How to file a mechanics lien in Maryland

Step by step

14 steps for a subcontractor in Maryland.

1. 1

   Step 1: Find out if the owner is a government body before you count any lien deadline

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

   Maryland's mechanics' lien is enforced by a court-ordered sale of the building and the land (Section 9-108). That is not the route on a government-owned job. Instead, a public body that awards a construction contract over the small-procurement amount must require payment security — normally a payment bond — of at least 50 percent of the total amount payable under the contract, and your remedy on a public job is a claim against that security. A non-State public body may require it on contracts over $100,000.

   Where it goes

   The public body that awarded the contract (the State, a county, a municipal corporation or other political subdivision, a public instrumentality, or any governmental unit authorized to award a contract — Section 17-101(d)).

   How

   Ask the public body's procurement office, or the prime contractor, for a copy of the payment bond and the name of the surety. Get the prime contractor's legal name and business address at the same time — you will need it for the notice.

   Proof to keep

   A copy of the payment bond and the awarding contract, and a dated record of who gave it to you.

   If you miss it: You spend your 90-day bond-notice window tracking a 180-day lien deadline that does not apply, and the bond claim is gone before you ever look at it.

   Md. Code Ann., State Fin. & Proc. Section 17-103; definitions at Section 17-101(opens the statute in a new tab)
2. 2

   Step 2: On a renovation, check the work is worth at least 15 percent of the building

   Before you sign, and before you spend money on a petition.

   New construction has no threshold. But a building that is repaired, rebuilt or improved is only subject to a lien if the work reaches 15 percent of the building's value. Below that line there is no lien right at all, no matter how good your paperwork is.

   Where it goes

   Nowhere — this is a check you make yourself.

   How

   No filing. Compare the total cost of all the repairs and improvements on the job against the building's value.

   Proof to keep

   Your contract and change orders showing the total value of the work, and whatever you relied on for the building's value.

   If you miss it: There is no lien to establish. A perfect 120-day notice and a timely petition cannot rescue a claim under the threshold, and you will have paid the court filing fee for nothing.

   Md. Code Ann., Real Prop. Section 9-102(a)(opens the statute in a new tab)
3. 3

   Step 3: Find out whether a tenant hired you, not the owner

   Before you start work.

   If a tenant for life or years — or someone the tenant hired — ordered the work, any lien you establish reaches only the tenant's interest in the property, and only once the work reaches 25 percent of the building's value. You would be liening a lease, not the building.

   Where it goes

   Nowhere — this is a check you make yourself.

   How

   No filing. Ask who holds title and get a copy of the lease or a title search.

   Proof to keep

   Written confirmation of who holds title and who signed the contract for the work.

   If you miss it: You spend the case chasing a leasehold interest that may be worth nothing, and the fee owner is untouched.

   Md. Code Ann., Real Prop. Section 9-103(c)(2)(opens the statute in a new tab)
4. 4

   Step 4: Ignore any lien waiver or pay-if-paid clause in your subcontract

   Before you sign the subcontract, and any time someone points at that clause to tell you that you have no rights.

   A subcontract signed before the work is done may not waive, or require you to waive, the right to claim a mechanics' lien or the right to sue on the contractor's bond. A clause conditioning your payment on the contractor being paid by the owner cannot wipe out those rights either. Any such provision is void as against the public policy of Maryland.

   Where it goes

   Nowhere — this is a check you make yourself.

   How

   No filing. Read the clause, and keep your dates regardless of what it says.

   Proof to keep

   Your signed subcontract, with the waiver or pay-if-paid clause.

   If you miss it: Nothing happens to the clause — it is void by statute. The damage is if you believe it and skip the 120-day notice. Section 9-113 makes the clause void; it does not give you the days back.

   Md. Code Ann., Real Prop. Section 9-113(a), (b), (c)(opens the statute in a new tab)
5. 5

   Step 5: Check whether the owner already filed boundaries with the circuit court clerk

   Optional

   Before construction starts, or as early as you can.

   The owner may define, in writing, the boundaries of the land appurtenant to the building before construction begins and file that definition with the clerk of the circuit court. Once filed, the designation is binding on all persons — it fixes how much land your lien can ever reach. This is a step the owner takes on their own; nobody tells you about it.

   Where it goes

   Clerk of the Circuit Court for the county (or Baltimore City) where the land is.

   How

   Ask for a court records search, or a title search that includes circuit court filings, for the property.

   Proof to keep

   The search result, and a copy of any boundary designation on file.

   If you miss it: You may end up with a lien on a far smaller piece of ground than you assumed, which changes what the property is worth as security.

   Md. Code Ann., Real Prop. Section 9-103(b)(opens the statute in a new tab)
6. 6

   Step 6: Read every lien release before you sign it for a progress payment

   Every time you are handed a release to sign — usually with a progress payment, and again at closing.

   At settlement or payment in full between a contractor and an owner, the contractor must give the owner a signed release of lien from each material supplier and subcontractor. The owner is not subject to a lien and is not otherwise liable for any work or materials covered by that release. A broad release you sign to unlock one progress payment can cover work you have not been paid for.

   Where it goes

   The release goes to the party who asked for it — usually the contractor, who then hands it to the owner.

   How

   No filing. Check what period and what amount the release actually covers before signing.

   Proof to keep

   A dated copy of every release you sign, showing the through-date and the amount it covers.

   If you miss it: Work covered by the release is gone. The owner is not liable for it and no lien reaches it, even if you were never paid for it.

   Md. Code Ann., Real Prop. Section 9-114(a), (b)(opens the statute in a new tab)
7. 7

   Step 7: Serve the Notice of Intention to Claim a Lien within 120 days

   Within 120 days after YOUR OWN last day of work or last delivery of materials. Not 120 days after the job finishes. If you wrapped up in month two of an eighteen-month job, your clock started in month two.

   A written notice telling the owner you intend to claim a lien, in substantially the form set out in Section 9-104(b). If you did not contract directly with the owner, you are a 'subcontractor' under Section 9-101(g) and you get no lien at all without this notice — that includes material suppliers billing the GC and equipment lessors billing a sub. Only someone with a contract directly with the owner (a 'contractor' under Section 9-101(d)) is exempt. If you signed with a developer, a construction manager or an affiliate rather than the entity that actually holds title, treat yourself as a subcontractor and send the notice.

   Where it goes

   The owner or the owner's agent. If there is more than one owner, notice to any one of them satisfies the section. If your claim is against an entire condominium building, practitioner guidance (Practical Law / Carlton Fields checklist, cited in common mistakes) says serve a notice on every unit owner — notice to the association alone is not treated as enough.

   How

   Registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, OR personal delivery to the owner by you or your agent. If notice cannot be given because the owner is absent or for other causes, you or your agent may place the notice on the door or other front part of the building, in the presence of a competent witness, still within the 120 days.

   Proof to keep

   The signed return receipt and the certified mail receipt, plus a copy of the notice exactly as sent. If you delivered it by hand, a dated, signed record of delivery. If you posted it, the witness's name and contact details and a dated photograph of the notice on the door. You will have to plead these service facts in the petition under Section 9-105(a)(1)(v).

   What the document must contain

   • Your name, and the subcontractor's name if the person signing is not the subcontractor
   • A description of the work you did or the materials you furnished
   • When the work was done or the materials were furnished
   • The name of the person for whom the work was done or to whom the materials were furnished (who hired you)
   • The total amount earned to date under your subcontract
   • The amount due and unpaid
   • A general description or designation of the building
   • Signature and a declaration under penalty of perjury

   If you miss it: You get no mechanics' lien. Nothing later in this list fixes it — the 180-day petition cannot be filed by a subcontractor who did not give this notice.

   Md. Code Ann., Real Prop. Section 9-104(a)(1), (b), (c), (d), (e); definitions at Section 9-101(d), (g)(opens the statute in a new tab)
8. 8

   Step 8: On an owner-occupied single family home under construction, send the notice immediately

   As soon as you have done any work — do not wait for day 120. The outside limit is still 120 days after your own last work for that dwelling, but the real deadline is whenever the owner finishes paying the general contractor.

   A single family dwelling being erected on the owner's land for the owner's own residence has its own rule. TWO things must both be true: you gave the notice within 120 days, AND the owner had not made full payment to the contractor before receiving it. If the owner already paid the GC in full, you have no lien at all — not a reduced one, none. And if a lien does survive, it cannot exceed the amount the owner still owes under the contract at the time the notice is given.

   Where it goes

   The owner or the owner's agent.

   How

   Same service as the ordinary notice: registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, or personal delivery; posting on the building in front of a competent witness if the owner cannot be reached.

   Proof to keep

   The return receipt and its date. On these jobs the DATE the owner received it is the fact that decides the case, so keep the delivery date, not just proof of mailing.

   What the document must contain

   • Same contents as the Section 9-104(b) form — see the 120-day notice step

   If you miss it: If the owner paid the general contractor in full first, your lien is gone entirely, even though you are still inside 120 days. If the owner has paid most of it, your lien is capped at the small balance left when your notice landed.

   Md. Code Ann., Real Prop. Section 9-104(a)(2), (f)(3)(opens the statute in a new tab)
9. 9

   Step 9: On a public job, send the 90-day payment bond notice to the prime contractor

   Within 90 days after the day you last supplied labor or materials. This is 30 days shorter than the private-job notice.

   This is a bond claim, not a lien. A supplier who has a direct contractual relationship with a subcontractor or sub-subcontractor of the contractor who provided the payment security, but no contractual relationship with the contractor itself, must give this written notice to sue on the security. Note the statute's tiers: it reaches down to suppliers of subs and sub-subs, not to every claimant however remote. You must also be unpaid in full 90 days after you last supplied.

   Where it goes

   The prime contractor that furnished the payment security — not the public body, and not the sub who hired you.

   How

   Certified mail to the contractor at the contractor's residence, or a place where the contractor has an office or does business.

   Proof to keep

   The certified mail receipt and return receipt, the address used, and a copy of the notice as sent.

   What the document must contain

   • The amount claimed, stated with substantial accuracy
   • The name of the person to whom you supplied the labor or material

   If you miss it: You lose your claim against the payment bond. There is no mechanics' lien to fall back on, because the remedy on a public job is the bond.

   Md. Code Ann., State Fin. & Proc. Section 17-108(a), (b)(opens the statute in a new tab)
10. 10

    Step 10: File the Petition to Establish a Mechanics' Lien within 180 days

    Within 180 days after your work was finished or your materials furnished. Again, your own last day.

    This is where Maryland differs from almost every other state. You do not record anything. You file a court case: a petition, a sworn affidavit, and the contract paperwork behind your claim. The clerk dockets it as an action in equity, and from then on all process issues out of, and all pleadings are filed in, that one action. There is no lien on the property until a judge orders one.

    Where it goes

    Clerk of the Circuit Court for the county — or Baltimore City — where the land or any part of the land is located. There is a circuit court and clerk's office in each of Maryland's 23 counties plus Baltimore City; the Judiciary's directory lists them all.

    How

    File the petition with the circuit court clerk and pay the new civil case fee. The Maryland Judiciary's Summary of Charges, Costs, and Fees of the Clerks of the Circuit Court, effective October 1, 2025, lists CIVIL / NEW CASE at $165 (Schedule II A 1(A); Cts. & Jud. Proc. Section 7-202(e)). That $165 is a floor, not your total: a per-firm appearance fee is charged on top and the schedule says to contact the county or see Cts. & Jud. Proc. Section 7-204, and sheriff's service fees are separate.

    Proof to keep

    The stamped, filed copy of the petition, the case number, and above all the DATE IT WAS FIRST FILED. That date starts the one-year enforcement clock under Section 9-109.

    What the document must contain

    • Your name and address (Section 9-105(a)(1)(i))
    • The owner's name and address (Section 9-105(a)(1)(ii))
    • The nature or kind of work done, or the kind and amount of materials furnished; when the work was done or materials furnished; the name of the person for whom the work was done or to whom the materials were furnished; and the amount claimed to be due, less any credit you recognize (Section 9-105(a)(1)(iii))
    • A description of the land, INCLUDING a statement whether part of the land is located in another county, and a description adequate to identify the building (Section 9-105(a)(1)(iv))
    • If you are a subcontractor, facts showing the Section 9-104 notice was properly mailed or served on the owner, or, if authorized, posted on the building (Section 9-105(a)(1)(v))
    • If you are claiming against two or more buildings on separate lots or parcels owned by the same person, the amount you claim is due on each building — without that allocation your lien is postponed to other mechanics' liens (Section 9-105(a)(1))
    • An affidavit by you, or someone on your behalf, setting out the facts on which you claim you are entitled to the lien in the amount specified (Section 9-105(a)(2))
    • Original or sworn, certified or photostatic copies of the material papers that form the basis of the claim — contract, change orders, invoices, payment applications, the notice of intention — unless the affidavit explains why they are missing (Section 9-105(a)(3))

    If you miss it: You cannot establish a lien for that work. Section 9-105(a) is the outside limit for every claimant type — a general contractor and a third-tier supplier have exactly the same 180 days.

    Md. Code Ann., Real Prop. Section 9-105(a), (b)(opens the statute in a new tab)
11. 11

    Step 11: Get the show cause order served on the owner

    As soon as the court issues it. The owner's 15 days runs from the date of service, so until it is served nothing moves.

    The court reviews your petition and papers, and may require you to supplement or explain what you filed. If it decides the lien should attach, it passes an order directing the owner to show cause within 15 days from the date of service why a lien should not attach. The owner can appear and present evidence, or file a counteraffidavit at or before that time. If the owner does not, the facts in your affidavit are deemed admitted.

    Where it goes

    The owner, and any other defendant you named — for example other parties with an interest in the property.

    How

    The show cause order is served on the owner together with copies of the petition and the other filed pleadings and exhibits, in the same way a civil complaint is served. Sheriff's service fees are charged separately from the filing fee.

    Proof to keep

    The return of service for every defendant, with the date of service on each. That date is what the 15 days is measured from.

    If you miss it: The 15 days never starts, no hearing happens, and your case sits still while the one-year enforcement clock from Section 9-109 keeps running.

    Md. Code Ann., Real Prop. Section 9-106(a)(1), (a)(2)(opens the statute in a new tab)
12. 12

    Step 12: If the land crosses a county line, file certified copies in the second county

    After the court enters its order. The lien attaches in the second county only as of the moment you file there — not when the order was signed.

    A Maryland lien is created by the court order in the county where you filed. It does not spread by itself to the part of the property sitting in the next county. You have to carry it there.

    Where it goes

    Clerk of the circuit court of the other county where part of the land lies.

    How

    File a certified copy of the docket entries, a certified copy of the court's order, and a certified copy of any required bond.

    Proof to keep

    The second county's date-stamped receipt for each document — that filing date is when the lien attaches there.

    What the document must contain

    • Certified copy of the docket entries
    • Certified copy of the court order
    • Certified copy of any required bond

    If you miss it: There is no lien on the part of the property in the other county. If most of the value sits on that side of the line, you have secured almost nothing.

    Md. Code Ann., Real Prop. Section 9-107(a), (b)(opens the statute in a new tab)
13. 13

    Step 13: Enforce within one year of the day you FIRST FILED the petition

    One year from the day the petition to establish was first filed. Not one year from the day the judge established the lien.

    This is the deadline Maryland claimants lose liens to most quietly. Establishment litigation — show cause hearing, interlocutory order, trial within six months — routinely runs past a year. If you wait to be established before you sue to enforce, the right to enforce can expire while the case is still open.

    Where it goes

    The same circuit court action, docketed as an action in equity under Section 9-105(b).

    How

    File in the same lien action: a petition to enforce, containing a request for an order to sell the property. Many claimants file the request to enforce together with the petition to establish so that the enforcement is already on file from day one.

    Proof to keep

    The filing date of the enforcement request, and the original petition's filing date it is measured against.

    If you miss it: The right to enforce the lien expires. The lien becomes unenforceable, whatever stage the case is at. You would still have your ordinary personal action for the debt under Section 9-111, but the security is gone.

    Md. Code Ann., Real Prop. Section 9-109(opens the statute in a new tab)
14. 14

    Step 14: On a public job, sue on the payment bond within one year after final acceptance

    Within 1 year after the public body finally accepts the work performed under the contract. That is a date the public body controls, and you usually will not be told it — you have to ask for it in writing.

    The bond-claim clock does not run from your last day on site. It runs from the public body's final acceptance of the whole contract, which can be long after you left. Get it in writing from the procurement office and diary it.

    Where it goes

    The appropriate court of the county where the contract was executed and performed, or where the contractor has its principal place of business.

    How

    File an action on the payment bond.

    Proof to keep

    Written confirmation from the public body of the date of final acceptance, and the bond and contract you obtained at the start of the job.

    If you miss it: Your bond claim is time-barred. On a public job there is no lien to fall back on.

    Md. Code Ann., State Fin. & Proc. Section 17-109(opens the statute in a new tab)

Who can claim a lien in Maryland

Where you file

Office

Clerk of the Circuit Court for the county (or Baltimore City) in which the land or any part of it is located

Recording fee

$165

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 Maryland

• Counting the 120 days and the 180 days from when the JOB finished. Both run from your own last day of work or last delivery. Section 9-105(a) says 'within 180 days after the work has been finished or the materials furnished' and Section 9-104(a)(1) says 'within 120 days after doing the work or furnishing the materials.' A sub who finished in month two of an eighteen-month job is out of time while the site is still full of trades. This one feels wrong to contractors, which is exactly why it gets ignored.
• Treating a public job like a private one. On a government-owned project the remedy is a claim against the payment security the public body required (State Fin. & Proc. Section 17-103), with a 90-day notice to the prime (Section 17-108(b)) and suit within 1 year after final acceptance (Section 17-109). A claimant watching the private 180-day lien deadline on a public job is finished at day 90 and never knows it.
• Thinking that filing the petition gives you a lien. It does not. Nothing attaches until the court enters an order (Section 9-106(b)). Maryland has no recordable mechanics' lien.
• Waiting to be established before suing to enforce. The one-year clock in Section 9-109 runs 'from the day on which the petition to establish the lien was first filed' — not from the order establishing it. Establishment litigation often outlasts a year.
• Assuming the property cannot be sold out from under you. Under Section 9-102(d) the building and land are free of the lien if legal title passes to a bona fide purchaser for value before the lien is established. Section 9-102(e) helps: the filing of the petition itself constitutes notice to a purchaser of the possibility of a lien being perfected — so your exposure runs up to the day you FILE, not up to the day the court establishes. But practitioner guidance (Practical Law / Carlton Fields, 'Mechanic's Lien Workflow Checklist (MD)', Resource ID w-017-8514) lists a further owner protection that cuts earlier still: Maryland extinguishes a claimant's right to assert a lien after the transfer of EQUITABLE title to a bona fide purchaser — i.e. when the property goes under contract of sale, before any closing. On pre-sold homes that can pre-date your work. Treat 120 and 180 as ceilings, not guarantees. We could not source this one to a statute section or a Maryland case.
• Doing a renovation worth less than 15 percent of the building's value and assuming you have lien rights anyway (Section 9-102(a)). You do not. Check the threshold before you spend the $165 filing fee.
• On an owner-occupied single family home under construction, scheduling the notice for 'sometime before day 120.' Section 9-104(a)(2) also requires that the owner has not made full payment to the contractor before receiving your notice. The owner can close that door at any time. Serve early.
• Claiming a conservative low number to look reasonable. Section 9-112 makes the law remedial and allows amendments freely — but 'the amount of the claim or lien filed may not be enlarged by amendment.' Whatever you file is your ceiling, permanently. This is the opposite of the usual advice.
• Signing a broad release to unlock a progress payment. Under Section 9-114 the owner is not subject to a lien and not otherwise liable for any work or materials covered by a release the contractor hands over. A release can extinguish your own claim in the same stroke that pays you part of it.
• Serving only the condominium association or the developer when the claim reaches a whole condominium building or the common elements. Practitioner guidance (Practical Law / Carlton Fields, w-017-8514, citing Md. Code Ann., Real Prop. Sections 9-101(g) and 9-104 and MD Rule 12-301(b)(7)) says to provide a notice of intention to EACH unit owner, and to join all unit owners as defendants in the petition. Miss a unit owner and you are barred at day 120 as to that unit.
• Taking a promissory note or extending credit and letting the clock run. Section 9-110 protects you: granting a credit or receiving a note or other security does not waive the lien unless it is received as payment or the right is expressly waived. But Section 9-110 says nothing about time — it does not extend the 120 days in Section 9-104 or the 180 days in Section 9-105. Contractors who accept a note as a good-faith fix routinely watch the window close while the note is outstanding.
• Not checking who ordered the work. If a tenant or someone the tenant hired ordered it, Section 9-103(c)(2) limits any lien to the tenant's interest, and only once the work reaches 25 percent of value. Contractors routinely believe they are liening a building when they are liening a lease.
• Not looking for an owner-filed boundary designation. Under Section 9-103(b) the owner may define the boundaries of the appurtenant land in writing before construction starts and file it with the circuit court clerk, and it is binding on all persons. Nobody will tell you it exists.
• Keeping no proof of service of the 120-day notice. Section 9-105(a)(1)(v) makes you plead facts showing the notice was properly mailed, served, or posted. A mailing you cannot prove is a notice you did not give.
• Assuming you can handle the petition the way you would handle a recording. Section 9-105(b) dockets it as an action in equity: pleadings, affidavits, exhibits, service, a show cause hearing, and possibly a six-month trial. LienShield does not prepare Maryland petitions. This is the stage where people go to a Maryland construction lawyer.

After you file

• The clerk dockets your case as an action in equity. From then on all process issues out of, and all pleadings are filed in, that one action (Section 9-105(b)).
• The court reviews the petition and the papers and may require you to supplement or explain anything in the record (Section 9-106(a)(1)). Be ready to produce more of the contract file quickly.
• If the court finds the lien should attach, it passes a show cause order. The owner has 15 days from the date of service to appear and present evidence, or to file a counteraffidavit. If the owner does not respond, the facts in your affidavit are deemed admitted (Section 9-106(a)(1)). If the owner disputes the facts in your affidavit, the owner must file an affidavit supporting the answer (Section 9-106(a)(2)). There is no '45-day hearing' in Maryland — that figure appears nowhere in Section 9-106.
• Three things can happen. (1) No genuine dispute of material fact and you are entitled to the lien: a final order establishing it (Section 9-106(b)(1)). (2) No genuine dispute and you are not entitled as a matter of law: a final order denying it (Section 9-106(b)(2)). (3) A real factual dispute survives but there is probable cause: an interlocutory order that establishes the lien provisionally, describes the property and building, states the amount found, sets the amount of a bond the owner can file to release the property, may require a bond from you for damages including reasonable attorney's fees, and assigns a trial date within six months (Section 9-106(b)(3)).
• The owner or another interested person can take the property out from under the lien by filing the bond the court set, and the court determines, approves and may modify bonds under the Maryland Rules (Section 9-106(b)(3)(iv), Section 9-106(c)). Your security then becomes the bond rather than the real estate, so check whether the amount actually covers your claim.
• Until a final order is entered, the action proceeds to trial on all matters at issue as an equity proceeding (Section 9-106(d)).
• Your one-year enforcement deadline is already running from the day you first filed the petition (Section 9-109) — not from any of these orders. Diary it off the filing date on day one.
• If part of the land is in another county, the lien does not reach it until you file certified copies of the docket entries, the court's order and any required bond with that county's clerk (Section 9-107).
• If the property is sold, liens and encumbrances are satisfied according to their priority; where the proceeds are not enough, the auditor makes one fund and each mechanics' lien takes a proportional share, priority disregarded (Section 9-108). Being first in line does not mean being paid in full.
• Nothing in the mechanics' lien subtitle affects your right to bring an ordinary personal action against the owner of the building or anyone else liable for the debt (Section 9-111). A failed lien is not a failed claim for the money.