[Back to Page 1 (as part of the combining of the websites this link will take you to my new website)] - [Forward to Page 3]

Research Property Records!!

If you don't aggressively research property records - who owns the property, is there more than one owner, are there any lenders on the property, etc. - for your construction project(s), you could end up with no lien rights!

There are many places online where you can research property records to make sure you send your preliminary notices to all of the parties involved.

Bookmark us, our site is PACKED with info for you! Be sure to subscribe to our free newsletter to stay updated on happenings at our site, updates to our forms and ongoing news in the construction world.

I know that many people (like myself) will process at least some of the prelim notices themselves and you've got to serve it to the right people, in the right manner, and get it done on time, or you could lose in the end.

I used to research property records with a particular online program but that program no longer exists so I've removed that information.

If you don't want to use any of the places listed at the right of here to research property records online, then you can contact a Title company (I don't know if they'll charge you for information), and/or the building/planning office, and even the County Recorder's office where the project is located.

Just keep in mind that the amount of days you are given to file your preliminary notice (20 days from your start on the project, although you can do it later but the notice only protects you for 20 days back from the date you mail it and then forward through the end of the project) is not a lot of time so you need to get your hands on the correct property information as quickly as possible.

Once when I was researching the property records on a project we were working on, I found out that the owner of the project had filed a "notice of non-responsibility form" with the local county office.

Usually, that means that a tenant is having work done to the property that he is renting/leasing and the owner of the property does not want any financial responsibility. By correctly processing a "notice of non-responsibility" form, the owner is able to protect their property from liens should the tenant (and/or the general contractor and/or subcontractor) not pay the construction bill(s). Yikes!!

While this doesn't really have anything to do with properly serving your preliminary notice (since the Owner has absolved their responsibility) it's still important information to have before you start work on a project - before you even sign a contract if possible - because you'll then be able to make an informed decision as to whether or not you want to do the project.

Always research property records for every job you are going to work on, and considering working on. If you don't serve the preliminary notice to the correct parties, you could find yourself without mechanic's lien rights.

Note: If you ask the General Contractor or the Owner for this information, and they give you incorrect information that causes you to not prelim the correct parties, you could still end up without lien rights. The onus falls on the one serving the notice to make sure that he/she/it is serving the notice on the right entities.

Part 3 of this series was an examination of another software program that was designed to help you with lien laws. Unfortunately it no longer exists either.

Part 4 looks into outsourcing your preliminary notices (hiring someone to do it for you). Look below for a list of all of the articles available in this section.