Georgia Mechanics Lien Deadlines, Filing, and Removal

Georgia’s mechanics and materialmen lien statutes sit in Part 3 of Article 8 of Title 44 of the state code, and they run on their own clock, separate from the Georgia consumer protection laws that govern deceptive sales practices. What follows covers who holds lien rights, the deadlines that control the claim, the notices that have to change hands between the parties, and the routes that take a recorded lien back off the title.

Who holds lien rights in Georgia

O.C.G.A. § 44-14-361 grants a special lien to ten categories of people who furnish labor, services, or materials for the improvement of real estate. The list runs well past the general contractor. Subcontractors, materialmen supplying subcontractors, laborers, machinists, registered architects, registered foresters, registered land surveyors, registered professional engineers, registered interior designers, and suppliers of rental tools and equipment all appear in it.

The lien attaches to the owner’s real estate when the labor, services, or materials were furnished at the instance of the owner, the contractor, or someone acting for either one. It covers the amount owed to the claimant under an express or implied contract, subcontract, or purchase order.

One ceiling applies across the whole job. Under O.C.G.A. § 44-14-361.1(e), the aggregate amount of all liens on a project cannot exceed the contract price of the improvements made or the services performed. An owner who contracted for $80,000 of work does not face $200,000 of enforceable liens because a general contractor failed to pay its subs.

The 90-day deadline to file the claim of lien

The filing deadline is the hinge the whole procedure turns on. O.C.G.A. § 44-14-361.1(a)(2) requires the claim of lien to be filed for record within 90 days after completion of the work or after the material or machinery was furnished, in the office of the clerk of the superior court of the county where the property is located. The date the claim became due is the same as the last date labor, services, or materials were supplied to the premises.

Content matters as much as timing. The recorded claim has to state the amount claimed and the date it became due, identify the property, and carry two pieces of required language: a notice telling the owner of the right to contest the lien, and the expiration warning set out in O.C.G.A. § 44-14-367, printed in at least 12-point bold font. Leaving out either statement invalidates the lien, and a clerk is directed not to file a lien missing the expiration language.

1. Confirm the contract was performed

   The first requirement in O.C.G.A. § 44-14-361.1(a)(1) is substantial compliance by the claimant with the contract for building, repairing, or improving, or for the architectural, surveying, engineering, forestry, or interior design services furnished.

2. Fix the last-furnishing date

   The 90-day window runs from the last date labor, services, or materials were supplied to the premises, not from the date of the invoice and not from the date payment was refused. Warranty callbacks and punch-list touch-ups generally do not restart the clock.

3. Draft the claim of lien in statutory form

   The statute sets out the wording the claim follows, including the claimant’s role, the amount claimed, a description of the property, and the date the claim became due. The owner-notice statement and the 12-point bold expiration warning go on the face of the document.

4. File with the superior court clerk in the right county

   Filing happens in the county where the property sits. The filing fee for a claim of lien and related documents is the amount set for real estate liens by the superior court clerk fee schedule, as directed by O.C.G.A. § 44-14-361.1(f).

5. Send the required copies within two business days

   No later than two business days after the claim of lien is filed of record, a true and accurate copy goes to the property owner by registered mail, certified mail, or statutory overnight delivery. Where a notice of commencement was filed, a copy also goes to the contractor at the address shown on that notice. For a business entity owner, delivery to the entity’s address or its registered agent address on file with the Secretary of State’s Corporations Division is treated as sufficient.

Notices that have to change hands

Georgia layers a second notice system on top of the lien itself, and it decides whether parties further down the payment chain keep their rights at all.

Under O.C.G.A. § 44-14-361.5(b), a notice of commencement is filed with the superior court clerk no later than 15 days after the contractor physically commences work, and a copy is posted at the project site. It identifies the contractor, the owner, the property, the surety on any payment bond, and the construction lender. The contractor has to hand a copy to any subcontractor, materialman, or other person who asks for it in writing; failing to do so within ten calendar days of the request takes that party out of the notice regime entirely.

A party who is not in privity of contract with the contractor then has 30 days from the filing of the notice of commencement, or 30 days after first delivering labor, services, or materials, whichever is later, to send a written notice to contractor to both the owner and the contractor. That notice states who is supplying what, at whose request, on which project, and the contract price or amount claimed if it is known.

Enforcing the lien within 365 days

Recording the claim preserves the right. It does not collect anything. O.C.G.A. § 44-14-361.1(a)(3) requires the claimant to commence a lien action for the amount of the claim within 365 days from the date the claim of lien was filed for record, and then, within 30 days after commencing that action, to file a notice with the clerk of the superior court in the county where the lien was recorded.

That second filing is not a formality. The notice identifies the court or arbitration venue, the style and number of the case, the filing date, and the book and page where the lien is recorded, and it is executed under oath. The clerk cross-references it to the lien. A missing oath is an amendable defect that can be cured before the pretrial order. A missing notice is fatal.

Where the contractor or subcontractor has died, absconded, left the state, or been adjudicated bankrupt during the enforcement period, O.C.G.A. § 44-14-361.1(a)(4) lets the supplier proceed directly against the improved property. Any judgment in that proceeding is in rem against the property and imposes no personal liability on the owner.

How a recorded lien comes off the title

Four routes end a recorded Georgia mechanics lien, and three of them are open to the owner.

The lien expires on its own. O.C.G.A. § 44-14-367 provides that no release or voiding document is required once the 395-day mark passes without a notice of commencement of lien action.

The owner or contractor shortens the clock. O.C.G.A. § 44-14-368 allows an owner, a contractor, or either one’s agent or attorney to record a notice of contest of lien in statutory form, in boldface capital letters of at least 12-point font, along with proof of delivery on the claimant. Filing it cuts the claimant’s window to 60 days from receipt of the notice. A copy goes to the claimant within seven days of filing, and the lien is extinguished by law 90 days after the notice of contest is filed if no notice of commencement of lien action appears in that period.

A bond discharges the lien. Under O.C.G.A. § 44-14-364, the owner or the contractor can discharge the lien by filing a bond the superior court clerk approves. The bond is set at double the amount claimed under the lien, except where the lien is against the owner’s domicile, in which case the bond equals the amount claimed. Once the clerk approves it, the real estate is released and the claimant’s recourse shifts to the bond.

The lien is dissolved or waived. O.C.G.A. § 44-14-361.2 dissolves the lien where the claimant waived it in writing, or where the owner, a purchaser, or a lender obtained a sworn written statement from the contractor that the agreed price or reasonable value of the labor, services, or materials was paid or waived, provided no valid preliminary notice or claim of lien was of record at the time of settlement.

What a mechanics lien does not do

A mechanics lien is security against the property, not a money judgment against the owner. It clouds title, which is what gives it force at a closing or a refinance, but it does not by itself compel a sale or garnish anyone. Collection still requires the lien action and a judgment.

It also does not replace the underlying contract claim. The debt a contractor or supplier is owed carries its own limitation period, and the statute of limitations on debt in Georgia varies with the type of obligation involved. A claimant whose lien expires can still be within time to sue on the contract. Finally, the lien does not decide who is right about the work. Whether the amount claimed reflects the agreed price or the reasonable value of what was furnished is litigated in the lien action, where the owner can raise payment, defective performance, and the aggregate cap in O.C.G.A. § 44-14-361.1(e) as defenses. Owners who believe a contractor’s conduct crossed from a payment dispute into deceptive practice can also file a complaint with the Georgia Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division, which handles unfair and deceptive practices in consumer transactions.