How to file a mechanics lien in U.S. Virgin Islands

Step by step

15 steps for a subcontractor in U.S. Virgin Islands.

1. 1

   Step 1: Check your license before you sign anything

   Before you sign the contract, and keep it current through your last day on the job.

   An unlicensed contractor has no construction lien in the Virgin Islands at all. 28 V.I.C. § 254(d) says a construction lien 'does not exist under this subchapter in favor of any contractor, subcontractor, or sub-subcontractor who is not licensed as required by title 27 chapters 7, 8, or 10 of the Virgin Islands Code or other applicable law of the Virgin Islands'. This is not a penalty you pay later - the lien simply never comes into being, no matter how perfectly you file it. The one carve-out helps the surety, not you: 'a surety that has provided a bond on behalf of the unlicensed contractor, subcontractor, or sub-subcontractor is not affected by this exclusion.'

   Where it goes

   Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs (dlca.vi.gov); V.I. Board of Contractors, Trades and Crafts.

   How

   Confirm your general construction contractor or trade licence with the Department of Licensing and Consumer Affairs (DLCA) and make sure it covers the trade you are actually performing. 27 V.I.C. § 332: 'Any person wishing to become a general construction contractor in the Virgin Islands or to engage in any construction trade as a business shall obtain a license to do so in accordance with the provisions of this chapter.'

   Proof to keep

   A dated copy or screenshot of your licence record showing the class, the licensee name and the expiry date, saved at contract signing and again at your last day of work.

   What the document must contain

   • A licence in your legal entity's name - not a principal's personal licence, if the contract is in the company name
   • A licence class that covers the work you are doing
   • Licence valid and unexpired across your whole period of performance

   If you miss it: No lien. Not a late lien, not a defective lien - no lien exists. You are left with a breach of contract suit, and you may also be exposed on the licensing side for working unlicensed.

   28 V.I.C. § 254(d); 27 V.I.C. § 332(opens the statute in a new tab)
2. 2

   Step 2: Put it in writing with the lien-warning paragraph if the owner lives there

   Before work begins. You cannot add this warning after the fact.

   If the property is owned by a 'protected person' - broadly, an individual who occupies or intends to occupy the home - then 28 V.I.C. § 254(c) says a construction lien 'does not exist under this subchapter' unless the real estate improvement contract is in writing, is signed by the contracting owner, and carries this exact notice conspicuously on its FIRST page: 'Notice. By signing this contract, you are subjecting your real estate to the provisions of the Virgin Islands construction lien law under title 28, chapter 12 of the Virgin Islands Code, and to the risk of a forced sale to enforce payment for services or materials under this contract.' § 251(f) defines a protected person to include 'an individual who contracts to give a security interest in, or to buy or have improved, residential real estate, all or a part of which the individual occupies or intends to occupy as a residence'. Read plainly, this is a condition on the lien attaching to that PROPERTY, and the contract it points at is the one the OWNER signed. So if you are a subcontractor on somebody's house, your lien may depend on paperwork you never saw. Ask for a copy of the prime contract before you start.

   Where it goes

   Between you and the owner. Subcontractors: request the owner-prime contract from your general contractor in writing.

   How

   Written contract, signed by the owner, with the notice paragraph set off conspicuously (bold, boxed, or larger type) on page one - not buried in the terms on page four.

   Proof to keep

   The fully signed original contract showing the first-page notice; and, if you are a sub, your written request for the prime contract plus whatever you received or the refusal.

   What the document must contain

   • The contract is in writing
   • It is signed by the contracting owner
   • The statutory notice appears conspicuously on the first page, in the statute's words

   If you miss it: On an owner-occupied home, no construction lien exists on that property. You would be recording a lien you cannot enforce, which also exposes you to the § 275 bad-faith and slander-of-title remedies.

   28 V.I.C. § 254(c); 28 V.I.C. § 251(f)(opens the statute in a new tab)
3. 3

   Step 3: Make sure the job can be liened at all

   Before you start, and again before you spend money preparing a lien.

   Four kinds of work carry no lien rights in the Virgin Islands, and finding out on day 89 is fatal. (1) Government: § 254(a) exempts 'All real estate owned by the Government of the Virgin Islands, a governmental agency, or an instrumentality of the Government of the Virgin Islands, and all real estate declared for a public use'. (2) Emergency home repair: § 254(b) says no lien exists for improving a residential dwelling 'under an emergency home repair program or other home-repair or construction program administered by the Government of the Virgin Islands or any instrumentality' - the Recorder of Deeds publishes the same bar for the V.I. Housing Finance Authority's Sheltering Temporary Essential Power (STEP) program. (3) Federal property: no territorial lien; a Miller Act payment bond claim is the remedy. (4) Below the third tier: § 253 gives liens only to a prime contractor, subcontractor or sub-subcontractor, so if you supplied a sub-subcontractor you have no lien.

   Where it goes

   Office of the Lieutenant Governor, Recorder of Deeds - St. Croix or St. Thomas/St. John district office.

   How

   Ask in writing who owns the property and what programme is funding the work, and check the deed at the Recorder of Deeds for the district.

   Proof to keep

   The owner's written answer, the funding-programme name, and your printed deed or title search.

   What the document must contain

   • Identity of the record owner
   • Whether any government body, agency or instrumentality owns or has declared the parcel for public use
   • Whether the work is funded under a government home-repair or emergency-repair programme
   • Your tier: who did you actually sign with

   If you miss it: You will spend the 90 days preparing a lien that can never attach, and you will have missed the remedy that was actually available - a bond claim, a Miller Act claim, or a straight breach of contract suit. Recording a lien on barred property also invites a § 275 bad-faith claim and a slander-of-title counterclaim.

   28 V.I.C. § 254(a), (b); 28 V.I.C. § 253; 40 U.S.C. §§ 3131-3134 (federal work)(opens the statute in a new tab)
4. 4

   Step 4: Pull the Notice of Commencement and check for a payment bond

   At the start of the job, and again the moment payment goes late.

   Two recorded documents change everything about your claim, and both are public. A NOTICE OF COMMENCEMENT (§ 262) is optional for the owner, but if one is on record it names 'the person to whom notifications concerning construction liens may be given' - that is the address your preliminary notice must go to. It also means every lien attaches as of the NOC date and all those liens 'share the funds available in the same ratio' (§ 258(a), (d)), so other claimants can dilute you. A NOTICE OF PAYMENT BOND (§ 267) is the warning sign: under § 259(a), if the owner or prime got a qualifying payment bond BEFORE the improvement started, 'No lien shall attach to the real estate in behalf of any claimant other than the prime contractor'. You would then be a bond claimant with a much shorter clock.

   Where it goes

   Recorder of Deeds - St. Croix: 1131 King Street, Suite 101, Christiansted, VI 00820, 340-773-6449. St. Thomas/St. John: 5049 Kongens Gade, St. Thomas, VI 00802, 340-774-2991.

   How

   Search the tract index by owner name and by parcel at the Recorder for the district. E-recording vendors (CSC eRecording, Simplifile) handle submissions, but for a search call or visit the district office.

   Proof to keep

   Stamped or certified copies of the notice of commencement and any notice of payment bond, with the date you pulled them.

   What the document must contain

   • Whether a notice of commencement is recorded, its date, and its document reference
   • The name and address in it for lien notifications
   • Whether a notice of payment bond is recorded, the surety's name, the claims address, and the bond amount
   • Whether a notice of termination of the NOC has been filed

   If you miss it: You send your preliminary notice to the wrong address, or you never learn there is a bond and you blow the 60-day bond notice while carefully watching a lien deadline that could never have helped you.

   28 V.I.C. §§ 262(b)(3), 267, 258(a), (d), 259(a)(opens the statute in a new tab)
5. 5

   Step 5: Send your Notification of Right to Claim a Lien the day you sign

   The day you sign your subcontract or purchase order. No deadline, but every day of delay can cost you money, right down to a $0 lien.

   This is the single most valuable thing you will do, and almost nobody does it early enough. There is NO statutory deadline - § 256(e) says the notification 'may be given at any time after a subcontractor or subcontractor has entered into the contract pursuant to which his lien may arise.' But a late notice is a cheap notice. Until the owner receives it, § 264(d) lets the owner 'continue making payments under his contract which reduce his liability to the claimant', and § 256(b) caps your lien at the prime-contract balance still unpaid when the owner RECEIVED your notice. The Territorial Court put it plainly in Nor-Dec, Inc. v. Rickbeil: 'receipt of notification under 28 V.I.C. § 256(e) freezes the contract price.' Every week you wait, the pot you can reach shrinks. Skip this step only if you contracted directly with the owner - you are then a prime contractor and § 256(e) 'ha[s] no application insofar as the owner-prime contractor relationship is concerned' (Nor-Dec). If you are a sub-subcontractor, serve BOTH the owner and the prime contractor: § 256(d)(2) measures your cap against what was unpaid when the PRIME received notice too.

   Where it goes

   To the person and address named in the recorded notice of commencement (§ 262(b)(3)). If no notice of commencement is recorded, the statute names no address - serve the owner at the property and at their record address, and serve the prime contractor too. § 257 helps you here: 'A notice given to the owner who made the contract for the improvement is also effective against any other owner against whom the person giving notice can acquire a lien'.

   How

   In writing, and either delivered personally or sent by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested. § 256(e): 'the notice must be in writing and must be either delivered personally to or sent by registered or certified mail to the last known address of the person specified in the notice of commencement'.

   Proof to keep

   The signed registered or certified mail receipt and the return card showing the DATE OF RECEIPT - not the date you mailed it. The cap is measured from when the owner received it. If you deliver personally, get a dated signed acknowledgement or use a process server.

   What the document must contain

   • The name of the claimant
   • The name of the person with whom you contracted
   • A general description of the services and materials provided or to be provided
   • The amount unpaid, whether or not due (a good faith estimate if the contract fixes no amount)
   • A statement that any payments to the prime contractor after receipt of the notification will not reduce the amount of your lien
   • If you are a sub-subcontractor, the added statement that payments to the subcontractor after BOTH the owner and the prime have received the notification will not reduce your lien

   If you miss it: You can still record a perfectly timely lien and collect nothing. The owner keeps paying the general contractor lawfully, the balance drops, and your lien is capped at whatever was left when your notice arrived. That number can be zero.

   28 V.I.C. § 256(b), (d), (e); § 264(d); § 257; Nor-Dec, Inc. v. Rickbeil, 23 V.I. 39, 41-43 (Terr. Ct. 1987)(opens the statute in a new tab)
6. 6

   Step 6: If a payment bond is on file, notify the surety within 60 days of finishing

   Within 60 days after you complete your own performance. Not 60 days from project completion - from YOURS.

   On a bonded job you are a bond claimant, and the bond has its own clock that is SHORTER than the lien clock. § 259(f): 'No claimant may recover under the surety bonds provided in this section unless he (1) within 60 days after completion of his performance, gives the surety and the contractor notice of the amount due'. Sixty days runs out a full month before your 90-day lien deadline. You get a direct right of action against the surety (§ 259(g)), and you may still record a notice of lien - but on a pre-commencement bond it is 'enforceable only against the real estate for an amount which is not covered by the bond' (§ 259(c)).

   Where it goes

   The surety at the claims address in the recorded notice of payment bond (§ 267(b)(3)), and your contractor. You can also demand a copy of the bond itself: § 259(e) makes the person who got the bond liable for damages if they refuse without justifiable cause.

   How

   Written notice of the amount due, to the surety AND to the contractor. Use registered or certified mail with return receipt even though the statute does not prescribe a method - you will need to prove it.

   Proof to keep

   Certified mail receipts and return cards for both the surety and the contractor, plus your dated records fixing your own completion date.

   What the document must contain

   • Identification of the project and the bond
   • The amount due to you
   • That you are claiming under the payment bond

   If you miss it: No recovery under the bond - and if the bond was procured before the improvement started, no lien attached for you either, so you may have nothing left but a contract claim against whoever hired you.

   28 V.I.C. § 259(c), (e), (f), (g); § 267(opens the statute in a new tab)
7. 7

   Step 7: Record your Notice of Lien within 90 days of YOUR last day

   Not later than 90 days after your own final furnishing of materials or services. Aim for day 45 so a rejection at the counter does not cost you the lien.

   This is the hard deadline. § 264(a): 'A claimant's lien does not attach and shall not be enforced unless he has, not later than 90 days after his final furnishing of materials or services, recorded a notice of lien.' The clock runs from YOUR final furnishing, not from when the building is finished. If you wrapped up in month three of a twelve-month job, you are out of time long before anyone else. There is no extra time for general contractors. Do not record too early either: § 264(b) says a notice of lien recorded before you are entitled to final payment is effective ONLY if 'a portion of the price due him is past due' or 'a notice of commencement is effective as to the real estate at the time of recording'. And do not pad the number - § 275(b) lets a court void the lien and award punitive damages for a bad-faith overstatement.

   Where it goes

   § 261(a): 'in the office of the recorder in the district in which the real estate improvement is to be undertaken.' There are exactly two districts - St. Croix, and St. Thomas/St. John. Recording in the wrong district is not recording.

   How

   Record the signed Construction Lien with the Recorder of Deeds for the district, in person or through an e-recording vendor (CSC eRecording or Simplifile - construction liens are miscellaneous documents, which the Recorder does allow to be e-recorded). Fees are paid in advance: § 133(c) sets $25.00 for a document of this kind, § 133(d) adds $1.00 per sheet of 400 words or less, and § 133(e) adds $2.50 plus the per-sheet fee for each attached document. Budget roughly $25-$60. Note the Recorder's published requirement that 'The signed copy of the original Construction Contract between the current property owner and the Contractor must be attached to the Construction Lien Form' - if you are a remote sub you may not hold that document, so call the district office about it early, not on day 89.

   Proof to keep

   The recorded copy stamped with the book/page or document reference and the recording DATE - your 90-day enforcement clock runs from that date. Also keep your daily reports, delivery tickets and final invoice proving your last furnishing date.

   What the document must contain

   • Your name and address
   • The name and address of the person YOU contracted with (for a sub-subcontractor that is the subcontractor, not the general contractor)
   • The services performed or to be performed, or materials furnished, and the contract price
   • The amount unpaid, whether or not due (good faith estimate if no fixed amount)
   • The dates of your first and last services or materials (or an estimate if either has not happened)
   • A description of the real estate sufficient for identification - a full legal description is not required
   • The name of the person against whose interest in the real estate you claim
   • Either a reference to the notice of commencement with its recording document location, or a statement of the date the contract price or part of it became due
   • If several lots are improved under one notice of lien and the contract apportions materials, how the materials are apportioned
   • The reference location for any payment bond, as § 259(c) requires
   • Your signature - § 264(c) requires only that it 'be signed by the claimant'; the chapter imposes no oath or notarization

   If you miss it: The lien never attaches and cannot be enforced. There is no cure, no extension and no late filing. You are left with a breach of contract claim against whoever hired you.

   28 V.I.C. § 264(a), (b), (c); § 261(a), (d); § 133(c), (d), (e), (i)(opens the statute in a new tab)
8. 8

   Step 8: Fix any mistake in the lien inside the same 90 days

   Optional

   Within 90 days after you recorded the notice of lien.

   You get one window to correct a recorded lien, and it is the same 90 days. § 265(a): 'Any notice of lien may be amended or credit extended as provided in section 271 of this title by an additional recording at any time during the 90-day period following recording of the notice of lien.' Be careful with increases - 'An amendment which increases the amount of the claimed lien, or describes different or additional real estate or owners, is effective only from the time of recording of the amendment', so the extra money loses your original priority date. One piece of good news: § 261(c) says a recorded document 'substantially complying' with the chapter 'is effective even though it contains minor errors which are not seriously misleading'.

   Where it goes

   The same district Recorder of Deeds office where the lien was recorded.

   How

   Record an amendment with the Recorder in the same office.

   Proof to keep

   The recorded amendment with its own document reference.

   What the document must contain

   • The recording office document location reference and date of recording of the notice of lien being amended
   • A statement of the respects in which the original notice of lien is amended
   • If several lots are covered by one notice of lien, which lot, parcel or tract the amendment affects

   If you miss it: After 90 days the lien can no longer be amended. A serious defect you spot on day 100 cannot be fixed, and re-recording will not help if your § 264(a) window has also closed.

   28 V.I.C. § 265(a), (d); § 261(c)(opens the statute in a new tab)
9. 9

   Step 9: Watch for the other side taking your lien off the property

   Any time after your lien is recorded. Check the record every few weeks and open your registered mail.

   The Virgin Islands has no notice of contest and no demand-to-commence-action procedure - nobody can shorten your 90 days by serving you a letter. But there are three moves the other side can make, and the first one will surprise you. RELEASE BOND (§ 260): the owner, the owner of any interest, or 'any original contractor, subcontractor, or sub-subcontractor' who disputes your lien can record a surety bond for '1 1/2 times the amount of the claim', and 'Upon the recording of such bond the real property described in such bond is released from the lien'. Your claim survives - § 260(b) says you 'may proceed to establish his claim under this chapter and, upon determination that he is entitled to a lien, the court shall order the surety company to pay the sums found to be due' - but the property is gone as security. They must mail you a copy by registered or certified mail. TERMINATING THE NOTICE OF COMMENCEMENT (§ 262(e), (f)): the owner can file a notice of termination effective no earlier than 30 days out, which changes your attachment date and your pro-rata share. § 263 makes an owner personally liable for terminating improperly, i.e. other than 'after stoppage or completion of the work'. OWNER WITHHOLDING (§ 274): once a lien is recorded, 'the owner may withhold from the original contractor the amount of money for which the claim of lien is recorded', and the contractor 'shall defend any action brought thereon at his own expense' - so if you are the general contractor, a sub's lien is money out of your pocket immediately.

   Where it goes

   The same district Recorder of Deeds office. § 261(b)(2) requires the recorder to note related documents at your lien's index entry, so ask them to show you that entry.

   How

   Re-search the tract index under the parcel and the owner for a § 268 notice of surety bond, a § 262(e) notice of termination, or anything else noted against your lien entry.

   Proof to keep

   Copies of any release bond or notice of termination, the envelope and registered-mail receipt you were sent, and the date you learned of it.

   What the document must contain

   • Whether a § 268 notice of surety bond for release of lien has been recorded against your lien
   • The surety's name, the claims address, the process agent and the bond amount
   • Whether a notice of termination of the notice of commencement has been filed and its effective date

   If you miss it: You keep watching a property that is no longer security for your claim, or you miss that the pool of funds and your priority date have moved. Worse, you may assume the release bond also released you from the § 271 deadlines - nothing in § 260 says so. Treat the 90-day suit deadline as still running and file inside it.

   28 V.I.C. §§ 260, 268, 262(e), (f), 263, 274(opens the statute in a new tab)
10. 10

    Step 10: Hire a Virgin Islands attorney now - your company cannot sue for itself

    Start looking the day you record the lien. You need counsel engaged and instructed with weeks to spare before day 90.

    If your business is an LLC or a corporation, a foreclosure complaint signed or filed by an owner, officer or project manager is not a defective filing - it is nothing at all. In Murphy Rigging & Erecting, Inc. v. V.I. Water & Power Auth., 76 V.I. 480 (V.I. 2022), the Supreme Court of the Virgin Islands held that 'the signing of a pleading on behalf of another person by an individual who is not a member in good standing of the Virgin Islands Bar is a textbook example of conduct that constitutes the unauthorized practice of law in the Virgin Islands', and declared the whole proceeding a nullity. The Court expressly rejected the minority rule that lets a court allow a party 'to cure the pleading rather than treat it as a nullity'. In Bart Enterprises LLC v. Sapphire Bay Condominiums West, 2023 VI 13 - a construction lien case - an LLC's complaint signed by its project manager stayed a nullity even though a licensed attorney appeared four months later, because counsel never re-filed or moved to amend the complaint. The case was dismissed.

    Where it goes

    Superior Court of the Virgin Islands - the division covering the property (St. Croix, or St. Thomas/St. John).

    How

    Retain an attorney admitted and in good standing with the Virgin Islands Bar. If you are a sole proprietor suing in your own personal name you may appear for yourself, but an entity may not.

    Proof to keep

    Your signed engagement letter and the filed complaint bearing your attorney's signature and bar number.

    What the document must contain

    • The attorney is a member in good standing of the Virgin Islands Bar Association
    • The attorney signs and files the complaint itself - not just a later notice of appearance

    If you miss it: The complaint is a legal nullity, later counsel cannot retroactively fix it, and your 90 days expire with nothing valid on file. The lien is then discharged of record under § 270(a)(2) and you have lost it.

    4 V.I.C. § 443(a); Murphy Rigging & Erecting, Inc. v. V.I. Water & Power Auth., 76 V.I. 480, 486-89 (V.I. 2022); Bart Enterprises LLC v. Sapphire Bay Condominiums West, 2023 VI 13(opens the statute in a new tab)
11. 11

    Step 11: File the foreclosure lawsuit within 90 days of recording

    Within 90 days after the date your notice of lien was recorded, and in every case within one year of completion of the improvement.

    § 271(a): 'No notice of lien provided for in this chapter binds any property for a period of time longer than 90 days after the recording of the notice of lien unless within that time an action to foreclose the lien is commenced in a proper court'. Ninety days from RECORDING - not from completion, not a year. The same 90 days applies to a general contractor as to a sub. There is one narrow extension: 'if credit is given and notice of the fact and terms of such credit is recorded in the office of the recorder subsequent to the recording of such notice of lien and prior to the expiration of such 90-day period, then such lien continues in force until 90 days after the expiration of such credit.' The credit notice must itself be recorded inside the 90 days. And there is a ceiling nothing gets past: 'In no case shall the lien continue in force longer than one year from the time of completion of the improvement.' Because your filing deadline runs from YOUR last day but the one-year ceiling runs from COMPLETION OF THE IMPROVEMENT, a lien that is perfectly timely under § 264(a) can already be past the § 271(a) ceiling. Work out your one-year-from-completion date as well as your 90-day date and diary the earlier one.

    Where it goes

    Superior Court of the Virgin Islands, division covering the property.

    How

    Your V.I. attorney files a complaint to foreclose the construction lien. You can join a personal money claim - § 273 preserves 'the right of any claimant to maintain a personal action to recover his debt against the person liable therefor either in a separate action or in the action to foreclose his lien', and money collected on that judgment is credited against the lien.

    Proof to keep

    The file-stamped complaint showing the filing date, and your diary entry computing both the 90-day date and the one-year-from-completion date.

    What the document must contain

    • Identification of the recorded notice of lien and its recording reference
    • The owners and interest holders you are proceeding against
    • The amount claimed

    If you miss it: The lien stops binding the property and is discharged of record under § 270(a)(2). It is gone. Separately, if you do file but then let it sit, § 272(a) lets the court dismiss for want of prosecution if the action 'is not brought to trial within two years after the commencement thereof'.

    28 V.I.C. § 271(a), (c); § 272(a); § 273(opens the statute in a new tab)
12. 12

    Step 12: Record the Notice of Commencement of Action - filing suit is not enough

    After you file suit and before the 90 days from recording your lien run out. Do it the same week you file.

    This is the step that quietly kills good liens, because almost no lien workflow models it. Filing the lawsuit does NOT preserve the lien by itself. § 269(a): 'A claimant, after instituting action to enforce a lien, shall record a notice of the commencement of action in the office in which the notice of lien was recorded.' And § 270(a)(2) discharges the lien 'by failure to record notice of the commencement of an action to enforce the lien or notice that no cause of action has accrued within the time prescribed in section 271' - that is, within the SAME 90 days. Two recordings plus a lawsuit, all inside one 90-day window. Make your attorney confirm in writing that this was recorded, not just that the suit was filed.

    Where it goes

    The same district Recorder of Deeds office where the notice of lien was recorded.

    How

    Record it with the Recorder of Deeds. It 'shall be signed by the claimant or his attorney'.

    Proof to keep

    The recorded notice of commencement of action with its own document reference and recording date, filed next to your file-stamped complaint.

    What the document must contain

    • A reference to the notice of lien under which it is recorded
    • The recording office document location reference and date of recording of the notice of lien
    • The name of the owner and of the claimant
    • The amount of lien claimed
    • An identifying reference to the action commenced

    If you miss it: The lien is discharged of record under § 270(a)(2) even though you sued on time. You also lose constructive notice against buyers and lenders - § 269(b) says only from the time of recording is a purchaser or encumbrancer 'deemed to have constructive notice of the pendency of the action'.

    28 V.I.C. § 269(a), (b); § 270(a)(2)(opens the statute in a new tab)
13. 13

    Step 13: If nothing is due yet, record a no-cause-accrued affidavit instead

    Optional

    Within the same 90 days after recording the notice of lien, and re-filed every 90 days if you had to give an estimated accrual date.

    If your 90 days are running out but no payment has actually come due yet, you do not have to sue. § 271(a) lets you hold the lien if 'within that time the claimant has recorded an affidavit, as provided in subsection (b) of this section, that no cause of action has accrued to him under the contract for which he recorded the notice of lien.' Watch the catch in § 271(b): 'If no exact date is known, the affidavit shall be effective for only 90 days, and a new affidavit must be filed.' It is not a one-and-done - it is a renewable 90-day holding pattern, and it still cannot carry the lien past one year from completion of the improvement.

    Where it goes

    The same office where the notice of lien was recorded.

    How

    Record the signed affidavit with the Recorder.

    Proof to keep

    Each recorded affidavit with its document reference, plus a calendar reminder set 75 days out for the next one.

    What the document must contain

    • A reference to the notice of lien, with its recording office document location reference and date of recording
    • The name of the owner and of the claimant
    • The date when a cause of action shall accrue to you - a good faith estimate if no exact date is known
    • If several lots are improved under one notice of lien, the information broken out by lot, parcel or tract

    If you miss it: Missing the affidavit is the same as missing the suit deadline - § 270(a)(2) discharges the lien. Forgetting to RENEW an estimated-date affidavit at 90 days does the same thing.

    28 V.I.C. § 271(a), (b); § 270(a)(2)(opens the statute in a new tab)
14. 14

    Step 14: On a bonded job, sue the surety within one year

    Optional

    Within one year after you complete your own performance.

    The second half of the bond clock. § 259(f)(2): no recovery under the bond unless you 'institute[] suit against the surety within one year after the completion of his performance'. Again it is YOUR performance, not the project's. § 259(g) gives you 'a direct right of action against the surety', and § 259(h) confirms changes to the prime contract do not let the surety off, though 'the total liability of the surety shall not be greater than the penal sum of the bond'.

    Where it goes

    Superior Court of the Virgin Islands; serve at the address and on the agent named under § 267(b)(3).

    How

    Suit filed by your Virgin Islands attorney against the surety, served on the process agent named in the recorded notice of payment bond.

    Proof to keep

    The file-stamped complaint, and the 60-day notice receipts - the surety will ask for them first.

    What the document must contain

    • Identification of the bond and its recording reference
    • The amount due
    • Proof you gave the 60-day § 259(f)(1) notice to the surety and the contractor

    If you miss it: No recovery under the bond at all, however strong the underlying debt.

    28 V.I.C. § 259(f)(2), (g), (h); § 267(b)(3)(opens the statute in a new tab)
15. 15

    Step 15: Record the cancellation within 10 days of getting paid

    Within 10 days of full OR partial satisfaction - by payment, by foreclosure recovery, or by personal judgment recovered for the contract price.

    When you get paid, you have a legal duty to clear the lien fast. § 264(e): a claimant 'shall record a signed statement that a notice of lien shall be cancelled, in full or in part, when the claimant's lien has been fully or partially satisfied', and that statement 'must be recorded within ten (10) days of the full or partial satisfaction of the lien'. This applies to partial payments too. The penalty is real: § 275(b) says if a claimant 'fails to record a statement of cancellation as required by section 264(e)' the court may declare the lien void, award the owner actual damages, and award punitive damages, plus under § 275(c) 'the costs of securing cancellation of the lien of record, including reasonable attorney's fees and court costs'.

    Where it goes

    The same district Recorder of Deeds office where the notice of lien was recorded.

    How

    Record a signed cancellation statement. Cancellation costs a quarter of the recording fee under § 133(h); the Recorder's published list shows release of liens at $10.00.

    Proof to keep

    The recorded cancellation with its document reference, and your record of the payment date that started the 10 days.

    What the document must contain

    • A signed statement that the notice of lien is cancelled, in full or in part
    • The reference location for the notice of lien being cancelled

    If you miss it: The court can void your lien and hit you with actual damages, punitive damages and the owner's attorney's fees - after you have already been paid.

    28 V.I.C. § 264(e); § 275(b), (c); § 133(h)(opens the statute in a new tab)

Who can claim a lien in U.S. Virgin Islands

Where you file

Office

Office of the Lieutenant Governor, Recorder of Deeds — the district office for the property (St. Croix district; or St. Thomas–St. John district)

Recording fee

$25–$60

Notarization

Required

How it is served

Registered or certified mail

Copies

1

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

What trips people up in U.S. Virgin Islands

• TREATING THE ENFORCEMENT DEADLINE AS A YEAR. It is 90 days from RECORDING the lien (§ 271(a)), and it is the same 90 days for a general contractor as for a sub. Start that countdown the moment the recorder stamps your document, not at project completion.
• THINKING FILING SUIT IS ENOUGH. § 269(a) makes you RECORD a notice of the commencement of the action, and § 270(a)(2) discharges the lien for that omission alone. Two recordings plus a lawsuit, all inside 90 days. Get your attorney's written confirmation that the notice was recorded.
• YOUR COMPANY FILING THE LAWSUIT ITSELF. Under Murphy Rigging (V.I. 2022) and Bart Enterprises (2023 VI 13), a complaint signed for an LLC or corporation by a non-attorney is a nullity that later counsel cannot cure. The 90 days lapse with nothing valid on file.
• RECORDING A PERFECT LIEN AND COLLECTING NOTHING. § 264(d) says recording is not notice to the owner. Until the owner gets your separate § 256(e) notification, they may keep paying the general contractor and your lien shrinks with every cheque. Nor-Dec: that notification is what 'freezes' the contract price. Send it on day one, by certified mail, and keep the return receipt.
• COUNTING THE 90 DAYS FROM PROJECT COMPLETION. § 264(a) runs from YOUR OWN final furnishing. On a long job, a sub who finished in month three is out of time long before the building is.
• NOT CHECKING YOUR LICENCE. § 254(d): no construction lien exists for an unlicensed contractor, subcontractor or sub-subcontractor. This one is invisible until the other side raises it, and then it ends the case.
• NO WRITTEN CONTRACT WITH THE LIEN WARNING ON A HOME. § 254(c) bars a lien on a 'protected person's' real estate unless the contract is written, signed by the owner, and carries the statutory warning conspicuously on page one. Subcontractors: this is the PRIME'S contract, which you may never have seen. Ask for it before you start.
• ASSUMING A REMOTE SUPPLIER CAN LIEN. §§ 252(b) and 253 stop lien rights at the sub-subcontractor. Supply a sub-subcontractor and you have no construction lien in the Virgin Islands at all.
• PREPARING A LIEN ON A GOVERNMENT OR EMERGENCY-REPAIR JOB. § 254(a) exempts Government of the Virgin Islands, agency and instrumentality property and land declared for public use; § 254(b) bars liens on government-administered home-repair and emergency-repair work, which the Recorder applies to the VIHFA STEP programme. Recording one anyway invites § 275 bad-faith damages and a slander-of-title counterclaim.
• MISSING THE 60-DAY BOND CLOCK ON A BONDED JOB. § 259(f)(1) requires notice to the surety AND the contractor within 60 days of completing your own performance - a month before your lien deadline - and § 259(a) means no lien attached for you anyway if the bond was procured before the improvement started. You only find out by pulling the recorded § 267 notice of payment bond.
• FILING IN THE WRONG DISTRICT. § 261(a) requires the recorder for the district where the improvement is undertaken - St. Croix, or St. Thomas/St. John. A lien recorded in the wrong district is not recorded.
• RECORDING TOO EARLY. § 264(b): a lien recorded before you are entitled to final payment works only if part of the price is already past due, or a notice of commencement is effective at the time of recording. Otherwise you are holding a worthless piece of paper that looks perfectly good.
• PADDING THE CLAIM, OR FORGETTING TO CANCEL IT. § 275(b) lets a court void the lien and award actual plus punitive damages for a bad-faith overstatement - punitives capped at the gap between what you claimed and what you could actually claim - and for failing to record the § 264(e) cancellation within 10 days of being paid. Slander-of-title counterclaims on V.I. construction liens are live practice.
• TURNING UP WITHOUT THE CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT ATTACHED. The Lieutenant Governor's published recording requirements demand the signed original construction contract between the current owner and the contractor be attached to the Construction Lien form. A remote subcontractor may not hold that document. Sort it out with the district office in week one, not on day 89.
• RELYING ON THE EXTENSIONS. Credit extensions and no-cause-accrued affidavits must themselves be RECORDED before the 90 days run (§§ 265(a), 271(a), (b)); an estimated-date affidavit lasts only 90 days and must be re-filed; and nothing carries the lien past one year from completion of the improvement.
• ASSUMING NOBODY CAN TOUCH YOUR LIEN. The Virgin Islands has no notice of contest and no demand to commence - but under § 260 the owner, or any original contractor, subcontractor or sub-subcontractor, can record a bond at 1 1/2 times your claim and the property is released from your lien immediately. Your claim survives against the surety. Do not treat the release as a reason to relax the § 271 deadlines - nothing in § 260 stops them running.

After you file

• Diary two dates the day the lien is recorded: 90 days from the RECORDING DATE (§ 271(a)) and one year from COMPLETION OF THE IMPROVEMENT (§ 271(a) ceiling). Work to whichever is earlier.
• Get any correction recorded inside the same 90 days - § 265(a) is the only amendment window, and an amendment that increases the amount only takes priority from the date the amendment is recorded.
• Engage a Virgin Islands attorney early. An entity's self-filed complaint is a nullity that cannot be cured (Murphy Rigging; Bart Enterprises).
• File the foreclosure action - then immediately record the § 269 notice of commencement of action in the same office. Both inside the 90 days. Missing the second one discharges the lien under § 270(a)(2).
• If no payment has come due, record the § 271(b) affidavit that no cause of action has accrued - and if you had to estimate the accrual date, set a reminder to re-file it every 90 days.
• If you granted credit, record notice of the fact and terms of the credit before the 90 days expire; the lien then runs to 90 days after the credit expires (§ 271(a)). Against a later good-faith purchaser or lender, § 271(c) makes an unrecorded credit ineffective.
• Keep watching the record for a § 268 notice of surety bond releasing your lien (§ 260) or a § 262(e) notice of terminating the notice of commencement, and open your registered mail - § 260 requires the bond copy to be mailed to you.
• Prosecute the case. § 272(a) lets the court dismiss for want of prosecution if the action is not brought to trial within two years of commencement, and § 272(b) makes a dismissal or a judgment of no lien equivalent to cancelling the lien of record.
• Claim your recording costs. § 272(c) requires the court to allow as costs 'the money paid for verifying and recording the lien' to each claimant whose lien is established.
• When you are paid in full or in part, record the signed cancellation statement within 10 DAYS (§ 264(e)). Failing to do so is independently sanctionable under § 275(b) even though you have already been paid.