Notice of intent to lien explained: when to send one, a copyable template, how to file a mechanics lien, and lien deadlines in example states.
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A notice of intent to lien is the letter you send when an invoice has gone unpaid long enough that you are ready to file a mechanics lien, and you want the owner to know it before you do. It is the last polite step. It names the job, the amount, the date you will file, and what the owner can do to stop it.
I ran three restoration companies for over 14 years, and the notice of intent did more work for me than any lien I ever recorded. Plenty of owners and general contractors pay once they see their property name next to the words "mechanics lien" and a filing date. The ones who do not pay at least start talking. Either way, you learn where you stand while your lien rights are still alive.
Below: what a notice of intent to lien is, how it differs from a preliminary notice, a copyable template with a filled-in example, how to file a mechanics lien, and lien deadlines in example states with the statutes to check.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
A notice of intent to lien (sometimes called an NOI, a notice of intent to file a lien claim, or a pre-lien notice) is a written warning sent to the property owner, and usually to the general contractor and lender, stating that you have not been paid and will record a mechanics lien against the property if the debt is not resolved by a specific date.
A mechanics lien is a legal claim against the property itself, not just against the person who hired you. Once it is recorded, it clouds the title. The owner cannot easily sell or refinance until the lien is paid, bonded off or released. That is what gives the notice of intent its weight: the owner is being told their property, not just their reputation with you, is about to be involved.
The notice does three jobs:
Contractors mix these up all the time, and the mix-up is expensive. They are three different documents sent at three different points in the job.
| Document | When it goes out | Who gets it | What it does |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preliminary notice | Near the start of your work (for example, within 20 days of first furnishing in California) | Owner, GC, and often the lender | Tells the owner you are on the job. Often a condition of filing a lien later. |
| Notice of intent to lien | After the invoice is past due, before you file | Owner, GC, and anyone your state requires | Warns that a lien will be filed by a set date unless payment is made. |
| Mechanics lien (claim of lien) | Before the filing deadline, usually measured from your last day of work | Recorded with the county, then served on the owner | A legal claim on the property, enforceable by a foreclosure lawsuit. |
The preliminary notice is the one people forget, because it goes out when everyone is still friendly. California calls it a preliminary 20-day notice, Florida a notice to owner. Skip a required one and a notice of intent later may be worthless, because there may be no lien right left to protect.
Tip: Make the preliminary notice part of your job setup checklist, the same as the contract and the certificate of insurance. Sent on every job, nobody takes it personally.
Send it after your normal collection steps have failed and before your lien deadline gets close. In practice that means three conditions are true:
The most common mistake I saw was waiting. The invoice sat at 60, then 90 days while everyone hoped the GC would come through, and by the time someone checked the lien deadline it was days away or gone. The clock on a mechanics lien starts when you finish the work, not when you finally decide you are fed up. For the full escalation path, see how to collect unpaid construction invoices.
Some states prescribe the content or even the form. Where they do not, a strong notice includes:
| Element | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Your company name, address and license number | Matches the lien exactly. |
| Owner name and property address, plus legal description or parcel number if you have it | Get it from county records, not the job folder. |
| Who hired you | Your position in the chain affects which notices you need. |
| Description of the work and dates | What you furnished, and your first and last dates of work. |
| Amount owed | The unpaid contract balance plus approved change orders, matching your last pay application. Do not pad it. |
| Deadline to pay | A specific calendar date, at least as far out as your state requires. |
| Statement of intent | Plain words: you will file a lien if not paid. |
| How to pay and who to call | A notice that is hard to resolve does not get resolved. |
| Proof of delivery | Certified mail, return receipt, or whatever your statute requires. |
Copy this and fill in the brackets. Check your state's statute first, because some states require specific wording, warnings in bold type, or a particular delivery method.
TEMPLATE
NOTICE OF INTENT TO FILE MECHANICS LIEN
Date: [date]
Sent by: [certified mail, return receipt requested / other method required by statute]
To (Owner): [owner name], [owner mailing address]
To (General Contractor): [GC name], [address]
To (Lender, if known): [lender name], [address]
Property: [street address], [county], [state]. Parcel/APN: [number]. Legal description: [if available]
Claimant: [your company], [address], License # [number]
[Your company] furnished [labor / materials / equipment] for the improvement of the property above under a contract with [name of party who hired you], beginning on [first date of work] and last furnished on [last date of work].
As of the date of this notice, [your company] has not been paid $[amount] for that work, as shown on invoice(s) [numbers], copies attached.
If this amount is not paid in full by [deadline date], [your company] intends to file a mechanics lien against the property as allowed by [state statute citation]. A recorded lien may affect the owner's ability to sell or refinance the property and may lead to a lawsuit to enforce it.
We would much rather resolve this directly. To pay or to discuss the balance, contact [name] at [phone] or [email].
[Signature]
[Name, title]
[Company]
Here is the same notice for a made-up subcontractor chasing a GC on a small commercial job. Notice how little anyone has to look up.
EXAMPLE
NOTICE OF INTENT TO FILE MECHANICS LIEN
Date: March 3
Sent by: Certified mail, return receipt requested, and email
To (Owner): Lakeview Plaza Holdings LLC, 900 Market Street, Suite 400
To (General Contractor): Northgate Builders Inc., 15 Industrial Way
Property: 2210 Lakeview Drive, retail units B and C. Parcel 14-220-018.
Claimant: Summit Drywall & Paint LLC, 48 Mill Road, License # 000000
Summit Drywall & Paint furnished labor and materials for drywall, taping and finish paint at the property under a subcontract with Northgate Builders, beginning October 14 and last furnished on December 19.
As of the date of this notice, Summit has not been paid $18,640.00, as shown on pay application 3 (invoice 1187) and approved change order 2 (invoice 1193), copies attached.
If this amount is not paid in full by April 4, Summit Drywall & Paint intends to file a mechanics lien against the property under the state mechanics lien statute.
We would much rather settle this directly. Call Dana Ruiz, Office Manager, at (555) 014-7730 or email dana@example.com.
Dana Ruiz
Office Manager, Summit Drywall & Paint LLC
Example company, owner, property and amounts are made up for illustration. The deadline shown assumes a state that requires 30 days of notice before filing and a lien deadline months away. Use your own state's timeline.
Bring one overdue invoice.
We will show you how it would be followed up, long before anyone needs a lien notice.
If the notice of intent deadline passes without payment, here is how to file a mechanics lien in most states. The details (forms, wording, who must sign, how it is served) are set by your state's statute and, often, your county recorder.
| 1 | Confirm you have lien rights. Check that your role can lien in your state, the project is private (public jobs usually use bond claims), and every required preliminary notice went out on time. |
| 2 | Pin down your dates. Your first and last day of furnishing, and whether a notice of completion was recorded. Warranty and punch-list work often does not extend the deadline. |
| 3 | Calculate the filing deadline. Use the statute, not a rule of thumb, and calendar it. |
| 4 | Get the property details right. Pull the owner's legal name, parcel number and legal description from the county. A lien on the wrong owner or parcel can fail. |
| 5 | Prepare the lien document. Use your state's form if it has one. Many states require it to be sworn and notarized. |
| 6 | Record it with the county. File with the county recorder where the property sits and keep the stamped copy. |
| 7 | Serve the owner. Most states require a copy to the owner within a short window. Florida, for example, requires service within 15 days of recording. |
| 8 | Track the enforcement deadline. If you are not paid, you must sue to foreclose within your state's window or the lien expires. |
| 9 | Release it when you are paid. Record a lien release promptly once paid. |
Tip: Price the lien before you file it. Recording, notary, mail and attorney review add up, and a foreclosure suit costs far more.
One more trap: read every lien waiver before you sign it. An unconditional waiver signed before the money clears gives up the very claim you are trying to protect. Our guide to conditional vs unconditional lien waivers explains which one to sign when.
Here is how the rules look in four large construction states. It shows how much they differ; it is not a substitute for the statute, and each state has exceptions for residential, public work and retainage. Rules vary by state.
| State | Preliminary notice | Notice of intent to lien | Lien filing deadline | Enforcement deadline |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| California (Civil Code §§ 8200 to 8216, 8412, 8414, 8460) | 20-day preliminary notice (§ 8204). | Not required by statute. | 90 days after completion; 60 days (direct contractors) or 30 days (others) after a recorded notice of completion. | 90 days after recording (§ 8460). |
| Texas (Property Code Chapter 53, as amended by HB 2237 for contracts on or after Jan. 1, 2022) | Subs and suppliers send notices of unpaid amounts to the owner and original contractor; residential and commercial deadlines differ. | Not a separate statutory step. | 15th day of the 4th month after completion (commercial) or 3rd month (residential) (§ 53.052). | Generally one year after the last day you could file the lien affidavit (§ 53.158). Check the statute for extensions. |
| Florida (Fla. Stat. Chapter 713) | Notice to owner within 45 days of first furnishing, if not in contract with the owner (§ 713.06). | Not required by statute. | 90 days after final furnishing (§ 713.08). | One year from recording, shorter after a notice of contest (§ 713.22). |
| Pennsylvania (Mechanics' Lien Law of 1963, 49 P.S. § 1101 and following) | Check the current statute. | Required for subs: written notice at least 30 days before filing (§ 1501). | Six months after completing your work. | Two years from filing. |
Wisconsin is another state that makes the notice of intent mandatory. Under Wis. Stat. § 779.06 (summary from Lommen Abdo), no lien claim may be filed unless the claimant served the owner with a written notice of intent at least 30 days before filing, and the lien must be filed within six months of the last date the claimant furnished labor or materials.
Filing windows run from 90 days to six months and start at different events, so a single office rule like "lien at 90 days past due" does not work across states.
This is not legal advice. Mechanics lien law is set by each state and changes often. The summary above is general information from the statutes named and leaves out many exceptions. Before you send a notice of intent to lien or file a lien, read your state's current statute and talk to a construction attorney licensed in the state where the property is located. If you are unsure of a deadline, check your state's statute or your county recorder's office.
A notice of intent to lien is for the few invoices normal follow-up does not fix. If you send them often, the problem is upstream: reminders that go out late or never, and invoices sitting at 60 and 90 days with no owner.
The fix is boring and it works. Get every open invoice on a follow-up schedule the day it is issued, watch your aging report weekly, and flag any job approaching its lien window so a person makes a decision while there is still time. Clear payment terms and a written construction payment schedule in the contract help too, because they set the expectation before the first invoice goes out.
That is the part AR Workflow handles. It connects to QuickBooks, puts each open invoice on an automated reminder schedule, and sends emails, texts and ringless voicemail from a dedicated number, with a payment link for homeowners and other direct customers. The aging dashboard shows which jobs are slipping, so you can decide on a notice of intent with weeks to spare instead of days. It does not file liens or give legal advice; it helps keep a lien deadline from sneaking up on you. For more on how this works for builders and subs, see construction accounts receivable software.
It depends on the state and your role. In most states it is optional. Pennsylvania (for subcontractors) and Wisconsin require written notice at least 30 days before filing. Check your state's statute.
Where the notice is required, wait at least the statutory period (30 days in Pennsylvania and Wisconsin) and still file before the lien deadline. Where it is optional, you set the date in the letter, but never let it run past your filing deadline.
A preliminary notice goes out near the start of the job. A notice of intent to lien goes out after you have not been paid, warning that you are about to file. Many states require the first; only some require the second.
Recording fees are usually modest, but add notarization, certified mail, title research and often an attorney. A foreclosure lawsuit costs far more. Check your county recorder's fee schedule.
Yes. Owners can pay it, bond around it in many states, challenge it in court, or in some states (Florida, for one) shorten your enforcement window with a notice of contest. Inaccurate or late liens are the easiest to remove.
Related reading
Your invoice, not a feature tour.
Bring one overdue invoice to a demo and see what AR Workflow would send, when, and how you would spot it before a lien deadline.
Photos: Unsplash. This article is general information, not legal advice. Statutes cited: California Civil Code §§ 8204, 8412, 8414, 8460; Texas Property Code Chapter 53 (§§ 53.052, 53.158); Florida Statutes §§ 713.06, 713.08, 713.22; Pennsylvania 49 P.S. §§ 1501, 1502, 1701; Wisconsin Stat. § 779.06. Rules vary by state; talk to a construction attorney.
Sam owned and ran three restoration companies for more than 14 years and collected over $100 million in receivables. He built AR Workflow in 2020 to give contractors the collections system he wished he'd had.
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