How to file a mechanics lien in Alabama

Step by step

11 steps for a subcontractor in Alabama.

1. 1

   Step 1: Make sure you are licensed before you sign

   Before you sign the contract.

   Alabama requires a general contractor license for any building, highway, sewer, structure, site work, grading, paving, project or improvement costing $100,000 or more — and a subcontractor license at that same $100,000 threshold. Swimming pools trigger it at $5,000. Residential is a different board: a residential home builder needs a Home Builders Licensure Board license once the cost of the undertaking exceeds $10,000, and a residential roofer once it exceeds $2,500.

   Where it goes

   Alabama Licensing Board for General Contractors for commercial work; Home Builders Licensure Board for residential work.

   How

   Get the license before you contract, and put your license number in the contract. Alabama requires your license number in all construction contracts, subcontracts, bids and proposals.

   Proof to keep

   Your license certificate covering the contract dates, and a copy of the signed contract showing your license number on its face.

   What the document must contain

   • Your license number in every construction contract, subcontract, bid and proposal (Ala. Code § 34-8-6(b))

   If you miss it: Working unlicensed is a Class A misdemeanor. The bigger problem is your money: Alabama courts have held that an unlicensed general contractor's contract is void as against public policy and unenforceable, and the lien fails with the contract.

   Ala. Code §§ 34-8-1, 34-8-6 (commercial); Ala. Code §§ 34-14A-2, 34-14A-5 (residential home builders)(opens the statute in a new tab)
2. 2

   Step 2: Check whether the job is public or federal before you count on a lien

   Before you start, and again before you file anything.

   There is no mechanics lien on Alabama state, county or city property, and none on federal property. On those jobs the contractor's payment bond is the claim. On an Alabama public job you have a statutory right to a certified copy of the payment bond and the contract just by asking in writing. Note that no payment bond is required at all on an Alabama public contract under $100,000.

   Where it goes

   The public body that awarded the contract: city, county, school board, or state agency.

   How

   Ask the awarding authority who owns the property and whether a payment bond was posted. Then apply in writing for a certified copy of the bond and the contract — the statute says you shall be promptly furnished one.

   Proof to keep

   Your dated written application and the certified copy of the bond and contract you receive.

   What the document must contain

   • A written application stating that you supplied labor, material, foodstuffs or supplies for the work
   • A statement that payment has not been made

   If you miss it: A lien recorded against public property is a nullity and can expose you to a claim for clouding title. Meanwhile the bond deadlines keep running against you.

   Ala. Code § 39-1-1(a), (c), (e); 40 U.S.C. §§ 3131-3133 (federal work)(opens the statute in a new tab)
3. 3

   Step 3: Write down the day you finished your contracted scope

   The day you finish the work you contracted to do — not the day you come back for punch list, warranty or corrective work.

   Every Alabama lien deadline counts from your own last item of work or material. Alabama courts read that as the day you initially completed your contracted scope: a later warranty call, punch-list trip or corrective visit does not restart the clock. Get this date wrong and every deadline below is wrong.

   Where it goes

   Your own records. You will use this date on the statement you file.

   How

   Record two dates in your job file: the last day of contracted work, and the last material delivered. Keep the paper that proves them.

   Proof to keep

   Daily reports, signed field tickets, delivery tickets, dated photos, and the invoice covering the final contracted work.

   If you miss it: If you count from a warranty or punch-list visit, your filing deadline lands months too late and the lien is lost. Alabama's appellate court has thrown out a lien on exactly this reasoning.

   Ala. Code § 35-11-215, as construed in Massey Asphalt Paving, Inc. v. Lee Land Development, Inc., 203 So. 3d 1271 (Ala. Civ. App. 2016)(opens the statute in a new tab)
4. 4

   Step 4: Serve the written notice of lien on the owner

   The day payment goes late. It must be in the owner's hands before you file your lien with the probate judge. The statute sets no day count — but waiting costs you money, because the lien only catches funds the owner still holds when the notice arrives.

   This is the notice that freezes money. After the owner receives it, whatever the owner still owes the general contractor is held subject to your lien. Money the owner already paid out is beyond your reach. If you are a supplier who already gave the owner the pre-delivery notice for that material, this step does not apply to that material.

   Where it goes

   The property owner or proprietor, or the owner's agent. "Owner or proprietor" covers anyone for whose use, benefit or enjoyment the improvement is being made.

   How

   In writing, to the owner or the owner's agent. The statute names no delivery method — it says only to give written notice. Send it certified mail, return receipt requested, so the date it landed is on paper.

   Proof to keep

   A copy of the notice, the certified mail receipt, and the signed return receipt showing the date the owner received it. The receipt date is what fixes how much money your lien reaches.

   What the document must contain

   • That you claim a lien on the building or improvement
   • The amount you claim
   • What the amount is for
   • From whom it is owing

   If you miss it: No notice, no lien — the statute requires it before you file. And if you send it after the owner has already paid the contractor in full, your lien is timely, perfected and worth $0.

   Ala. Code §§ 35-11-218, 35-11-210, 35-11-232(opens the statute in a new tab)
5. 5

   Step 5: Rural property over an acre: pick your extra acre before you file

   Optional

   Any time before you file your statement with the probate judge. It cannot be done afterward.

   If the building is outside a city or town and the tract is bigger than one acre, your lien covers the land under the building plus one acre that you select. You have to make that selection yourself, and you have to do it first.

   Where it goes

   You make the selection; it goes into the statement you file with the Judge of Probate.

   How

   Choose one acre that surrounds the building and is contiguous to it, so that together with the land under the building it forms one lot or parcel. Then describe it in the statement of lien you file.

   Proof to keep

   Your dated selection and the survey or plat description you relied on.

   What the document must contain

   • The selected acre must surround the building or improvement and be contiguous to it
   • Together with the land the building sits on, it must constitute one lot or parcel

   If you miss it: You cannot select after filing. Your lien is limited to the land the building sits on.

   Ala. Code § 35-11-217(opens the statute in a new tab)
6. 6

   Step 6: File your verified statement of lien within 4 months — if you signed with anyone other than the owner

   Within four calendar months after the last day you performed contracted work or furnished your last material. Count calendar months, not 120 days, and file early — four months can be as short as 120 days exactly, so a day-count that rounds the wrong way lands you late.

   This is the deadline for every claimant who is not in direct contract with the owner — the statute's "every other person entitled to such lien." If you did sign your contract directly with the property owner, you are an original contractor and the six-month step is yours instead. Anything short of a direct contract with the owner puts you here.

   Where it goes

   The Office of the Judge of Probate of the county in which the property is situated.

   How

   File it with the Judge of Probate. It must be sworn: you, or someone else with personal knowledge of the facts, signs under oath before a notary. If the oath is taken outside Alabama, any officer there authorized to take acknowledgements and proofs of conveyances can administer it. The recording fee written into the statute ($.15 per 100 words) is archaic — each county sets its own schedule, so call the probate office for the current figure.

   Proof to keep

   The probate judge's file-stamped copy showing the date of filing, and your recording receipt. Also keep proof that your written notice to the owner went out before this filing.

   What the document must contain

   • The amount of your demand, after all just credits have been given
   • A description of the property good enough that it can be located or identified — a house number, street name and city or town is expressly sufficient inside a city or town
   • The name of the owner or proprietor
   • Verification by the oath of the claimant, or of some other person having knowledge of the facts
   • The statutory form also recites the county, the date interest runs from, what the indebtedness is for, and that the lien is claimed separately and severally against both the buildings and improvements and the land

   If you miss it: The statute says it flat: unless the statement is filed, the lien is lost. No extension, no cure. And if you file this before serving the owner's written notice, you have run the sequence backwards and your perfection is open to attack.

   Ala. Code §§ 35-11-215, 35-11-213, 35-11-214, 35-11-216(opens the statute in a new tab)
7. 7

   Step 7: Sue to enforce the lien within 6 months of when the debt came due

   Within six months after the entire debt matured — the day it became due and payable. Usually that is the day you finished your contracted work. If you had already invoiced the whole balance before then, the clock started at that invoice. Recording the lien does not restart it.

   The lien dies unless you file a lawsuit to enforce it. This is the deadline people get wrong most often, because they assume six months from the day they recorded. The statute does not say that — it runs from maturity of the entire indebtedness, and Alabama courts have measured that from the invoices demanding the full balance.

   Where it goes

   Circuit court of the county where the property is situated when the amount involved exceeds $50; district court of that county in all other cases.

   How

   Commence by summons and complaint. The complaint must describe the property and allege the facts that entitle you to the lien and to its enforcement. If you are an employee of the contractor, or furnished material to the contractor, the contractor is a necessary party defendant.

   Proof to keep

   The file-stamped complaint showing the filing date, and your service returns on every party.

   What the document must contain

   • A description of the property on which the lien is claimed
   • The facts entitling you to the lien and to its enforcement
   • The contractor named as a defendant, if you are the contractor's employee or supplied material to the contractor

   If you miss it: The lien is gone. A subcontractor who records at month four and assumes six more months from recording files roughly four months late and loses everything.

   Ala. Code §§ 35-11-221, 35-11-220, 35-11-222, 35-11-227(a)(opens the statute in a new tab)
8. 8

   Step 8: If the lien is bonded off, you have 10 days to object

   Within 10 days from the date you receive the court's certificate of transfer.

   Anyone with an interest in the property, or in the contract the lien is claimed under, can move your lien off the land and onto cash or a surety bond. The security has to equal your claim plus 8% interest for three years plus $100 toward court costs. Once the transfer is made the property is released and you are looking at the security instead. You get one short window to tell the court the amount is not enough or the surety is not qualified.

   Where it goes

   The court in which the action is brought. The certificate comes to you by registered or certified mail at the address in your claim of lien.

   How

   File a motion in the court where the action is pending, petitioning for a hearing on the sufficiency of the amount or on the qualifications of the surety insurer.

   Proof to keep

   The envelope and certificate showing the date you received it, and your file-stamped motion.

   If you miss it: The transfer stands as made. The court's ruling on a timely motion is a final determination — after the 10 days you do not get one.

   Ala. Code § 35-11-233(b)(opens the statute in a new tab)
9. 9

   Step 9: After you are paid, release the lien on the probate record

   Once the lien has been fully satisfied. If the other side sends you a written demand, you have 30 days from that demand.

   Releasing the lien is a duty, not a courtesy. The statute puts it on the holder of the lien.

   Where it goes

   The Office of the Judge of Probate where the lien is recorded.

   How

   Acknowledge satisfaction of the lien on the margin of the record in the Judge of Probate's office.

   Proof to keep

   The probate office's record of your acknowledgment of satisfaction, and a dated copy of any written demand you received.

   If you miss it: If you have been fully paid and you let 30 days pass after a written demand, you are liable to anyone injured for the amount of their injury — and it shall not be less than $200.

   Ala. Code § 35-11-231(opens the statute in a new tab)
10. 10

    Step 10: Public job: notify the surety, wait 45 days, sue within a year of final settlement

    Send the written notice as soon as payment is late. You cannot sue until 45 days after that notice. You must sue no later than one year from the date of final settlement of the contract.

    On Alabama state, county or city work there is no lien — the payment bond is the claim. The 45 days is a waiting period before suit, not a filing deadline, and it is the only thing the number 45 means here. Final settlement is a date you can watch for: the contractor must publish notice of completion for at least three weeks, and final settlement cannot be made until 30 days after that publication closes. Those publication rules do not apply to contracts under $100,000.

    Where it goes

    The surety on the contractor's payment bond. Suit goes in the county where the work is or was performed, or any other county where venue is otherwise allowed.

    How

    Written notice to the surety, by registered or certified mail, postage prepaid, addressed to the surety at any of its places of business or offices. Get a certified copy of the bond and contract from the awarding authority first so you are writing to the right surety.

    Proof to keep

    The registered or certified mail receipt showing the mailing date — that date starts the 45 days — plus the certified copy of the bond and contract.

    What the document must contain

    • The amount claimed to be due
    • The nature of the claim

    If you miss it: Sue before the 45 days run and the action is premature. Sue more than a year after final settlement and it is barred. Separately: no payment bond is required at all on an Alabama public contract under $100,000, so on a job that small there may be no bond and no lien — nothing to claim against.

    Ala. Code § 39-1-1(b), (c), (e), (f), (g)(opens the statute in a new tab)
11. 11

    Step 11: Federal job: 90-day notice to the prime, suit within one year

    Within 90 days of the day you last performed labor or last supplied material, if you had no direct contract with the prime contractor. Suit no later than one year after that same last day.

    Federal projects run on the Miller Act, not Alabama law. There is no lien on federal property; the prime contractor's payment bond is the claim.

    Where it goes

    The prime contractor on the federal project.

    How

    Written notice to the prime contractor, served in a way that provides third-party verification of delivery.

    Proof to keep

    The third-party delivery verification for the notice, and dated records of your last labor or last material.

    What the document must contain

    • The amount claimed
    • The name of the party to whom the material was furnished or supplied, or for whom the labor was done or performed

    If you miss it: A claimant with no direct contract with the prime has no bond claim without the 90-day notice. After one year from your last labor or material, the action is barred regardless of what notices you sent.

    40 U.S.C. § 3133(b)(2), (b)(4)(opens the statute in a new tab)

Who can claim a lien in Alabama

Where you file

Office

Office of the Judge of Probate of the county in which the property is situated

Recording fee

$16–$60

Notarization

Required

Sworn or verified

Affidavit

How it is served

Certified mail

Copies

1

Fees and office procedures change; confirm them with the recording office before you file.

What trips people up in Alabama

• Thinking the six-month suit clock starts when you record the lien. It starts when the entire debt matured — when it became due and payable. Alabama's appellate court has held that a claimant whose final invoices went out in April, and who sued more than six months later, was time-barred even though he was still on site afterward. Recording does not restart it, and it can even have started before your last day on the job if you had already billed the whole balance.
• Using the six-month filing window when you are not in direct contract with the owner. Six months belongs to the "original contractor," which is a privity test, not a trade label. A licensed general contractor working under a construction manager, a developer-builder or another prime gets four months — and owes the written notice to the owner on top of it. Assuming six months here is a 60-day miss that forfeits the lien.
• Giving a journeyman or day laborer any number other than 30 days. One month, and it is gone. And because the written notice to the owner has to arrive before the filing, that notice cannot sit until day 30 either.
• Counting from your punch list or warranty visit. Alabama reads the "last item of work" as your initial completion of the contracted scope; warranty, corrective and repair work does not extend the filing period. Answering "when did you last furnish?" with your last day on site is the single most common way to generate a deadline that is months too late.
• Counting four months as 120 days without checking the calendar. Four calendar months can be exactly 120 days (January 1 to May 1, November 1 to March 1, February 1 to June 1). There is zero margin — resolve the actual calendar date and file well before it.
• A supplier furnishing the first load without sending the pre-delivery notice. Miss it and your lien reaches only the owner's unpaid balance to the contractor — on a job that is paid current, that is $0. The lien is timely, perfected, recorded and worthless. This right disappears the moment the first delivery leaves.
• Sitting on the notice to the owner because "there's no deadline." There is no day count, but the lien captures only funds still in the owner's hands when the notice is received. Every week you wait is money off the claim.
• Recording the verified statement before serving the notice on the owner. The statute requires notice first, before filing. Running it backwards puts your perfection in doubt.
• Running the private-lien playbook on a public or federal job. There is no lien on public property in Alabama and none on federal property. A lien recorded against a school or a municipal building is a nullity and can expose you to a claim for clouding title, while the real remedy — the bond claim — quietly expires.
• Not checking your license first. An unlicensed general contractor's contract is void as against public policy in Alabama, and the lien fails with it. The commercial threshold is $100,000; residential home builders need a license above $10,000, and residential roofers above $2,500.
• An original contractor brushing off the owner's request for the list of materialmen, laborers and employees. Failing or refusing to furnish it forfeits the lien outright — no deadline attached, no cure available. Failing to pay those people under a special contract with the owner does the same.
• Forgetting that a mortgage recorded before work started outranks you. Foreclosure of a prior mortgage or lien terminates and extinguishes your mechanics lien as to the land and buildings — whether or not your lien was ever perfected. All you keep is a statutory redemption right and a claim on excess proceeds. A foreclosure can end your claim well before your computed deadline.
• Filing on rural land without selecting the extra acre first. Outside a city or town, if the tract is over an acre, the selection has to be made before you file. Afterward is too late.
• Recording against an entire condominium project. Once the declaration is recorded, no lien arises against the condominium property as a whole. It goes unit by unit, and only against units whose owners expressly consented to or requested the work, or that were benefited by duly authorized common-element work.
• Missing the 10-day window to challenge the security after the lien is bonded off. The court mails you a certificate; you have 10 days from receiving it to question the amount or the surety.
• Not releasing the lien after you have been paid. Thirty days after a written demand, you are exposed to damages of not less than $200.

After you file

• Recording the lien is not the finish line — it is the start of a six-month fuse that may already be partly burned. The suit deadline runs from when the entire debt matured, not from your recording date, so calculate it from the day the debt became due (normally the day you initially completed your contracted scope, or earlier if you had already invoiced the full balance) and put it on the calendar the same day you record.
• Nothing else has to be recorded. Alabama has no notice of commencement, no notice of completion and no stop notice on private work, and there is no renewal or extension filing. What you filed is what you have.
• Keep watching the title. If a mortgage or lien that predates the start of work is foreclosed, your lien is terminated and extinguished as to the land and buildings — perfected or not — leaving you only a statutory redemption right and a claim on any excess foreclosure proceeds.
• Expect the lien to be bonded off. Any person with an interest in the property or the contract can transfer it to cash or a surety bond equal to your claim plus 8% interest for three years plus $100. The court mails you a certificate; open it the day it arrives, because you have 10 days to challenge the amount or the surety and the court's ruling is final.
• When you sue, name the right people. If you are an employee of the contractor or you furnished material to the contractor, the contractor is a necessary party defendant — and on your motion the owner can be cited to answer under oath how much was owing to the contractor at the time your notice was served, with the proceedings handled like a garnishment. That answer is where the value of a non-privity lien is actually decided.
• Understand who you are sharing with. All liens under this division except the original contractor's stand on equal footing and are paid first out of the sale proceeds or money collected from the owner. If there is not enough, it is distributed pro rata — but nobody participates until they have obtained a judgment establishing their lien.
• Know that the owner can hold money back. Once the owner has notice of an intention to file, and while the action is pending, the owner may withhold from the contractor enough to cover the claim plus probable costs, and the contractor has to defend the action at the contractor's own expense.
• When you are paid in full, acknowledge satisfaction on the margin of the probate record. If you sit on it for 30 days after a written demand, you owe damages of not less than $200.