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Does Maryland's Preliminary Notice just provide notice of the parties or are you actually noticing a past due claim?

MarylandPreliminary Notice

Trying to send a preliminary lien notice for Maryland through Levelset. I notice that the notice does not allege payments due. So, is the notice to notify Owner of the subcontractor and their relationship to the project? In Texas, the purpose of the preliminary notice is to give notice of a claim to see if it can be paid prior to actually filing the lien. Thanks.

2 replies

Apr 21, 2020

Preliminary notices are used to introduce the sender to others on the job - like the GC and the owner. They're sent to establish transparency and communication early on the job, and they shouldn't typically indicate that there's any current payment issue. That's especially true since they're sent right at the start of the job. You can find in-depth prelim discussion here: Preliminary Notices FAQs & Resources. As you mention above, Texas is a bit of an outlier. Texas requires that monthly notices be sent, and these notices serve to notify others on the job that there's already a payment issue at hand. They're sort of like a Notice of Intent to Lien, actually. Interestingly, Maryland does require that subs and suppliers send a Notice of Intent to Lien before they can proceed with a mechanics lien claim. And, this notice is a bit adversarial - it let's recipients know that there's a payment issue that must be dealt with before a lien becomes necessary. As you'd asked about above - this notice will include You can learn all about those requirements here: Maryland Notice of Intent FAQs & Guide.

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Apr 23, 2020

Maryland's Mechanic's Lien Law requires those contractors who do not have a direct contract with the owner (or tenant, if the mechanic's lien will be asserted against a leasehold interest) to send a Notice of Intent to File Mechanic's Lien to the owner via certified mail, return receipt or by personal delivery (ie, process server) within 120 days of its last day of work at the Project. The statute provides for very specific items which must be included in the Notice, which include the following: the name and address of the entity claiming the lien; a description of the work provided; the entity to whom the work was provided (typically, the general contractor); a description of the building to which the work was provided; the first and last day of the claimant's work; the dollar amount of the claimant's total undertaking; and the amount remaining due. The timeliness of the notice requirement and the required details it must contain are very strictly enforced. And of course, if you send it to the wrong owner, it won't be worth the paper its written on.....as I like to say, construction in Maryland is often a contact sport, and mechanic's liens are often hard-fought on the details. Caveat emptor!

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