Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>Im filing a Mechanics Lien in the state of New Mexico. I was hired by the owners agent and not the GC. I did not file a Pre-lien notice and the 90 day period has passed. Would it be of any advantage to file it now?
Im filing a Mechanics Lien in the state of New Mexico. I was hired by the owners agent and not the GC. I did not file a Pre-lien notice and the 90 day period has passed. Would it be of any advantage to file it now?
I provided invoice and was paid a deposit to start work and not paid the balance after items were installed.
1 reply
Apr 15, 2019
Great question. If the claimant is required to send a notice under New Mexico lien statutes, the notice should be sent within 60 days of first furnishing of labor/materials. But, preliminary notice in NM is only required under very specific circumstances. A prelim notice is required if; (1) the claimant has not contracted directly with the owner/GC, (2) the claim is for more than $5,000 and (3) the project is not a residential property with less than 4 dwellings. If any of these requirements do not apply to you, then you are not required to send a preliminary notice. For more information on this: New Mexico Preliminary Notice: The Why, Who, What, When & How. As far as the requirements for filing of the Claim of Lien itself, it depends on the role of the contractor. For those who have directly contracted with the owner (or owner's agent) or the GC, the deadline to file a lien claim is 120 days after completion of the project. For all other claimants, it is 90 days from project completion. However, if there is still time before the deadline expires, it may be worth considering a Notice of Intent to Lien. This is a cheap, risk-free option to have your non-payment resolved before filing a lien. A notice of intent is not legally required but is a great way to provide a warning to the owner that a lien may be coming their way. Owners hate mechanics liens, and will try to avoid them at all costs. Sending a notice of intent to lien is usually enough to prompt payment, without resorting to the costly process of filing a lien. Additional information can be found at the New Mexico Lien & Notice Overview page.