I just received a claim of lien on my property. There are many things wrong with this. The lawn company was supposed to perform the work in March 2021 and never showed. A couple weeks into April we came home and the work was done, being generous lets say it was April 15 (most likely a few days before). I thought their communication sucked but the work was done. I called them numerous times between April and now asking for a bill or how to pay. I always got a voicemail never got response. I have never seen a bill or a phone call from them, totally willing to pay for the service but don't know how without a bill or address to mail a check etc. Their website just has phone number and email. Today I received the claim of lien. The claim of lien still doesn't tell me where to pay. I called and left a message again today. I then looked up rules and if I'm correct he would have had to complete the work on June 25th or later to be able to file this lien. Is it best to try and dispute this now or should I wait to see if he sues me? I'm beyond mad. I would have used him all summer but he was horrible. I'm literally paying a different law company weekly - only say that to reference the small couple hundred amount is not worth this darn headache.
A contractor must record a construction lien within 90 days of its last day of non-trivial work. That said, a contractor you hire can sue you for breach of contract for up to five years after the contract is/was breached. Removing the lien will not eliminate your obligation to pay for the work. The lien will be invalid if the contractor doesn't file a lawsuit to foreclose it within 6 months of the date it is filed but it will still remain of record and could cause issues if you ever decide to sell.
There is a statutory process to remove a lien and substitute a bond in its place. However, the only way to forcibly remove a lien is through a quiet title action.
Given that you're not disputing you owe the money, the best way to resolve this is to locate the contractor and pay it what it is owed in exchange for a release of lien.