Tag Archive for Florida Lien

Florida NTO Time Limit

The NTO clock is ticking from the first minute you set foot on the job…

We receive calls weekly (sometimes daily) from subcontractors who have let the 45-day time limit for serving their NTO on a project pass, only to realize that they are having a difficult time getting paid on a job. It is always awful to hear that they started work months ago and didn’t think of sending an NTO until it is time to get paid. Florida law does not budge on the time limit for sending your NTO – if you do not serve it within 45 days of your FIRST DAY on the job, you forfeit your right to lien the property you worked on in the case that you don’t get paid in full. The Florida NTO TIme Limit does not have a grace period – 45 days is it. We encourage you to send an NTO on any project valued at $2500 or more when you work as a subcontractor, as that is the minimum amount that you can lien for as a subcontractor under Florida law. This Florida NTO time limit also applies to public and private bonded jobs – you have 45 day from your FIRST day of work to send your Notice to Contractor, or your forfeit your right to make a claim against the bond in the event you don’t get paid/paid in full. Do you need to calculate how far you are into your 45-day time limit? Use our NTO and Lien Date Calculator by clicking here: Free Florida NTO and Lien Date Calculator

Please feel free to call us to discuss your situation at (407)399-8997. The cost of a Notice to Owner is a small price to pay for peace of mind while working on a job, knowing that you have secured your lien rights.

Florida NTO Time Limit is 45 Days

Red Flag! Lien Alert!

The Notice Zone Notice to Owner Service

One of the FREE services we offer our clients is to research a property to see if there are any liens attached BEFORE they go to contract to work on the job. If you are considering beginning to work on a project and want to know if the property is currently liened, call us so we can check the public records to see if there are outstanding liens on the property. We recently had a client from Miami call us to request lien forms for a job where they had not been paid. When we looked up the property address, we found that there are four current liens on the property from contractors and subcontractors, ranging from $10,000 to $100,000 each. If they had called us BEFORE they started the project, they may have decided to not get involved in the project at all. They are currently owed just under $27,000 and have to go through the hassle of liening the property themselves.You have the right to know the payment history of the customers that hire you. And don’t forget – if you are working as a subcontractor, send a Notice to Owner within 45 days of your first day on the project to ensure your lien rights.
Call us at (407)399-8997 or write to us at [email protected]

Serving an Intent to Lien: Can it help you get paid?

Construction laws vary from state to state; some states require that before you lien a property, you serve the owner of the property an “Intention to Lien” form to warn them. Florida DOES NOT require you to serve such notice; if you worked directly for the owner of the property that you worked on (or if you worked as a subcontractor or material supplier and sent your Notice to Owner within 45 days of your first day on the job), you are able to file a lien on a property for the moneys owed to you without warning the owner. However, you can serve an Intent to Lien warning upon the owner in the hope that just learning that you are ready to file a lien will prompt payment, without the hassle and expense of actually filing the lien.

The Notice Zone can write and serve your Intention to Lien form in the event you do not get paid on a project. Remember, you have ninety days from your last day on the job (real work, not punch out work) to file a lien. We send the Intent to Lien forms via USPS Certified Return Receipt mail, so the property owner has to sign for the mailing and you know exactly when they received it. Just like our Notices to Owner, we research the property and project and we include all pertinent information on the Intent to Lien, such as property description, Notice of Commencement filing information, total money owed to you (we include a copy of your invoice) and more to demonstrate that you are ready to file the lien if needed.

Don’t wait until you are a week away from losing your lien rights! It is only $30.00 for us to research, write and serve the Intent to Lien, plus a $5.49 USPS Certified Return Receipt charge, for a total of $35.49. Our clients have had good success in getting paid when this form is served in a timely manner.

Call us today at (407)399-8997 if you are interested in trying our service!