I am a dock and seawall contractor who built a dock for a property owner her in the Marathon Florida Keys. I contracted with the owner a June Schwartz whos address of record is in NJ. Her son signed the contract/proposal and I have been paid most of the money for the project but still have one more payment owed to me. The dock permit was finalized 10/5/20. The owner passed away and the son tells me that the estate is in probate however I can find no record that an estate has been opened and the son refuses to speak to me in a civil manner and will not answer my questions. I have only a week left to file a mechanics lien which I intend to do Monday morning. A N.O.C was filed over a year ago with the Clerk of Court. As the contractor was I required to file a notice to owner and do I also have to file a lien up in NJ as well? Mark
If you contracted with the Owner, with her son as the Owner's agent acting on her behalf, then you did not need to serve a Notice to Owner. Are you listed on the Notice of Commencement as the contractor? If so, this would be helpful to establish that you did not need to serve a Notice to Owner. As to the lien question, if the property is in Florida, you have to record your lien in the Florida county where the property is located (Monroe in this instance). Florida lien law does not require that you file a lien anywhere else. You do, however, need to serve the recorded lien on the Owner. In this instance, if she is indeed deceased, then you should serve on the estate's administrator.
Mark: As the general contractor, you are not required to serve a notice to owner. The purpose of the NTO is to notify the owner of the names and addresses of subs and suppliers who may file liens. But the owner does not need a notice from you to know who you are - the owner hired you. Your claim of lien must be recorded with the Clerk of Court in the county where the property is located - in this case, Monroe County. You must serve a copy of the claim of lien to the owner or, since she is deceased, her representative (her son) at the address shown on the notice of commencement (but also send a copy directly to the son at whatever address you have for him). Good luck and feel free to reach out to me directly if you have any further questions.