How to file a mechanics lien in American Samoa

Step by step

13 steps for a subcontractor in American Samoa.

1. 1

   Step 1: Get your contractor's license before you touch the job

   Before you do any work. There is no grace period.

   American Samoa requires a contractor's license to work as a contractor at all. Working without one is not a paperwork problem — it is a crime.

   Where it goes

   Contractors License Board / Contractors' License Administrator, American Samoa Government.

   How

   Apply to the Contractors License Board or the Contractors' License Administrator. Pick your class: general engineering (A.S.C.A. 31.0508), general building (31.0509) or specialty (31.0510).

   Proof to keep

   Your current license certificate and renewal receipts, dated so you can show you were licensed on every day you were on site.

   What the document must contain

   • Application to the Board or Administrator under A.S.C.A. 31.0511
   • The correct license classification for the work you are actually doing (31.0507)

   If you miss it: A fine of up to $1,000, up to 6 months in jail, or both. On top of that, when you sue for your money the other side will raise your unlicensed status as a defense and a counterclaim, and you will be litigating your own criminal exposure instead of their unpaid invoice.

   A.S.C.A. § 31.0506(opens the statute in a new tab)
2. 2

   Step 2: Put the whole deal in writing and sign it

   Before work starts. Every day you work on a handshake is a day on the short clock.

   A written contract more than triples how long you have to sue. Unwritten contract: 3 years. Written contract: 10 years. Same job, same money, same customer — the only difference is paper.

   Where it goes

   Between you and the party that hired you. Nothing gets filed with any government office.

   How

   A signed writing covering scope, price, payment schedule and change orders. Get change orders signed too, in writing, as they happen.

   Proof to keep

   The signed original, every signed change order, and dated daily logs, delivery tickets and photos showing what you furnished and when you last furnished it. Your last-furnishing date is what starts most clocks.

   What the document must contain

   • Who the parties are
   • Scope of work
   • Price and payment schedule
   • How change orders are priced and approved
   • Signatures of both sides

   If you miss it: You fall under A.S.C.A. 43.0120(3) — 3 years for an unwritten contract, or 43.0120(7)'s 3-year catch-all — instead of the 10 years in 43.0120(5). Miss the 3 years and the debt is legally dead no matter how clearly you are owed it.

   A.S.C.A. § 43.0120(3), (5), (7)(opens the statute in a new tab)
3. 3

   Step 3: Negotiate a structure-separation agreement — this is the only real security in American Samoa

   Before you start, or at the latest while you still have leverage. There is no way to get one after you are unpaid.

   The landowner, or the senior matai in charge of the communal land, can agree in writing that the building is NOT part of the land. Once that agreement is recorded, the law lets anyone take a lien on the building and foreclose it as if it were personal property. That is the closest thing to a mechanics lien that exists here — and it only happens if they agree.

   Where it goes

   Territorial Registrar, American Samoa Government, Pago Pago. This is the single territory-wide recording office — there are no county recorders.

   How

   Written agreement, signed by the right person, then offered to the Territorial Registrar for recording. If you are not the matai in charge of the communal land, the matai of the family signs on behalf of the landowners. If the matai is the one separating the structure, it is executed on behalf of the family members over 18 who own and reside on the land. On individually owned or freehold land, the owner signs.

   Proof to keep

   The signed agreement, proof of what you paid for the building and that you bore the cost of erecting it (the court weighs this at 37.1506(b)), and the Registrar's recording confirmation.

   What the document must contain

   • A written agreement that the structure is not and will not become part of the real estate
   • Signature of the senior matai in charge of the communal land, or the male family members owning and residing on it, or the owner of individually owned or freehold land (A.S.C.A. 37.1503)
   • Terms on separate ownership and the right of removal
   • Offered to the Territorial Registrar for recording (A.S.C.A. 37.1502(b))

   If you miss it: You have no security of any kind. There is no lien you can impose unilaterally in American Samoa, so if you skip this you are an unsecured creditor from the first day to the last, and you are relying entirely on suing and finding non-land assets.

   A.S.C.A. § 37.1502(a)–(c); § 37.1503(opens the statute in a new tab)
4. 4

   Step 4: Survive the 30-day objection window — this is the lever the other side can pull

   30 days from the date the Territorial Registrar posts notice of your separation agreement.

   Your separation agreement is not recorded the day you hand it in. The Registrar posts public notice, in English and Samoan, at the building site and on the courthouse bulletin board in Fagatogo. Any interested person then has 30 days to object. Family members who did not sign can object. If nobody objects, it gets recorded and is binding on everyone. If somebody does object, the Registrar tells the Chief Justice and the whole thing goes to trial in the High Court.

   Where it goes

   Objections are filed with the Territorial Registrar. A contested matter is tried in the High Court of American Samoa.

   How

   Watch the posting. If an objection lands, you are in a civil trial where you must show the legal requirements were met, that the separation will not unduly interfere with the family's use of the land, and that you bore the cost of the building.

   Proof to keep

   Photographs of the posted notices with dates, the Registrar's proof of posting, your construction cost records and invoices, and receipts showing you paid the posting expenses (the person offering the agreement pays them).

   What the document must contain

   • Proof the notice was posted in both English and Samoan at the building site and at the Fagatogo courthouse
   • Evidence that you paid for or erected the structure
   • Evidence the separation will not unduly interfere with the family's use of the land

   If you miss it: If the court finds against you it orders the Registrar NOT to record the agreement, and the instrument is null and void with no further force or effect. Your only security in the territory evaporates, and you are back to an unsecured contract claim. Budget for this fight before you rely on the agreement.

   A.S.C.A. §§ 37.1504, 37.1505, 37.1506(a)–(b)(opens the statute in a new tab)
5. 5

   Step 5: Record any security instrument within 10 days — and use a witness, not a notary

   Within 10 days after the instrument is signed.

   If you get any consensual security — a mortgage, a security agreement, a bill of sale, a conditional sales contract — it is only good against people who do not already know about it if you meet three conditions. One of them is a 10-day filing window. Another is the formality most people get wrong: the law wants the signature attested by at least one witness. Not notarized. Witnessed.

   Where it goes

   Territorial Registrar, American Samoa Government, Pago Pago.

   How

   Sign, have at least one witness attest the signature, and file it with the Territorial Registrar within 10 days of execution.

   Proof to keep

   The witnessed original, the Registrar's date-stamped filing receipt, and a calendar record proving you filed inside 10 days of the signature date.

   What the document must contain

   • In writing and signed by the person to be bound
   • Attested by at least one witness
   • Filed with the Territorial Registrar within 10 days after execution
   • A true statement of the consideration, or the debt or liability it secures
   • A description of the security that reasonably identifies it, including property acquired after execution

   If you miss it: The instrument is not valid against anyone who does not have actual knowledge of it. A later lender, buyer or creditor takes ahead of you. You hold a piece of paper that binds only the person who signed it, exactly when you need it to bind the world.

   A.S.C.A. § 27.1510(1)–(3)(opens the statute in a new tab)
6. 6

   Step 6: On a government job, get a copy of the bond before you mobilize

   As early as you can — before you mobilize is best. No statute or regulation sets a deadline for asking, and there is no territorial claim deadline to miss, but you cannot demand a copy once you have already been stiffed and lost your leverage.

   American Samoa has no Little Miller Act in its statute book. But the procurement REGULATIONS do require bonds on American Samoa Government construction contracts. Over $100,000, a performance bond and a payment bond are required on GSA Forms 25 and 25A. At or below $100,000, a contract bond is required in cash, certified check, cashier's check or with government-certified sureties on GAS Form PUB/WKS-49. Bonds must be in an amount sufficient to protect the government's interest.

   Where it goes

   Office of the Chief Procurement Officer, American Samoa Government; and the prime contractor on the job.

   How

   Ask the prime contractor and the Chief Procurement Officer in writing for a copy of the bond. Then read the bond itself — the regulation sets no notice period and no suit deadline, so whatever notice and claim terms exist are in the bond document, not in the law.

   Proof to keep

   A copy of the bond itself, the surety's name and address, your written request and their reply, and your own records of last furnishing.

   What the document must contain

   • Identify the ASG contract and contract number
   • Ask for the payment bond and performance bond (GSA Forms 25 and 25A) or the contract bond (GAS Form PUB/WKS-49)
   • Ask for the surety's name and notice address

   If you miss it: Nothing forfeits automatically — but if you never get the bond you will not know who the surety is or what the bond requires, and you may blow a purely contractual notice term written into the bond. Note carefully: A.S.A.C. 10.0250 does not give a subcontractor or supplier an express right to sue on the bond and sets no deadline. Do not assume the federal Miller Act's 90-day and 1-year clocks apply to a territorial bond — they do not.

   A.S.A.C. § 10.0250(c)(1)–(4)(opens the statute in a new tab)
7. 7

   Step 7: When payment stops, send a written demand and freeze your records

   As soon as an invoice goes past due. No statute requires this notice and there is no deadline attached to it — but the 3-year or 10-year limitation clock is already running from the breach.

   American Samoa has no preliminary notice, no notice of intent and no pre-lien anything, because there is no lien to preserve. Serving a 'preliminary notice' here protects nothing. A written demand is not a legal step — it is how you build the file you will need in court and how you sometimes get paid without one.

   Where it goes

   To the party that actually hired you — and, on a government job, copy the prime contractor and the Chief Procurement Officer.

   How

   A dated written demand, delivered so you can prove delivery. Keep it factual: contract, amount, work performed, date of last furnishing, payment deadline.

   Proof to keep

   The demand letter, proof of delivery, the full invoice and payment history, signed change orders, daily logs, delivery tickets, and dated site photos.

   What the document must contain

   • The contract and job identified
   • The amount owed and how it is calculated
   • The dates you furnished labor or materials, including your last day
   • A clear payment deadline

   If you miss it: You lose no lien right, because there is none to lose. What you lose is evidence and time. The clock under A.S.C.A. 43.0120 runs whether or not you ever send a demand, and a file assembled two years later is a much weaker file.

   A.S.C.A. § 43.0120 (limitation clock running; no notice statute exists)(opens the statute in a new tab)
8. 8

   Step 8: On a federal project, send the Miller Act 90-day notice

   Within 90 days from the day you last performed labor or last supplied material. Not from the invoice date — from your last day on the job.

   Federal construction in American Samoa is covered by the federal Miller Act, which is completely unaffected by the territory having no lien law. Contracts over $100,000 for construction, alteration or repair of a federal public building or public work carry a payment bond. If you have no direct contract with the prime, you must give the prime written notice within 90 days to claim on that bond.

   Where it goes

   To the prime contractor that furnished the payment bond. Copy the surety and the contracting officer.

   How

   Written notice to the prime contractor, stating the amount claimed and the party you furnished the labor or material to. Serve it by a method the statute allows — certified service, or service by a U.S. Marshal.

   Proof to keep

   The certified mail receipt or Marshal's return, a copy of the notice, and hard proof of your last-furnishing date — delivery tickets, signed time sheets, dated photos.

   What the document must contain

   • The amount claimed, with substantial accuracy
   • The name of the party you supplied the labor or material to
   • Your last date of furnishing
   • Served by certified means or U.S. Marshal

   If you miss it: You lose the payment bond claim entirely. On a federal job with an insolvent prime, that bond is usually the only real money in the deal, and there is no territorial lien or stop notice to fall back on.

   40 U.S.C. § 3133(b)(2); bond threshold at 40 U.S.C. § 3131(b)(opens the statute in a new tab)
9. 9

   Step 9: Do not record a lien — file a lawsuit in the right court

   Within 3 years of the breach on an unwritten contract, or 10 years on a written one. Sooner is far better: assets move.

   There is nothing to record. The step that would be 'file your lien' in any US state is, in American Samoa, 'file your complaint.' Picking the wrong court costs you months, and one wrong turn is expensive: if you plead a claim asserting an interest in LAND, it goes to the Land and Titles Division, which has exclusive jurisdiction over all controversies relating to land. That is a customary-law forum with Samoan associate judges, not a money-claim docket.

   Where it goes

   High Court of American Samoa, Trial Division, if the amount in controversy exceeds $15,000. District Court if it is $15,000 or less. Small claims, under simplified procedure in the District Court, for civil claims under $3,000. Land and Titles Division for anything asserting an interest in land.

   How

   Sue for breach of contract, or quantum meruit if there is no enforceable contract. Plead it as a money claim. Do not frame it as a claim against the land unless you genuinely have a recorded interest in the land.

   Proof to keep

   The file-stamped complaint, proof of service, and the full contract and payment file.

   What the document must contain

   • Complaint pleading the contract or quantum meruit claim
   • The amount in controversy, pleaded so it lands in the right court
   • The parties — sue the entity that actually contracted with you

   If you miss it: After the limitation period under A.S.C.A. 43.0120 runs, the claim is time-barred and gone. And a claim mis-filed as a land controversy gets routed to the Land and Titles Division, where you will be litigating land tenure and customary rights instead of collecting an invoice.

   A.S.C.A. § 3.0208(a)(1), (b)(2); § 3.0302; § 3.0308; § 43.0120(opens the statute in a new tab)
10. 10

    Step 10: Ask for a writ of attachment the day you file

    At the commencement of the action, or any time afterward before judgment.

    This is the closest thing to a lien you can get once you are already unpaid. In a contract action you can attach the defendant's non-exempt property as security for the judgment you hope to win. It freezes assets before they disappear. But it costs money up front and it has real teeth pointed back at you.

    Where it goes

    Clerk of the High Court of American Samoa (or the District Court for claims within its limit).

    How

    File an affidavit plus a plaintiff's bond with the clerk. The clerk of the High Court issues the writ with the court's approval, directed to the marshal, who attaches enough property to satisfy your demand plus costs.

    Proof to keep

    The filed affidavit, the approved bond, the issued writ, and the marshal's return showing what was actually attached.

    What the document must contain

    • Affidavit stating the defendant is indebted to you, specifying the amount over and above all just credits and offsets
    • Affidavit stating the attachment is not sought and the action is not prosecuted to hinder, delay or defraud any creditor of the defendant
    • A bond or undertaking with a surety company or two or more sureties, approved by the clerk, in a sum at least double the amount of judgment you demand — and never less than $100 in the High Court or $50 in the District Court
    • The bond conditioned that you will prosecute the action without delay and pay costs and damages if the attachment was wrongful

    If you miss it: No forfeiture — but by the time you get judgment the money may be gone. Two hard limits to know before you plan around this: no writ of attachment may issue against the American Samoa Government, any instrumentality of it, the Development Bank of American Samoa, or the United States. So on ASG public work, the territory's largest construction owner, this remedy simply does not exist.

    A.S.C.A. § 43.0901(a)–(d); § 43.0902; § 43.0903(a)–(b)(opens the statute in a new tab)
11. 11

    Step 11: Expect the other side to knock the attachment out

    Any time before judgment. They do not need your agreement and they do not need to wait.

    Two moves the defendant can make unilaterally, and one that can cost you money. First, they can post a bond with sufficient sureties promising to perform the judgment — the attachment is discharged and the property is given straight back. Second, they can move at any time after appearing to discharge the writ on the ground that it was improperly issued, and if that is shown, discharge is mandatory. Third, if the attachment was wrongfully sued out, they can sue on YOUR attachment bond for actual damages, and for exemplary damages if you did it maliciously.

    Where it goes

    The court where the action is brought, on motion with reasonable notice to you.

    How

    Be ready to defend the affidavit and the grounds. Do not overstate the debt in the affidavit — that is the crack they will work on the 'improperly issued' motion and the wrongful-attachment claim.

    Proof to keep

    Everything backing the numbers in your affidavit: invoices, credits applied, offsets acknowledged, and your correspondence showing the debt was genuinely due when you swore to it.

    What the document must contain

    • Your affidavit must be accurate on the amount owed, net of all just credits and offsets
    • Your grounds for attachment must hold up on the record you filed

    If you miss it: You lose the security. If the defendant bonds it off, the property goes back to them immediately — though the bond and its sureties become liable on the judgment, which is not the worst outcome. If the writ is discharged as improperly issued, you get nothing and you have handed them a wrongful-attachment claim against your bond: actual damages, attorney's fees (statutorily capped at $25), and exemplary damages if it was malicious. That action cannot be maintained until after final judgment in the main case, unless it is discontinued or dismissed.

    A.S.C.A. §§ 43.0913, 43.0914, 43.0905(a)–(b)(opens the statute in a new tab)
12. 12

    Step 12: Understand what your judgment can and cannot reach

    Plan for this before you sue, not after you win.

    This is the single most important fact for a contractor in American Samoa, and almost nobody is told it in advance. No real property of a Samoan may be sold under a court writ to satisfy any judgment — except a judgment foreclosing a valid mortgage. You can win outright and still be barred from forcing the sale of the land or the house you built. The court's alternative is to appoint a receiver to gather produce from the land. 'Samoan' is defined broadly: American Samoans of at least one-half Samoan blood, and Pacific Islanders of at least one-half Polynesian, Melanesian or Micronesian blood residing in American Samoa.

    Where it goes

    High Court of American Samoa, on execution.

    How

    Aim your collection at what is actually reachable: bank accounts, receivables, vehicles, equipment, inventory. Then remember why the land is out of reach — roughly 90% of it is communal land, and a matai cannot alienate communal family land without the written approval of the Governor, nor alienate non-freehold land to anyone with less than one-half native blood. The land is structurally non-transferable, which is exactly why a forced-sale lien remedy was never created here.

    Proof to keep

    The judgment, the docket, and your asset investigation — bank names, equipment lists, account debtors, anything that is not land.

    What the document must contain

    • A final money judgment
    • Identification of non-exempt, non-land assets to execute against

    If you miss it: You hold an uncollectible judgment. This is the common ending here for contractors who assumed that suing was an adequate substitute for security. It is not. The only way a court-ordered sale ever reaches a Samoan's real property is foreclosure of a valid consensual mortgage — which means somebody had to sign one, before things went wrong.

    A.S.C.A. § 43.1528(a), (c); § 37.0204(a)–(b)(opens the statute in a new tab)
13. 13

    Step 13: On a federal project, sue on the bond within one year

    No later than one year after the day you last performed labor or last supplied material.

    The Miller Act suit deadline is separate from the 90-day notice and runs from the same date — your last day of furnishing, not the date of your invoice, not the date of the last payment, not the date the job was finished.

    Where it goes

    Federal district court with jurisdiction over the place of performance.

    How

    Civil action in the name of the United States, in the United States District Court for the district where the contract was performed.

    Proof to keep

    The bond, your notice and its proof of service, delivery tickets and time records establishing the last-furnishing date, and the filed complaint.

    What the document must contain

    • The payment bond and the surety identified
    • Proof of your 90-day notice, if you had no direct contract with the prime
    • Proof of your last date of furnishing
    • The amount unpaid

    If you miss it: The bond claim is time-barred. On federal work there is no territorial lien, no stop notice and no second chance — the bond was the remedy.

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

Who can claim a lien in American Samoa

Where you file

Office

Territorial Registrar, American Samoa Government (Pago Pago). Records consensual security instruments and land documents only. It does NOT record mechanics liens, because mechanics liens do not exist in American Samoa. There are no county recording offices; the Territorial Registrar is the single territory-wide recording office.

Notarization

Not required

Sworn or verified

Attested by at least one witness

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

What trips people up in American Samoa

• Recording a 'mechanics lien.' It accomplishes nothing. No such lien exists in American Samoa law — it does not cloud title, does not secure the debt, and may expose you to slander-of-title or wrongful-recording liability. Any form or service that generates an American Samoa mechanics lien is generating a legally void instrument.
• Believing that winning the lawsuit means getting paid. A.S.C.A. 43.1528(a): no real property of a Samoan may be sold under a court writ to satisfy any judgment other than one foreclosing a valid mortgage. Contractors who assume a judgment lets them reach the house they built are simply wrong. The court's fallback is appointing a receiver to gather and sell produce from the land.
• Working on a handshake. A.S.C.A. 43.0120(3) gives you 3 years on an unwritten contract; 43.0120(5) gives 10 years on a written one. Putting the same deal on paper more than triples your window. This is the cheapest thing on this entire page.
• Assuming government work is bonded the way it is stateside. There is no territorial Little Miller Act — A.S.C.A. Title 12 Chapter 02 (19 sections, 12.0201–12.0219) contains no bond or surety provision at all. Bonds on ASG jobs come from a REGULATION, A.S.A.C. 10.0250(c), and that regulation gives subcontractors and suppliers no express right to sue and sets no deadline. Get the actual bond document and read its terms; do not assume federal Miller Act timing applies to it.
• Counting on attaching the government. No writ of attachment may issue against the American Samoa Government, any instrumentality of it, the Development Bank of American Samoa, or the United States (A.S.C.A. 43.0901(b)). The prejudgment security that works against private defendants is unavailable against the territory's biggest owner.
• Waiting until you are unpaid to look for security. The only construction-adjacent encumbrance in the territory is consensual: a A.S.C.A. 37.1502 structure-separation agreement, signed by the senior matai or landowner and recorded. There is no unilateral route to one after default. If you did not negotiate it before the job, it is not available to you now.
• Missing the 30-day objection window on a separation agreement — and never knowing it existed. Any interested person can object within 30 days of the Registrar's posting (A.S.C.A. 37.1504, 37.1505). An objection sends the matter to trial in the High Court, and if the court rules against you the instrument is null and void (37.1506(b)). A family member who never signed can take out your only security.
• Recording a security instrument late. A mortgage, security agreement, bill of sale or conditional sales contract is invalid against anyone without actual knowledge of it unless filed with the Territorial Registrar within 10 days after execution (A.S.C.A. 27.1510(2)). Sign on Monday, file two weeks later, and a later creditor takes ahead of you.
• Getting it notarized instead of witnessed. A.S.C.A. 27.1510(1) requires the instrument be in writing, signed by the person to be bound, and attested by at least one witness. A notary stamp is not what the statute asks for. Satisfying the wrong formality is the same as satisfying none.
• Expecting a clerk's window. Any claim asserting an interest in land goes to the Land and Titles Division of the High Court, which has exclusive jurisdiction over all controversies relating to land (A.S.C.A. 3.0208(b)(2)) — decided with Samoan associate judges under customary-law-informed procedure. There is no ministerial recording process for construction claims.
• Assuming you can get a security interest in the land at all. Communal land is roughly 90% of the territory. A matai cannot alienate communal family land without the written approval of the Governor (A.S.C.A. 37.0204(a)), and non-freehold land cannot be alienated to anyone with less than one-half native blood (37.0204(b)). Your contract can say whatever it likes; the land is structurally out of reach.
• Chasing payment while unlicensed. Unlicensed contracting is criminal: up to $1,000, up to 6 months, or both (A.S.C.A. 31.0506). Suing for your money while unlicensed invites a counterclaim and puts your own exposure on the record.
• Overstating the debt in an attachment affidavit. The affidavit must specify the amount owed over and above all just credits and offsets (A.S.C.A. 43.0902). Inflate it and the defendant moves to discharge the writ as improperly issued (43.0914) and then sues your bond for actual and, if malicious, exemplary damages (43.0905(a)).
• Trusting a citation you cannot open. Use the current ASBA Code Annotated index instead: Source(opens the statute in a new tab)

After you file

• Prosecute without delay. If you got an attachment, your own bond is conditioned on prosecuting the action without delay and paying all costs and damages the defendant sustains from a wrongful attachment (A.S.C.A. 43.0903(a)). Letting the case go quiet is a breach of your own bond condition, not just bad litigation hygiene.
• Do not relax once the writ issues. The defendant can discharge the attachment at any time before judgment by posting a bond to perform the judgment, and the property goes straight back (A.S.C.A. 43.0913). The upside is that the bond becomes part of the record and judgment is entered against the sureties too — so track the sureties.
• Watch for a motion to discharge the writ as improperly issued. It can be brought at any time after the defendant appears, before or after release of the property, and even before any levy. If improper issuance is shown, discharge is mandatory (A.S.C.A. 43.0914).
• If your case is discontinued or dismissed, expect the wrongful-attachment claim on your bond to come immediately — it normally cannot be maintained until after final judgment in the main action, but discontinuance or dismissal opens that door early (A.S.C.A. 43.0905(b)).
• If your structure-separation agreement drew an objection, follow it through the High Court trial. A loss there means the Registrar is ordered not to record it and the instrument is null and void with no further force or effect (A.S.C.A. 37.1506(b)). If you win, make sure the Registrar records the agreement together with the proof of posting and the certified copy of the court's order.
• Confirm the Registrar actually recorded it. Recording of an unobjected separation agreement happens after the 30 days, together with proof of the required posting (A.S.C.A. 37.1505). Go get the recorded copy — do not assume.
• Keep your contractor's license current for the whole life of the dispute. Licenses expire and renew under A.S.C.A. 31.0514, and a lapse mid-litigation hands the other side an argument it did not previously have.
• On a federal job, remember the 90-day notice and the 1-year suit deadline are two separate clocks running from the same last-furnishing date. Sending the notice does not extend the time to sue (40 U.S.C. 3133(b)(2), (b)(4)).
• Budget for the fact that a judgment is not collection. Start the asset hunt for non-land property early, because A.S.C.A. 43.1528(a) takes a Samoan's real property off the table permanently unless you are foreclosing a valid mortgage.