Quantcast
Channel: zlien » Lien Contents
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 10

Mechanics Liens: Filing Procedures

0
0

See original page at Mechanics Liens: Filing Procedures

Mechanics Liens: Filing Procedures

Sometimes county clerks record anything that comes before them, while others have strict filing procedures that must be met to ensure filing.  If these strict, and sometimes arbitrary, filing procedures or requirements are not met, clerks have been known to reject documents.

It may be useful to picture the clerk’s procedures as a puzzle, and all of the puzzle pieces need to be in place prior to a document being recorded.

Below are some situations one may run into when trying to file a lien on a property.

General Filing Procedures

Can a lien be filed on more than one property?

Legally, the answer varies by state.  While the law may allow claimants to file a lien on multiple properties, depending on various factors, the office responsible for recording the lien document may not have the capability to accommodate that type of filing – whether or not it’s allowed.  Often, the recorder indexes the recorded documents by assessor’s parcel number, block and lot, township/ range/ section, or some other specific method, and is unable to index the lien if more than one specific property is listed.

Again, this varies by state.  To be valid in some states, claimants only need to include a description of the site sufficient for identification.

Here is an example of a legal description straight from Rice County Assessors Office in Minnesota.  When using the legal description below on a mechanics lien, it was rejected by Rice County Recorder’s office because it was considered an abbreviated legal.

 

Mechanics Liens: Filing Procedures

 According to the Minnesota Statute § 514.08, Subd. 2 (5), a mechanic’s lien requires:

 a description of the premises to be charged, identifying the same with reasonable certainty.

Based on the statue, there are no specific requirements outlining whether the legal description may or may not be presented in an abbreviated format.  Nonetheless, in order to have the lien properly recorded, the claimant must adhere to the clerk’s filing procedures.

Does the lien need do be formatted a certain way to meet statutory requirements?

Generally, the language within the lien should suffice, but there may be certain standards for the order of the document. For example, most recorders in Washington require the grantor, grantee, property address and legal description be present on the first page of liens.  Further, many recorders all over the country have specific margin requirements that must be complied with for documents to be recorded.

The specific requirements of the county recorder’s office may be one of the last things on your mind when you are drafting a mechanics lien, or other document to be recorded. It seems that if you comply with the statutory requirements, the document should be recorded. While that is the case, it is the recorder who has the last say as to whether or not your document is filed, so it is important to make sure you take note of those specific filing procedures.

 

 

 

 

Mechanics Liens: Filing Procedures

This page Mechanics Liens: Filing Procedures appeared first on zlien.


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 10

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images