the big question that you may have if this does happen to you is going to be, ‘are you still able to file a mechanic’s lien for a project if there was never a preliminary notice that was sent out?’ Here is what you need to know about sending out a preliminary notice and mechanic’s liens through BICA lien services.
The Requirements for a Preliminary Notice
Now you will need to keep in mind that sending out a preliminary notice is not going to be the same exact process in every state. In fact, each state is going to have their very own set of rules and timelines that you will need to follow in order to properly file a mechanic’s lien and send out the preliminary notice. Due to this, it can often times make trying to manage preliminary notices somewhat difficult.
As if that weren’t enough, depending upon the state that the project is happening in, the preliminary notice requirements may still be even more different depending upon what your particular role in the project is going to be. Basically, the requirements for a preliminary notice are going to be different depending upon whether you are a subcontractor, as opposed to one of the prime contractors, or even the person supplying the materials for the job.
Why You Need to Send a Preliminary Notice
The main reason for sending a preliminary notice and the reason that some states require that you send one out, is basically going to be to secure your rights to a mechanic’s lien on the project that you will be working on.
Now keep in mind that this is not going to mean that you are required to file for a mechanic’s lien, but it basically secures your rights to file for one if there is some type of problem with getting paid for the work that you have done on a project. With that being said, the truth of the matter is that actually having to file a mechanic’s lien is going to be quite rare. But if you do need to file for one, you are going to be very happy that you have done it the ‘right’ way and send out a preliminary notice to the owner of the property for the project that you have worked on and completed.