Legal Question in Construction Law in Maryland

Lien on property to recover construction debt.

We hired a contractor to put a second story on our house. The contractor hired a crane to lift the trusses and put them in place. Apparently the contractor was not financially sound (which we found out later) and did not pay the Crane Company. Now the Crane Company sent this to a collection agency and wants us to pay, threatening to put a lien on our house. The contract does not stipulate anything about a crane and we feel that the Contractor should pay since he hired the Crane. We tried to stay one step ahead of our contractor money wise and we feel he was fully compensated for the work he did at the time my husband fired him (poor workmanship and failure to meet deadlines). We fall under the 15% rule but is there a deadline for filing a lien? This work was done over 2.5 years ago.


Asked on 5/17/07, 10:04 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
David Lease Smith, Lease & Goldstein, LLC

Re: Lien on property to recover construction debt.

A notice of a mechanic's lien by a subcontractor must be sent within 120 days of doing the work or furnishing the materials, and lawsuit filed with the Circuit Court within 180 days of the same. See Maryland Real Property Article section 9-104 & 9-105. If you have any questions please feel free to contract me.

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Answered on 5/17/07, 10:42 am


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