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Does a mechanics lien affect the property owner's credit score?

I filed a mechanics lien on a customer. They have not received insurance money and are going to pay me out of pocket while they wait for the money to come because they are very concerned about the lien affecting their credit score. I've read that generally, mechanics liens don't affect a credit score but what does that mean. When would it affect their credit score? He's very concerned and asking lots of questions and I want to make sure I can give him accurate and clear information.

4 replies

Dec 8, 2017

The act of filing the lien itself should not appear on a credit report. It's not out of the question, though, for a lien to pop up on a credit report depending on how a particular county reports liens. It's hard to know exactly when a lien could hit a credit report considering whether the lien will be reported for credit scoring will vary for each individual situation. Of course, if the overdue bill is passed along to collections or if the lien is foreclosed, this would very likely result in a negative mark against an owner's credit report. But whether the mere filing of a lien will affect a credit score will depend on whether the lien is reported to or found by a credit agency. Thus, it's a little unpredictable how an individual case may turn.

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Feb 12, 2019

This is a common question and, as Matt said, one that doesn't have a very specific answer in every case.

The short answer is that: A mechanics lien can appear on a for credit report, but it is not necessarily the case that it always will.

Any legal financial-related data (judgments, liens, garnishments, etc.) that is public record can be included in a credit report. The nature of mechanics liens, though, and the variances with the ways different counties record and/or report them, makes it difficult to always determine whether such a lien will be noticed by credit reporting agencies or included on a report.

Experian, among others, does specifically mention "mechanic's liens" as something that can potentially be included on a report - but, as mentioned, this is likely only the case if the particular credit reporting agency checks the county recorder's records and is made aware of the lien filing.

Also, as noted, however, any action to enforce a mechanics lien that results in a judgment is something that will be noted and included on a credit report.

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Oct 27, 2020

Should you get a notary or a contract signed saying the lien will be retracted if paid or once it’s filed and paid it cannot be taken off record by the contractor who filed it with the county? Do they need to contact the county for clarification?

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Jul 20, 2021

I did an insurance claim for a customer for the work that was done on his kitchen the kitchen is now complete but refused to give me the whole amount of the money that was given to him from the insurance company he wants to give me a portion of the money and not all the money that is owed to me from the kitchen workout done I need to know what do I need to do because he tries to get me to do two jobs for the price of one I need help

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