How to Lien a Job Site in Georgia

by Mark A. Cobb

The Georgia Mechanics and Materialmen’s Lien Law Statutes (O.C.G.A. Section 44-14-360 et seq.) govern all aspects of filing construction liens in Georgia, and our construction lawyers have filed hundreds or thousands of liens on behalf of contractors, specialty subcontractors and material suppliers in virtually every county in Georgia!

Disclaimer: This blog post and its links (just like all of our blog posts) try to offer SOME of information regarding some of the most common questions which we get.  Unfortunately, we cannot offer legal advice through a blog article, and you should not file a lien in Georgia based upon the information provided through our blog and website.  Thus, we strongly encourage any potential lien claimant to seek competent legal advice from an experienced Georgia lien attorney in order protect your rights–we can provide you some useful guidelines in our blog articles, but we cannot cover all of the exceptions, loopholes, alternate solutions and pitfalls of filing construction liens in Georgia.  When it comes to Georgia’s lien requirements and surety bond claims, there is simply no substitute for experience and Mark Cobb has over 20 years for experience!  To learn more about Mark Cobb, please click here > >

Strict Compliance with every aspect of Georgia’s Lien Laws: Because materialmen’s liens essentially make a third party (such as the property owner) responsible for making sure that you get paid, Georgia courts have consistently required that lien claimants strictly comply with every aspect of the lien laws.  To better understand Georgia’s strict compliance requirements, please click here > >

Preliminary Requirements for Filing a Lien in Georgia: Those in privity of contract with either the owner or the general contractor do not have any preliminary notice requirements in Georgia; however, if you are a third tier sub-subcontractor or material supplier then you probably need to send a Notice to Owner and a Notice to Contractor (sometimes called Notice of Furnishing, NTO, or NTC) within the first 30 days you began working on the project.  To learn more about NTOs, please click here > >

Deadline for Filing a Lien in Georgia: All types of construction liens must be filed within 90 days of the last day in which they were physically on the job site (NOT invoice date!); if you signed a lien waiver, then your deadline to file a lien may be shortened to the 60th day from the date of the lien waiver.  To read more about this, please click here > >

Georgia Lien Form: Although there is no magic bullet form for filing liens in Georgia, our legislature has mandated certain requirements which must be contained in the lien including some specific language and some particular font sizes.  To see a copy of the Official Code of Georgia Section 44-14-361.1 with specific language requirements for liens, please click here > >

Costs & Jurisdiction for Filing a Lien in Georgia: Lien Claimants must file their Georgia liens in the county where the construction project was located.  Liens are filed with the Clerk of the Superior Court and the filing fees are, currently, $5.00 for the first page and $2.00 for each additional page.  To see a list of addresses, telephone numbers and websites for the clerk of court of each Georgia county, please click here > >

Statutory Notice of Filing of Lien: No later than 2 days after a claim of lien is filed with the clerk of court, lien claimant must send each owner of the real estate which you liened a copy of your lien.

Perfecting Your Lien:     Unless the owner of the real estate where the lien is place files a proper Notice of Contest of Lien, a Georgia materialman’s lien will expire one year from date of the filing of the lien unless a law suit is filed against the entity with whom you contacted (if you are a subcontractor, this would likely be the general contractor; if you are a material supplier, then it might be either a subcontractor or the prime contractor. To read more about this, please click here > >

Georgia Notice of Filing of Action:  Within 30 days of filing a law suit to perfect a construction lien, the lien claimant must also file a Notice of Filing of Action with the clerk of court in the county where the lien was filed.  To read more about Notices of Filing of Action, please click here > >

Georgia Foreclosure of Lien Action: Sometimes, it is possible to combine the foreclosure of the lien action with the lawsuit a lien claimant filed within one year of the filing of the lien; however, jurisdictional or strategic differences may prevent this; if so, then after the “first” lawsuit is filed, and if the lien claimant prevails in that lawsuit, then Georgia’s lien laws require a second lawsuit to begin the foreclosure process (against the owner of the real estate).  To read more about this process, please click here > > 

Only Georgia Lawyers Can File Materialmen’s Liens in Georgia: As you can see from this very basic overview, filing a proper materialmen’s lien in Georgia is very technical and–from the first day you worked until the end of the lien foreclosure action–Georgia Claims of Liens must be in strict compliance with ALL of the requirements.  Furthermore, its importanta for a potential lien claimants to understand that lien filing services are prohibited from filing construction liens in Georgia–only lawyers admitted to practice in Georgia are allowed to file materialmen’s liens in the lien records.

We hope that this overview on how to file a supplier lien or subcontractor lien on a Georgia job site has helped to provide you with useful and basic information regarding the lien process in Georgia.  If you have worked on a Georgia construction project and you have not received payment, please contact an experienced Georgia construction attorney today. The lien and bond lawyers at the Cobb Law Group and help you, please telephone us at 1-866-960-9539 or email us today.  We can help you prepare and file your lien anywhere in the State of Georgia!