We placed a lien a property back in July 2020. He partially paid (~80%) of the invoice. And he was suppose to pay for the cost of the lien release fee. After he paid, he disappeared and never answered my calls so I never released the lien. Can he sue me for not releasing the lien?
Generally, when full payment is made, it's time to have the lien released. Failure to release a lien within 10 days of payment could actually result in damages in Missouri. However, if full payment hasn't been made, there's generally no need to release or amend a lien claim to reflect that: After Partial Payment, What Should You Do With Your Mechanics Lien? So, if a customer has disappeared after only partially paying a lien, there shouldn't be legal liability for leaving the lien intact since it hasn't been paid in full.
What's more, if your customer has agreed to pay the lien release fee, then it's their responsibility to pay for the lien release - and their disappearance shouldn't alter that obligation. So, if you do decide you'd like to release the lien, one option may be to simply fill out the release document and provide it to the customer. From there, it can be the customer's responsibility to get the executed release filed.
Finally, if you're concerned about the potential for legal liability on the lien and/or if you believe the customer may be aggressive in pursuing legal action, and if you're content with the amount collected on the lien claim, releasing the lien yourself may make sense. In some situations, it makes sense to cut bait and move on in order to avoid additional headaches and stress.