A contractor has filed a mechanic’s lien against your property, it showed up in a title search or a letter, and you are refinancing or selling in six weeks.
It is alarming and it is usually solvable. Here is what a lien is, what it is not, and the routes to getting it off the record.
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What a lien does and does not do
A mechanic’s lien is a claim recorded against your property for unpaid labor or materials. It does not transfer ownership, it does not mean anybody is coming to take the house, and it does not mean the claim is valid.
What it does is encumber the title. That matters when you refinance, sell, or draw on a construction loan, because lenders and title companies will not proceed with it sitting there.
Which is precisely why contractors file them. It is leverage, and it works because it arrives at the moment you need clean title.
First, check whether it was done properly
New York lien law is technical, and a meaningful share of liens have defects.
Was it filed within the statutory window, meaning eight months from the last furnishing, or four months where the property is a single family dwelling? See the deadlines.
Was the notice properly verified, meaning sworn rather than merely signed? See why that matters.
Does it describe the property correctly, name the right owner, and state whether the property is a single family dwelling? Was it served on you within the required period after filing?
Is the amount plausible, or does it include work never performed or extras never agreed? New York treats willful exaggeration of a lien seriously.
Take those questions to a construction attorney rather than assessing them yourself. This is the point where an hour of advice is worth a great deal.
The routes off the record
Payment and a satisfaction. Where the money is genuinely owed, paying it and obtaining a properly executed satisfaction or discharge, then recording it, is the cleanest route.
A bond. New York allows a lien to be discharged by bonding it, which removes the encumbrance from the property and moves the dispute to the bond. This is what owners use when a closing cannot wait for the argument to be resolved.
Expiry. A lien does not last indefinitely. It lapses unless continued by extension or by commencing an action within the statutory period, and liens do lapse because contractors forget.
Court. Where the lien is defective or the claim is invalid, there are procedures to have it discharged or vacated.
See discharging a lien in New York.
Do not just pay to make it go away
Understandable instinct with a closing pending, and worth resisting for a day or two.
Paying a lien filed by a contractor who did defective work, or who is claiming for extras you never authorized, does not get you the work fixed and does not get the money back.
Equally, paying the general contractor does not always resolve a lien filed by a subcontractor or supplier who was never paid by them. Owners are frequently astonished by that one, and it is why lien waivers from lower tiers matter.
Where you must close, bonding the lien lets the transaction proceed while the dispute continues on its merits.
Preventing the next one
Collect lien waivers with every payment, from subcontractors and suppliers as well as the general contractor.
Pay by traceable means and keep records. Ask who is on site and who supplied materials.
And on a project of any size, ask your attorney at the start what protections are available, rather than after a lien appears.
Where we fit
We notarize satisfactions, discharges, affidavits and settlement documents, and we handle the county recording so a discharge is actually on the record rather than sitting in a drawer.
What we cannot do is tell you whether the lien is valid or what to pay. That is your attorney’s call, and on a lien it is worth making early.
How you will find out
Rarely from the contractor. Usually from a title search during a sale or refinance, from a letter serving the notice, or from a lender who cannot proceed.
Occasionally an owner discovers a lien years later, having never known it existed, because they never had reason to look at the title.
Which is a reason to check your own property record occasionally. In New York City you can search the recorded documents against your address, and it is free. See how to search ACRIS.
The document you are looking at
Read the notice itself rather than only the covering letter, because the details tell you a great deal.
Who filed it, and were they your contractor or somebody you have never heard of? Subcontractors and suppliers can file even where you paid the general contractor in full.
What are the first and last dates of work claimed? Compare them with when work actually happened.
What is the amount, and does it match anything you recognize?
Is the property description right, including the borough, block and lot? See how to check your BBL.
Take that reading to your attorney. Owners frequently spot the factual problem faster than anybody, because they know what was actually built.
Timing when a closing is booked
Move immediately rather than negotiating slowly.
Tell your attorney and your title company the day you learn of it, because title companies deal with this constantly and will tell you what they require to insure over or around it.
Where the dispute cannot be resolved before the closing date, bonding is usually the answer, and arranging a bond takes time. Starting that conversation in the final week is what turns a solvable problem into a postponed closing.
Renovating? Do these three things
Most liens against homeowners come from the same situation: a renovation where the general contractor was paid and the money did not reach everybody below them.
So, three habits on any job of size.
Get waivers with every payment, from the general contractor and from the subcontractors and suppliers on site, not only from the person you write the check to.
Ask who is working on the job and who is supplying material, and keep the list. You cannot collect a waiver from somebody you do not know exists.
Pay traceably and keep everything: the contract, change orders in writing, invoices, and proof of every payment.
None of that guarantees no lien. All of it means that if one arrives, you can answer it quickly with documents instead of arguing from memory.
Getting a discharge onto the record
The step owners forget after the dispute is settled.
Reaching an agreement and paying is not the same as clearing your title. A satisfaction or discharge has to be properly executed and recorded with the county clerk, and until it is, the lien still appears against your property.
Owners discover this years later at a sale, when a lien they resolved in 2019 is still on the record because nobody filed the discharge.
We notarize satisfactions and discharges and handle the recording across the five boroughs, then confirm it back to you. Check the record yourself afterward as well.
Also useful: the NYC deed transfer and recording kit.
Related reading
- Why a New York mechanic’s lien must be verified
- Mechanic’s lien deadlines in New York
- Lien waivers: what you are signing away
- Contractor affidavits and payment applications
- Discharging a mechanic’s lien in New York
- On site notary for contractors and firms
This is general information, not legal advice, and NotarEaseNYC is not a law firm. New York lien law is technical and deadlines are strict and unforgiving. A notary cannot prepare a lien, tell you whether you have lien rights, or advise on a dispute. Speak with a construction attorney before filing or responding to anything.