How to file a mechanics lien in Kansas

Step by step

13 steps for a subcontractor in Kansas.

1. 1

   Step 1: Check that Kansas gives you a lien at all before you count any days

   Before you start work, and again the moment payment goes late.

   Kansas only gives a lien to someone who furnished labor, equipment, material or supplies used or consumed at the site of a private improvement, and who contracted with the right person. If you contracted with the owner, you file under one section. If you contracted with the general contractor, a subcontractor, or an owner-contractor, you file under another. If you contracted with somebody further down than that, Kansas may give you nothing, and no deadline will save you.

   Where it goes

   Your own contract file.

   How

   Look at who signed your contract or purchase order. Owner, owner's trustee, agent or spouse means you are an original contractor. The contractor, a subcontractor, or an owner-contractor means you are a 60-1103 claimant. Anyone else is a problem worth taking to a lawyer early.

   Proof to keep

   A signed contract or purchase order showing exactly who hired you.

   What the document must contain

   • Who you contracted with, by name
   • Whether that person is the property owner, the general contractor, a subcontractor, or an owner-contractor
   • Whether the property is private or publicly owned

   If you miss it: If you sit outside the statutory chain you have no lien, and filing one only exposes you to an adjudication action and costs. Getting this wrong at the start means every later deadline is wasted effort.

   K.S.A. 60-1101; K.S.A. 60-1103(a), (b)(opens the statute in a new tab)
2. 2

   Step 2: Find out if the job is public — if it is, there is no lien

   Before you do anything else. Confirm it the week payment goes late, not three months later.

   You cannot lien Kansas public property. On a public contract over $100,000 the public official must take a payment bond, and K.S.A. 60-1111(b) says that once that bond is filed with the district court clerk, no lien attaches and any liens already filed are discharged. Your only remedy is a suit on the bond. There is no claim to file first and no notice to send. Below the $100,000 threshold there may be no bond at all.

   Where it goes

   The clerk of the district court of the county in which the public improvement is being made — that is where 60-1111(b) requires the bond to be filed.

   How

   Ask the general contractor for a copy of the payment bond, or ask the clerk of the district court in the county where the improvement is being made whether a 60-1111 bond has been filed on that project.

   Proof to keep

   A copy of the bond and the date you obtained it, plus anything that documents when the improvement was completed. The completion date is what your six-month clock runs from.

   What the document must contain

   • The name of the public body and the prime contractor
   • A copy of the payment bond and the surety's name
   • The date the public improvement is or will be completed

   If you miss it: You file a lien statement that is legally void, you pay the fee for nothing, and you burn months off the only clock that counts — the six-month bond suit deadline in K.S.A. 60-1111(b).

   K.S.A. 60-1111(a), (b)(opens the statute in a new tab)
3. 3

   Step 3: Check the court file for a bond that has already wiped out liens

   Optional

   Before you pay to file a lien, and again before you pay a lawyer to foreclose one.

   On a private job, the contractor or the owner can post a bond, get it approved by a district judge and file it with the clerk of the district court. K.S.A. 60-1110 says that once that bond is approved and filed, no lien attaches — and any liens already filed are discharged. This is the main lever the other side can pull on you mid-job, and nobody has to tell you they pulled it. After that, you sue on the bond instead of on the property.

   Where it goes

   The clerk of the district court of the county where the property is located.

   How

   Ask the clerk of the district court in the county where the property sits whether a bond under K.S.A. 60-1110 has been filed on this project, and ask the general contractor directly.

   Proof to keep

   A copy of the filed bond. K.S.A. 60-1110 lets any interested person sue on it, but only against a principal, a surety, or someone contractually liable for the claim — so you need the names.

   What the document must contain

   • A copy of the bond
   • The names of the principal and the surety on the bond

   If you miss it: You spend the filing fee and the attorney time on a lien that was discharged the day the bond was filed. Your money is in the bond, not the dirt.

   K.S.A. 60-1110(opens the statute in a new tab)
4. 4

   Step 4: Mail the Warning Statement on your first day on a home job

   The statute sets no deadline at all, which is exactly what makes it dangerous. Mail it the first day you deliver material or put a hand on the job. Every dollar the owner pays the contractor BEFORE the owner receives your Warning Statement is a dollar the owner is not liable to you for, under K.S.A. 60-1103(d)(2). Send it late and you can end up with a valid lien worth nothing.

   This is the single biggest lien-killer in Kansas. If you did not contract with the owner and the job is an owner-occupied house or a house being built as the owner's own principal residence, K.S.A. 60-1103a(b) says you may claim a lien "only if" you mailed the owner a Warning Statement, or you hold a statement signed and dated by an owner saying the general contractor or you gave it. No Warning Statement, no lien. It is not a cap on the amount — it is the whole lien. It is not required if your total claim does not exceed $250.

   Where it goes

   Any one of the owners of the property. You do not have to hit all of them.

   How

   Mail it to any one of the owners of the property. The statute says "mailed" — it does not require restricted or certified mail here — but send it a way that gives you a dated receipt, because the date the owner received it is what fixes how much money you can still reach.

   Proof to keep

   A copy of the exact statement you mailed, the date you mailed it, and mailing proof. Or, if you are relying on the alternative, the original owner-signed AND owner-dated statement confirming the warning was given. You will have to swear to this in an affidavit attached to your lien.

   What the document must contain

   • Your name, identified as a supplier or subcontractor
   • The job number
   • The residence address
   • The name of the contractor you are working under
   • The statutory warning language of K.S.A. 60-1103a(c) — that Kansas law will allow you to file a lien against the property for materials or labor the contractor does not pay for, unless the owner has a lien waiver signed by you, and that if the owner receives notice of a lien filing the owner may withhold the claimed amount from the contractor until the dispute is settled

   If you miss it: You have no lien on that property. None.

   K.S.A. 60-1103a(a), (b), (c), (d); K.S.A. 60-1103(d)(2)(opens the statute in a new tab)
5. 5

   Step 5: File a Notice of Intent to Perform on a brand-new house

   Before the deed transferring title to a good-faith purchaser is recorded. File it as soon as you start on a new-home job. Two things then follow: it dies on its own 18 months after you file it unless you have filed a lien by then (60-1103b(f)), and once you are paid in full you must file a release, which extinguishes your lien right (60-1103b(d)). Note: the revisor's text of 60-1103b(f) says 18 months; some county help sheets print 19. The statute controls.

   On a NEW house — a new one- or two-family structure, not an addition, garage or outbuilding on an existing one — K.S.A. 60-1103b(b) says that once title passes to a good-faith purchaser for value, you can only claim a lien if you filed a Notice of Intent to Perform before the deed was recorded. This applies whether you contracted with the owner or with someone below. The date you are racing is the builder's closing date, which you do not control and usually will not hear about. It can easily land before your three or four months have run.

   Where it goes

   The office of the clerk of the district court of the county where the property is located. NOT the register of deeds.

   How

   File it with the clerk, with the filing fee. K.S.A. 60-1103b(c) says the notice is sufficient if it substantially complies with the form set by the Kansas Judicial Council. You do not need a Notice of Intent to Perform if your lien statement is already properly on file before the deed passing title is recorded — that is what the revisor's annotation to 60-1103 records of Owen Lumber Co. v. Chartrand, 270 Kan. 215 (2000).

   Proof to keep

   The clerk's file-stamped copy and the receipt showing your case number. You need that case number to file the release later, and you need the filing date to know when the 18 months run out.

   What the document must contain

   • The name of the owner of the real estate
   • Your name and address as supplier, contractor or subcontractor
   • The legal description of the real estate
   • A statement that you are providing materials or labor on the property

   If you miss it: The builder closes, title passes to a good-faith purchaser, and your lien right on that house is gone even though your filing window had not expired.

   K.S.A. 60-1103b(a), (b), (c), (f); K.S.A. 60-1103(a)(3)(opens the statute in a new tab)
6. 6

   Step 6: Write down your own last day on the job

   The day you leave the job. Write it down then, not four months later from memory.

   Every filing deadline in Kansas runs from YOUR last day — the last date you furnished material or equipment, or performed labor. It does not run from the day the building was finished, or the day the general contractor walked off. K.S.A. 60-1103(a)(1) says it plainly: "last furnished or labor performed by the claimant."

   Where it goes

   Your own job file.

   How

   Keep dated delivery tickets, signed timesheets, dated job photos, and the invoice that covers that last day. Two things the Kansas courts have addressed, per the revisor's own annotations: going back to do a piece of work you left out does not buy you more time ("Contractor may not perform some omitted part of work and thereby extend period for filing of mechanics lien. Creme de la Creme, (Kansas) Inc., v. R&R Int'l, Inc., 32 Kan. App. 2d 490 (2004)"), while work that was necessary to comply with the contract has been held to keep a lien timely ("Lien timely where work performed was necessary to comply with terms of contract. Security Benefit Life Ins. Corp. v. Fleming Companies, Inc., 21 Kan. App. 2d 833 (1995)"). Materials also have to actually be used in the construction ("Materials must be used in construction to form basis for lien. Seyb-Tucker Lumber & Implement Co. v. Hartley, 197 Kan. 58").

   Proof to keep

   Dated delivery tickets or bills of lading, dated timesheets, dated photographs, and the corresponding invoice. If your last-furnishing date is challenged, this is the evidence that decides your case.

   What the document must contain

   • The exact calendar date of your last labor performed
   • The exact calendar date of your last material, equipment or supply furnished
   • What that last work or delivery was, and which contract line item it satisfied

   If you miss it: You count from the wrong day. Counting from project completion instead of your own last day is how a subcontractor files a month late and finds out in court.

   K.S.A. 60-1102(a); K.S.A. 60-1103(a)(1)(opens the statute in a new tab)
7. 7

   Step 7: Start the interest and suspension clocks when payment goes late

   Optional

   Interest starts on the 31st day (owner to contractor) or the 8th business day (down-tier). The suspension right opens seven business days after the payment date, and takes seven more business days of written notice.

   On private jobs that are NOT single-family housing and NOT multifamily of four units or less, the Kansas Fairness in Private Construction Contract Act gives you paid clocks that run alongside your lien clock. An owner has 30 days to pay a contractor on an undisputed, properly completed request for payment, then owes 18% a year. A contractor has seven business days to pay its subcontractor after it gets paid, then owes 18% a year, and the same rule runs down every tier. If an undisputed payment is seven business days late, you can give seven more business days' written notice and then suspend work — and you get your time extended and your demobilization, delay and remobilization costs added to the contract sum. In an action to enforce these sections the court awards costs and reasonable attorney fees to the prevailing party.

   Where it goes

   The party that owes you, per the tier you sit in. Venue for an enforcement action is the county where the property is located.

   How

   Written notice to the owner, and if you are a subcontractor, written notice to the contractor as well.

   Proof to keep

   Your dated pay applications and proof of delivery, the dated written suspension notice and proof of delivery, and your records of demobilization and remobilization costs.

   What the document must contain

   • A timely, properly completed and undisputed request for payment
   • Written notice of your intent to suspend, dated, giving the seven business days

   If you miss it: You leave the 18% interest and the fee-shifting on the table. This does not affect your lien rights either way. Note the scope limit in K.S.A. 16-1807: the act does not apply to single-family residential housing, to multifamily of four units or less, or to public works projects.

   K.S.A. 16-1803(d)-(h); K.S.A. 16-1805; K.S.A. 16-1806; K.S.A. 16-1807(opens the statute in a new tab)
8. 8

   Step 8: File a Notice of Extension to buy five months — commercial only, and only if you beat your own deadline

   Optional

   Within three months since you last furnished labor, equipment, materials or supplies to the job site.

   On property other than residential property, K.S.A. 60-1103(e) lets a supplier or subcontractor claim a lien within five months instead of three — but only if you filed a Notice of Extension within the original three months. There is no five-month deadline unless you did this. There is no extension of any kind available on residential property.

   Where it goes

   The office of the clerk of the district court of the county where the property is located, plus the mailings above.

   How

   File it with the clerk, and mail it by BOTH certified mail and regular mail to the general contractor or construction manager, with a copy to the owner by regular mail if the owner is known. K.S.A. 60-1103(e) says the notice is sufficient if in substantial compliance with the form set by the Kansas Judicial Council.

   Proof to keep

   The clerk's file-stamped copy with its date, the certified mail receipt and return receipt for the contractor or construction manager, and proof of the regular mailings.

   What the document must contain

   • Substantial compliance with the notice of extension form set by the judicial council

   If you miss it: Nothing extends. Your lien deadline stays at three calendar months from your own last furnishing.

   K.S.A. 60-1103(e); K.S.A. 60-1102(d)(opens the statute in a new tab)
9. 9

   Step 9: File your verified lien statement within three calendar months

   Within three calendar months after the date supplies, material or equipment was last furnished or labor performed BY YOU. Count calendar months, not days. Three calendar months can be as short as 89 days — January 31 to April 30 is 89 days. Treating three months as 90 days puts you a day late on a large share of start dates. Under K.S.A. 60-206(a)(1) the trigger day is excluded, intermediate weekends and holidays are counted, and if the last day is a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday the period runs to the next day that is not; for paper filing the last day ends when the clerk's office closes. Do not plan around that cushion.

   You contracted with the general contractor, a subcontractor or an owner-contractor rather than with the owner, so you file under K.S.A. 60-1103 and you get three calendar months — one month less than the prime contractor on the same job. Your statement must also name the contractor, and on a qualifying residential job it must have the Warning Statement affidavit attached.

   Where it goes

   The clerk of the district court of the county in which the property is located. NOT the register of deeds.

   How

   Take or mail the verified statement to the clerk with the filing fee. Sign it in front of a notary, or the clerk or deputy clerk — never beforehand. The statutory fee under K.S.A. 28-170(a)(1) is $14, plus a surcharge of up to $22 authorized by K.S.A. 28-170(d); Johnson County and Shawnee County both publish $36.00 total. One fee covers the later release. Confirm the current amount with your county's clerk.

   Proof to keep

   The clerk's file-stamped copy, the receipt and the case number, plus the mailing proof for the Warning Statement that backs up your affidavit.

   What the document must contain

   • The name of the contractor. This is a separate statutory element for you and it is the classic Kansas lien-killer. The revisor's annotations record: "mechanic's lien of material supplier fails; failed to state general contractor's name" (Alliance Steel, Inc. v. Piland, 39 Kan. App. 2d 972 (2008)); "Mechanic's lien filed by subcontractor must name contractor" (Tradesman Int'l, Inc. v. Wal-Mart Real Estate Business Trust, 35 Kan. App. 2d 146 (2006)); "Lien statement that fails to name the proper contractor is vitally defective" (National Restoration Co. v. Merit General Contractors, 41 Kan. App. 2d 1010 (2009))
   • The name of the owner
   • Your name AND an address sufficient for service of process on you
   • A description of the real property — the legal description, not the street address
   • A reasonably itemized statement and the amount of the claim, or a copy of the written instrument or promissory note in lieu of itemizing (which moves your one-year enforcement clock to the note's maturity)
   • The verification — sworn before a notary, or the clerk or deputy clerk
   • ATTACHED: if a Warning Statement was required under K.S.A. 60-1103a, your own affidavit that the warning statement was properly given. This is a separate document from the warning statement itself
   • ALREADY FILED: if a Notice of Intent to Perform was required under K.S.A. 60-1103b, it must have been filed as that section provides

   If you miss it: No lien. And you cannot fix it afterward: K.S.A. 60-1105(b) allows amendment by leave of the judge "in furtherance of justice, except to increase the amount claimed," and the revisor's annotation to 60-1102 records that amendment of a statement after the statutory period expires is not permitted (D. J. Fair Lumber Co. v. Karlin).

   K.S.A. 60-1103(a)(1), (a)(2), (a)(3); K.S.A. 60-1102(a); K.S.A. 60-206(a); K.S.A. 28-170(a)(1), (d); K.S.A. 60-1105(b)(opens the statute in a new tab)
10. 10

    Step 10: Serve a copy of the lien statement the same week you file it

    The statute does not give you a number of days. That is not permission to wait. The revisor's annotation to 60-1103 records a case where a subcontractor withheld notice of the lien filing from the owner for 47 days to avoid embarrassing the general contractor, and the delay was "held unreasonable" (Don Conroy Contractor, Inc. v. Jensen, 192 Kan. 300). Serve immediately.

    Filing is not the end of it for you. K.S.A. 60-1103(c) requires you to get a copy of the lien statement to any one owner, to any holder of a recorded equitable interest, and to any party obligated to pay the lien. A prime contractor filing under 60-1102 has no service duty at all — this step is yours alone.

    Where it goes

    Any one owner, ANY holder of a recorded equitable interest, and any party obligated to pay the lien. Run a title search for equitable interests — contract-for-deed and similar interests are easy to miss.

    How

    Only three methods are on the statutory list. (1) Personal service, in the manner K.S.A. 60-304 provides for service of summons inside Kansas or K.S.A. 60-308 for service outside it. (2) Restricted mail. (3) If an address is unknown and cannot be found with reasonable diligence, post a copy in a conspicuous place on the premises. Restricted mail is a defined term — K.S.A. 60-103 says it is mail endorsed so the sender gets a return receipt showing the date and address of delivery and, if the addressee is a natural person, only the addressee or an authorized agent receives it. Plain certified mail is not the same thing; the revisor's annotation to 60-103 records "Certified mail does not satisfy requirement of restricted mail; reversed for lack of service" (In re B.K.J., 27 Kan. App. 2d 849 (2000)). Do not assume mailing equals receipt either: the annotation to 60-1103 records that the theory of presumptive receipt when something is deposited in the post office is "inapplicable to subsection (c)" (Owen Lumber Co. v. Chartrand, 283 Kan. 911 (2007)). The statute does say the requirement is met if you prove the person actually received a copy.

    Proof to keep

    The restricted-mail return receipt showing the date and address of delivery; or the process server's or sheriff's return; or, for posting, dated photographs plus a written record of the reasonable diligence you used to try to find the address.

    What the document must contain

    • A complete copy of the filed lien statement, including everything attached to it

    If you miss it: You have not done what the statute requires to perfect, and on a home you lose the lawsuit outright: K.S.A. 60-1103(c) says "No action to foreclose any lien may proceed or be entered against residential real property in this state unless the holder of a recorded equitable interest was served with notice in accordance with the provisions of this subsection."

    K.S.A. 60-1103(c); K.S.A. 60-103; K.S.A. 60-304; K.S.A. 60-308(opens the statute in a new tab)
11. 11

    Step 11: File a release as soon as you are paid

    As soon as you have been paid in full. A Notice of Intent to Perform also self-destructs 18 months after filing under K.S.A. 60-1103b(f) unless you filed a lien in the meantime.

    Two different releases exist in Kansas and they are not the same thing. If you filed a Notice of Intent to Perform and you get paid in full, K.S.A. 60-1103b(d) requires you to file a release and waiver of lien with the same office, and when you do, your lien right under 60-1101 and 60-1103 is extinguished. The owner can demand that release from you under 60-1103b(e). Separately, when a filed mechanic's lien is paid, the district courts supply a Release of Mechanic's Lien form and the K.S.A. 28-170(a)(1) fee you already paid covers "filing, entering and releasing" the lien.

    Where it goes

    The clerk of the district court — the same office where you filed the original notice or lien.

    How

    File the release with the clerk. You will need the case number from the receipt you got when you filed. K.S.A. 60-1103b(c) says the release form is sufficient if in substantial compliance with the form set by the judicial council; the county self-help packets carry a form.

    Proof to keep

    The file-stamped release.

    What the document must contain

    • The name of the owner of the real estate
    • Your name and address as supplier, subcontractor or contractor
    • The legal description of the real estate
    • The case number from your filing receipt
    • For a 60-1103b release: a statement that you waive or relinquish any statutory right to a lien for the labor or material furnished to that property

    If you miss it: You leave a satisfied encumbrance on someone's title and invite a demand under K.S.A. 60-1103b(e) and litigation you did not need. Read the 60-1103b(d) release carefully before you sign it — filing it extinguishes your lien right on that property.

    K.S.A. 60-1103b(c), (d), (e), (f); K.S.A. 28-170(a)(1)(opens the statute in a new tab)
12. 12

    Step 12: Sue to foreclose within one year of the day you filed

    Within one year from the time of filing the lien statement (or one year from the note's maturity, if a note was attached in lieu of itemizing).

    Filing the lien does not collect the money. K.S.A. 60-1105(a) gives every claimant under this article one year from the date the lien statement was filed to bring a foreclosure action. It is the same one year for a prime contractor and for a supplier — Kansas does not give subcontractors a shorter enforcement window. The one exception: if you attached a promissory note to the lien statement in lieu of an itemized statement, the year runs from the maturity of that note instead.

    Where it goes

    The district court of the county where the land is situated. K.S.A. 60-1106 requires that all persons whose liens are filed, and other encumbrancers of record, be made parties — and if you are a subcontractor, the original contractor must be made a defendant.

    How

    An action to foreclose, filed in court. If somebody else — a bank, another lienholder — is already foreclosing, do not assume you are covered by being named: the revisor's annotation to 60-1105 records that "A mechanic's lienholder must act to defend its lien in foreclosure action to toll subsection (a)'s one-year time limit" (Columbia Savings Ass'n v. McPheeters, 21 Kan. App. 2d 919 (1996)).

    Proof to keep

    The file-stamped petition and the date it was filed.

    What the document must contain

    • Your filing date and case number
    • Your lien statement and everything that was attached to it
    • Your proof of service under 60-1103(c), if you are a 60-1103 claimant

    If you miss it: K.S.A. 60-1108: if no action to foreclose or adjudicate is instituted within the 60-1105(a) period, "the lien shall be considered canceled by limitation of law." It is not stalled, it is gone. And the landowner may file a petition asking the court to adjudicate the lien; if you fail to establish it, the court may tax the whole or part of the costs of that action against you.

    K.S.A. 60-1105(a), (b); K.S.A. 60-1108; K.S.A. 60-1106(opens the statute in a new tab)
13. 13

    Step 13: On a public job, sue on the bond within six months of completion

    No action may be brought on the bond after six months from the completion of the public improvement or public buildings. Six calendar months can be as short as 181 days — August 31 to February 28 is 181 days.

    There is no lien to enforce on a Kansas public project. K.S.A. 60-1111(b) gives anyone owed money for labor or material a right to sue on the public payment bond, and cuts it off six months after the improvement is finished. Note what the clock runs from: completion of the public improvement or building — the whole project — not your own last day. Your last day is on or before completion, so your own dates will tell you the deadline is later than it really is.

    Where it goes

    The bond is filed with the clerk of the district court of the county in which the public improvement is made. Get a copy from the clerk.

    How

    An action on the bond against the principal and the surety. Note that the revisor's annotation to 60-1103 records that the statute, together with 60-1111, "does not preclude suppliers to sub-subcontractors from suing on the bond" (Wichita Sheet Metal Supply, Inc. v. Dahlstrom & Ferrell, 14 Kan. App. 2d 111 (1989)) — so a tier that has no lien right may still have a bond right.

    Proof to keep

    The bond copy, and dated records fixing the completion date of the improvement — that date is your deadline, so document how you established it.

    What the document must contain

    • A copy of the payment bond and the names of the principal and surety
    • Your documentation of the sum due for labor or material furnished
    • The date the public improvement was completed

    If you miss it: The bond claim is barred. There is no lien to fall back on and no intermediate claim-filing step that would have caught you.

    K.S.A. 60-1111(a), (b)(opens the statute in a new tab)

Who can claim a lien in Kansas

Where you file

Office

Clerk of the District Court (county where the property is located)

Recording fee

$14–$36

Notarization

Required

Sworn or verified

Affidavit

How it is served

Restricted-delivery mail

Copies

1

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

What trips people up in Kansas

• Using the four-month deadline when you are a subcontractor or supplier. Kansas splits by WHO HIRED YOU, not by what kind of building it is. K.S.A. 60-1102(a) gives four months to someone who contracted with the owner; K.S.A. 60-1103(a)(1) gives three months to everyone else. Several widely-read commercial guides describe this as a residential-versus-commercial split. It is not.
• Treating "three months" as 90 days. Kansas counts calendar months. Three calendar months can be as short as 89 days (January 31 to April 30). Four months can be 120 days, five can be 150, six can be 181. Any calendar app or spreadsheet set to 90 days will hand you a late date on roughly one start date in four.
• Recording the lien with the register of deeds. K.S.A. 60-1102(a) requires filing with the clerk of the DISTRICT COURT. Kansas is one of the few states that files liens with the court. A lien recorded with the register of deeds is a nullity. The same is true of the Notice of Intent to Perform and the Notice of Extension.
• Skipping the residential Warning Statement because you think it only caps the amount. K.S.A. 60-1103a(b) says a lien on residential property "may be claimed ... only if" you mailed it or hold a signed, dated owner acknowledgment. No warning statement means no lien at all. The only escape is a total claim that does not exceed $250.
• Sending the Warning Statement late. The statute sets no deadline, which is precisely the trap. Under K.S.A. 60-1103(d)(2) the owner is not liable for any payment made to the contractor before the owner received it. Send it on day one or you can end up with a technically valid lien worth zero.
• Filing a residential subcontractor lien without attaching the affidavit. K.S.A. 60-1103(a)(2) requires a separate affidavit of the supplier or subcontractor that the warning statement was properly given, attached to the lien statement. The warning statement goes to the owner during the job; the affidavit goes to the court with the lien. They are two different documents.
• Putting the street address in the property description. K.S.A. 60-1102(a)(3) requires a description of the real property, and the revisor's annotation records a case where a description of land was "held insufficient" (Sutherland Lumber Co. v. Due, 212 Kan. 658). Get the legal description from the register of deeds. The Johnson County self-help form says it outright: "DO NOT USE ADDRESS."
• Naming the wrong contractor, or no contractor, on a subcontractor or supplier lien. K.S.A. 60-1103(a)(1) makes it an element. The revisor's annotations record three separate cases on it, including "Lien statement that fails to name the proper contractor is vitally defective" (National Restoration Co. v. Merit General Contractors, 41 Kan. App. 2d 1010 (2009)). You cannot cure it after the window closes.
• Claiming too little. K.S.A. 60-1105(b) permits amendment "in furtherance of justice, except to increase the amount claimed." Under-claiming is permanent.
• Signing the lien statement before you get to the notary. K.S.A. 60-1102(a) requires a VERIFIED statement. The revisor's annotations record that an acknowledgment is not a verification (D. J. Fair Lumber Co. v. Karlin) and that "An affidavit signed out of the presence of a notary is invalid and invalidates a mechanic's lien" (Halsey v. Pat Reichenberger Lumber, Inc., 5 Kan. App. 2d 622). The official county form prints it in capitals: WAIT TO SIGN IN FRONT OF A NOTARY.
• Serving the lien statement by ordinary certified mail. K.S.A. 60-1103(c) lists personal service, RESTRICTED mail, or posting. Restricted mail is defined in K.S.A. 60-103 and the revisor's annotation to that section records "Certified mail does not satisfy requirement of restricted mail" (In re B.K.J., 27 Kan. App. 2d 849 (2000)). Ask for restricted delivery at the counter.
• Assuming that dropping it in the mailbox counts as service. The revisor's annotation to 60-1103 records that the presumption of receipt on deposit in the post office is "inapplicable to subsection (c)" (Owen Lumber Co. v. Chartrand, 283 Kan. 911 (2007)). Actual receipt is what satisfies the statute.
• Sitting on service because the statute names no deadline. A 47-day delay in getting notice of the lien filing to the owner was "held unreasonable" (Don Conroy Contractor, Inc. v. Jensen, 192 Kan. 300, from the revisor's annotation to 60-1103).
• Missing a holder of a recorded equitable interest on a house. K.S.A. 60-1103(c) bars any foreclosure action against residential real property unless that holder was served. Contract-for-deed and similar interests do not jump out of a casual title search, and missing one kills the lawsuit, not just the notice.
• Going back to do an omitted piece of work to restart the clock. The revisor's annotation to 60-1103 records: "Contractor may not perform some omitted part of work and thereby extend period for filing of mechanics lien" (Creme de la Creme, (Kansas) Inc., v. R&R Int'l, Inc., 32 Kan. App. 2d 490 (2004)).
• Counting from project completion instead of your own last day. K.S.A. 60-1103(a)(1) runs from what was "last furnished or labor performed by the claimant." The general contractor's clock and yours are different clocks.
• Filing a lien on a public job. K.S.A. 60-1111(b): when the public payment bond is filed, "no lien shall attach under this article. Any liens which have been filed prior to the filing of such bond shall be discharged." You get six months from completion of the improvement to sue on the bond, and nothing else. Below the $100,000 contract threshold in 60-1111(a) there may be no bond at all.
• Filing a lien after a private bond has already discharged liens. Under K.S.A. 60-1110 the contractor or owner can post a bond approved by a district judge; once it is approved and filed, no lien attaches and existing liens are discharged. Nobody has to warn you. Check the court file before you spend the money.
• Believing a no-lien clause in your contract. On covered private jobs, K.S.A. 16-1803(b)(2) makes a provision purporting to waive, release or extinguish rights under article 11 of chapter 60 void and unenforceable — except that a contract may require a waiver as a condition of payment, only to the extent of the payment received. And K.S.A. 16-1803(c) says a pay-if-paid clause "is no defense to a claim to enforce a mechanic's lien." These protections do not reach single-family housing, multifamily of four units or less, or public works (K.S.A. 16-1807).
• Being a supplier to a second-tier subcontractor and assuming you have rights. The revisor's annotation to 60-1103 records: "A supplier hired by a second-tier subcontractor has no rights under the Kansas mechanics' lien statute" (Bowen Eng'g, Corp. v Pac. Indem. Co., 83 F. Supp. 3d 1185 (D. Kan. 2015)). You may still be able to sue on a bond, but there is no lien and no deadline that helps you.
• New house: forgetting that the builder's closing date beats your filing window. Under K.S.A. 60-1103b(b), once title passes to a good-faith purchaser for value, you can only claim a lien if you filed a Notice of Intent to Perform before the deed was recorded. That date belongs to the owner, not to you, and it can arrive before your three months have run.
• Letting a Notice of Intent to Perform quietly expire. K.S.A. 60-1103b(f) voids it 18 months after filing unless you have filed a lien by then. Note that some county help sheets print 19 months — the statute says 18. Set the reminder off the statute.
• Working for a tenant and assuming you can lien the landlord's property. K.S.A. 60-1101 requires a contract with the owner or the owner's trustee, agent or spouse. The revisor's annotation records "No agency relationship established, so mechanic's lien did not apply to landlord" (Kansas City Heartland Constr. Co. v. Maggie Jones Southport Cafe, Inc., 250 Kan. 32 (1992)).
• Design-only work on a project that never broke ground. The revisor's annotation to 60-1101 records "Mechanics' liens for architectural and engineering services invalid where no construction commenced on planned development" (Mark Twain Kansas City Bank v. Kroh Bros. Dev. Co., 14 Kan. App. 2d 714 (1990)). Filing on time does not save a design claim on a project that stalled before construction.
• Treating the one-year foreclosure deadline as a soft one. K.S.A. 60-1108 does not merely bar the suit — the lien "shall be considered canceled by limitation of law," and the landowner may petition for adjudication and have costs taxed against you if you fail to establish it.
• Looking for a Kansas monthly notice, notice of commencement or stop notice. There are none. Kansas has exactly two pre-lien filings, both residential: the 60-1103a Warning Statement and the 60-1103b Notice of Intent to Perform. If a tool is sending you monthly Kansas notice alerts, it is wrong, and it will train you to ignore the alerts that matter.

After you file

• Serve the lien statement immediately if you filed under K.S.A. 60-1103. Filing and serving are two separate obligations, and the second one is the one people forget. A prime contractor filing under 60-1102 has no service duty.
• Keep the case number from your filing receipt. You need it to file the release when you are paid, and the county clerks will ask for it.
• Your one-year clock starts on the day you filed, under K.S.A. 60-1105(a) — unless you attached a promissory note in lieu of an itemized statement, in which case it runs from the note's maturity instead. Calendar it the day you file.
• Watch for a bond. The contractor or owner can post a bond under K.S.A. 60-1110 at any time; once a district judge approves it and it is filed, liens already filed "are discharged" and your claim moves to the bond. On a public job the 60-1111 bond does the same thing.
• The owner can force your hand early. Under K.S.A. 60-1108, if no foreclosure action has been commenced the landowner may petition the district court to adjudicate the lien and make you a defendant. If you fail to establish your lien, the court may tax the whole or part of the costs against you.
• The owner may simply pay and take it out of the contractor. K.S.A. 60-1103(d) lets the owner discharge a lien the contractor fails to discharge and credit that payment against what the owner owes the contractor. It also caps the owner's total exposure at the contract amount with the original contractor, except for payments the owner made before your three-month window expired (where no warning statement was required) or after the owner received your warning statement (where one was).
• If you are a subcontractor and you sue, K.S.A. 60-1106 requires the original contractor to be made a defendant, and that contractor "shall at his or her own expense defend against the claim of every subcontractor." If the contractor fails to defend, the owner may do it at the contractor's expense and may retain that amount from the contractor until everything is resolved.
• If somebody else forecloses first, you have to show up and defend your lien. The revisor's annotation to 60-1105 records "A mechanic's lienholder must act to defend its lien in foreclosure action to toll subsection (a)'s one-year time limit" (Columbia Savings Ass'n v. McPheeters, 21 Kan. App. 2d 919 (1996)).
• You cannot raise the number later. K.S.A. 60-1105(b) permits amendment by leave of the judge "in furtherance of justice, except to increase the amount claimed."
• If the sale does not cover everyone, K.S.A. 60-1109 has the court pay claimants in proportion to the amount due each. Your priority relates back under K.S.A. 60-1101 to the commencement of your furnishing at the site, and where two or more contracts cover the same improvement all claimants share the date of the earliest unsatisfied lien.
• When you are paid, file the release. If you filed a Notice of Intent to Perform, K.S.A. 60-1103b(d) requires a release and waiver on payment in full, the owner can demand it under (e), and filing it extinguishes your lien right on that property — read it before you sign. For a filed lien, the fee you already paid under K.S.A. 28-170(a)(1) covers "filing, entering and releasing."
• Do not expect the clerk to help you get it right. The Kansas district court self-help packets say it plainly: employees in the office of the clerk of the district court cannot give legal advice by order of the Kansas Supreme Court, and cannot tell you how to complete forms, how to proceed, or what you need to file.