Florida

From the date of the recording of the Notice of Termination you have only 30 days to record a lien or put a claim against the bond (Notice of Non-Payment). You have to lien for the amount you are owed including any retainage.

Send a new Notice to Owner/Notice to Contractor (NTO) once the new NOC has been recorded.

Yes, you may lien a project if it’s under $2,500.00, however, if you are a subcontractor to the GC and the contract between the owner and the GC is less than $2,500.00, you can’t lien the property.

The true test for lien rights is the actual incorporation of the materials into the project.  It’s essential to have a signed document from your customer stating that the materials will be incorporated into the specific location for improvement on the property.

If you are the sub-subcontractor, working for another subcontractor, not for the General Contractor, then you should send a (NNP) Notice of Non-Payment (Claim on Bond), within 90 days from your last day on the job.

If you are the subcontractor working for the General Contractor who bonded the project, you don’t have to send a NNP however, below is the information you need to know in order to be able to file a suit within 1 year from your last day on the job, or to have an understanding of the time frame you have, to do so.

This is governed by subsection 10:

(10) An action, except an action for recovery of retainage, must be instituted against the contractor or the surety on the payment bond or the payment provisions of a combined payment and performance bond within 1 year after the performance of the labor or completion of delivery of the materials or supplies. An action for recovery of retainage must be instituted against the contractor or the surety within 1 year after the performance of the labor or completion of delivery of the materials or supplies; however, such an action may not be instituted until one of the following conditions is satisfied:

(a) The public entity has paid out the claimant’s retainage to the contractor, and the time provided under s. 218.735 or s. 255.073(3) for payment of that retainage to the claimant has expired;

(b) The claimant has completed all work required under its contract and 70 days have passed since the contractor sent its final payment request to the public entity; or

(c) At least 160 days have passed since reaching substantial completion of the construction services purchased, as defined in the contract, or if not defined in the contract, since reaching beneficial occupancy or use of the project.

(d) The claimant has asked the contractor, in writing, for any of the following information and the contractor has failed to respond to the claimant’s request, in writing, within 10 days after receipt of the request:

1. Whether the project has reached substantial completion, as that term is defined in the contract, or if not defined in the contract, if beneficial occupancy or use of the project has occurred.

2. Whether the contractor has received payment of the claimant’s retainage, and if so, the date the retainage was received by the contractor.

3. Whether the contractor has sent its final payment request to the public entity, and if so, the date on which the final payment request was sent.

If none of the conditions described in paragraph (a), paragraph (b), paragraph (c), or paragraph (d) is satisfied and an action for recovery of retainage cannot be instituted within the 1-year limitation period set forth in this subsection, this limitation period shall be extended until 120 days after one of these conditions is satisfied.

No, you do not have lien rights if you didn’t file your permit.  

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A Notice to Owner is a preliminary notice that must be sent by certified mail from the 40th day from first furnishing labor and/or materials to the project. A notice to owner needs to be received by the 45th from first furnishing labor and/or material. The only exception is for specially fabricated materials, materials that can only used for a specific project. The clock starts ticking as soon as you start fabricating materials not when you install the product. If you are not contracted directly with the owner of the project and wish to maintain your lien rights, you must send a notice to owner. General Contractors that are working directly with the owner may choose to send a Notice to Owner. This notice lets the owner and all other required recipients know that you will be securing your lien rights.

To learn more about Notices to Owners (NTOs), read the helpful article on "Why You Need a Notice to Owner in Florida?"

Yes, Mold Remediation contractors have lien rights

Yes, the Notice to Owner cannot be served prior to having an agreement in place, verbal is permissible but written is preferred, and under no circumstances can the NTO be served upon the owner and general contractor later than 45 days after work is commenced.

Under the lien statute, the failure to serve the NTO on all required recipients is a complete defense to the enforcement of a lien. Therefore, if the NTO is not sent as required, you may lose your lien rights. Finally, know that certified mail with return receipt is the least expensive of all of the statutorily approved methods of service of the NTO (as compared to, for example, FedEx). Sending the NTO by any means not specifically enumerated by the lien statute renders that service ineffective and the NTO no good.

A Notice to Owner/Notice to Contractor (NTO) is a statutory form that can be found in Section 713.06, Florida Statutes. The NTO is generally filled out by the subcontractor or supplier, or any party not directly contracted with the owner of the property.  

The following information must be included in the Florida Notice to Owner/Notice to Contractor (NTO): (i) property owner name and address, (ii) owner designee name and address (if applicable), (iii) General contractor name and address; (iv) general description of work or materials and supplies provided for the job, (v) Property description, and (vi) Hiring party’s name and address.  

In addition, any party that is receiving a copy must be identified, the statutory warning language in mandatory, the lienor’s/sender’s name and the sender’s signature and date.  Need help filling out the form? Click here and create a Free online account.

The best answer is because the lien statute says it is required, so we don’t ask questions. The more logical answer is that it is intended to communicate to the owner who remains unpaid. This gives the owner an opportunity to make direct payments to those subs and vendors to minimize the risk of paying the GC and the GC not paying the subs and vendors.

Many subcontractors and suppliers use the words “cancel an NTO” when they are done and paid in full on a project. The person that is responsible for “cancelling” or otherwise providing the Final Waiver and Release of Lien is the person that sent the Notice to Owner. Unless the owner of the property, general contractor, subcontractor that hired you request a waiver and release of lien you do not have to do anything else. Think of the waivers and releases as a receipt for payment. Need help with your waivers and releases of liens? Create them here for free.

Assuming you have more time, then if it were me and I was about to file a foreclosure action, I would reserve it by another means, say FedEx, to have better tracking.

A Notice of Commencement (NOC) is filed by an owner in the clerk's office of the county in which the project is located. There is specific language laid out in Florida Statute 713.13(1)(d) that must be included for a valid Notice of Commencement. An NOC is recorded in the county where the project is located.

Read this helpful article to learn the detailed steps on "What is a Notice of Commencement in Florida and What Must it Contain?"

A Notice of Commencement is a form that is filled out, recorded, and notarized by the owner of the property. Generally, it is required for permitted work over $2,500, but every municipality is slightly different. It is the obligation of the owner to ensure an NOC is properly prepared and recorded. Failure to properly prepare or timely record an NOC may impact how liens and lien rights affect an owner's property. Do you need help recording a Notice of Commencement? We can assist you in recording your NOC in every county in the state of Florida.

Click here to get started.

Yes, you would have bond claim rights even with a “pay when paid” provision.

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A Notice of Contest of Lien is a form that is filled out by the owner of the property and recorded in the county in which the property is located.  A Notice of Contest of Lien shortens the deadline for the lienor to foreclose from 1 year to 60 days.

Read this helpful article to learn the detailed steps on "How to File a Construction Lien in Florida."

No, a contractor’s final affidavit does not get recorded. It gets sent by certified mail and you must have proof of service.

It is the obligation of the owner to ensure an NOC is properly prepared and recorded. Failure to properly prepare or timely record an NOC may impact how liens and lien rights affect an owner's property. That being said, generally the General Contractor will prepare and record the Notice of Commencement for the owner of the property.

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A lien is recorded in the county where the work is being done. For example, if you are working on a project in Miami, the lien would be recorded in Dade County.

Read this helpful article to learn the intricate steps on "How to File a Construction Lien in Florida"

Unless you send a Notice to Owner you will not have lien rights. If no NOC was recorded and no permit was obtained, then you are excused from having to serve the GC with the NTO (since you would have no way to find the GC either by the Notice of Commencement or the master building permit since neither existed).

If you are not contracted directly with the owner of the property, you are required to send a Notice to Owner (NTO) if you wish to lien a property.

Need help? Click here to send a Notice to Owner.

No, only the General Contractor who holds the bond needs to receive a copy of the Notice to Owner.

If a license is required for the type of work being performed, such as electrical work, then the contractor must hold a valid license to have lien rights.

It does not unless the creditor reports it to a credit agency, which I don't think I have ever seen happen.

A surety bond, also called a payment bond,  is a collection tool similar to a construction lien. A Construction Bond Claim (or a Bond Claim Notice) attaches to the bond in the event of non-payment, unlike a lien which attaches to the real property. Both private and public projects can be bonded. Lien rights do not apply to state-owned property as the  state government will not allow anyone to foreclose on government land. They have what is called sovereign immunity. Instead, you can claim your payment rights through a Construction Bond.  Are you required to bond your project?

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Short answer is you can only lien the old owner as that is the only owner you have a legal claim against. It will be up to the old owner to tell the new owner. Also, your lien attaches to the property so even if the property is sold to a new owner, your lien remains.

You would need to do is lien ASAP. It is on the old owner, new owner, and title company that will have to deal with the lien. If you don’t get paid after filing a lien, you should file a lawsuit to foreclose at which point you can name the new owner who would have taken the title with the lien.

A Florida Construction Lien, also known as a Mechanic's Lien, must be filed within 90 days of the last work or materials furnished to the job. The lien is recorded in the county in which the project is located, and the timeline does not include "punch list" work.

Read this helpful article to learn the detailed steps about "How to File a Construction Lien in Florida."

No. A supplier that has a DPO has NO RIGHT to make a bond claim on the GC bond because they have a direct contract with the owner. Said differently, they are not in privity with the bonded GC and therefore cannot make a bond claim on the GC’s bond. Their recourse is a demand letter and if needed, a lawsuit against the public owner.

A Claim on Bond, also referred to a Notice of Nonpayment is a not a complicated process. The first step is to make sure that all your ducks are in a row.  If you are not contracted directly with the General Contractor, you are required to send a Notice to Owner/Notice to Contractor to secure your bond claim rights. The NTO must be received 45 days from first furnishing labor and/or material to the project.

The next step is to send the notice of nonpayment, also known as the claim on bond, to the General Contractor and the Surety. Now, just because you send the Notice of Nonpayment to the GC and the surety doesn’t guarantee that you are getting paid! That’s just one of the required steps. Most sureties are not going to just pay you because you sent a notice of nonpayment.

If you are still not paid after sending the notice of nonpayment you may want to consider hiring a construction attorney to file suit on the bond. You have 1 year from your last day of furnishing labor and/or materials to sue on the bond.

Read more here: How Do I Get Paid After I Make A Payment Bond Claim

On a Florida public project, a material supplier to a sub-subcontractor DOES HAVE rights against the general contractor’s bond. The same is also true on a Florida private project as to both lien and bond rights (if the private project is bonded).

Below would be the chain of command.

GC who bonded the project  ->  Sub  ->  Sub-sub  ->  Material supplier

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No, it does not affect your lien rights. A GC can lien a job even if there is no NOC. A general contractor is not obligated to prepare or record the NOC.  Under Florida Law, that obligation belongs to the owner of the property.  However, many contractors assist owners in completing and recording the NOC to expedite the start of construction.  The NOC is generally needed for all construction that requires a permit or is over $2,500.  In certain situations, there may be exceptions for emergency work, but whenever possible, a Notice of Commencement (NOC) should be prepared and recorded.

Ideally, no subcontractor is signing an unconditional release unless they are contemporaneously receiving payment.   Any other situation would dictate using a conditional release (I give you a conditional release now, you give me a check later).  Separately, you now only have 30 days from the date of the Notice of Termination to lien for any amounts due, including all earned retainage and change orders AND you must serve a new Notice to Owner once with new NOC is recorded.

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The person that has a contract with the owner on a job that is $2500 or less has lien rights. Their subcontractors and suppliers do not have lien rights if it’s under $2,500.That being said you can try and still lien it but may have to satisfy the lien of the point is argued.