How to file a mechanics lien in Washington

Step by step

14 steps for a subcontractor in Washington.

1. 1

   Step 1: Be a registered contractor when you sign the contract

   Before you sign. Your registration has to be current and valid at the moment you contract, and you need to keep it current.

   Washington ties your right to sue to your registration. This is not a lien deadline, so nothing warns you about it. It kills the case at the end, after you have already spent the money on the lien and the lawsuit.

   Where it goes

   Washington State Department of Labor & Industries.

   How

   Register with the Department of Labor & Industries under chapter 18.27 RCW (or hold the electrical license under chapter 19.28 RCW if that is your trade). Chapter 60.04 says a contractor or subcontractor required to be registered or licensed is the owner's construction agent for lien purposes 'only if so registered or licensed.'

   Proof to keep

   A dated copy or screenshot of your registration record showing it was active on your contract date, plus the signed contract showing that date. Keep bond and insurance certificates covering the whole job.

   What the document must contain

   • Current, valid certificate of registration in effect on the date you contracted
   • Bond or other security kept in force at all times (RCW 18.27.040)
   • Liability and property damage insurance kept in force at all times (RCW 18.27.050)

   If you miss it: You cannot bring or maintain the lawsuit. RCW 18.27.080: no person acting as a contractor may bring or maintain any action for the collection of compensation 'without alleging and proving that he or she was a duly registered contractor and held a current and valid certificate of registration at the time he or she contracted.' A perfectly timed lien is worth nothing if you cannot sue on it. There is a narrow substantial-compliance exception where L&I had your required information on file and your bond and insurance were in force at all times.

   RCW 18.27.080; RCW 60.04.041(opens the statute in a new tab)
2. 2

   Step 2: Get the owner's and the prime contractor's details in writing

   As soon as you are hired, and before your notice window starts running.

   You cannot serve a notice on an owner you cannot name. Washington makes the prime contractor hand you this information, so ask for it rather than guessing from the deed or the site sign. The owner's name and address also go on the notice and later on the lien itself.

   Where it goes

   From the prime contractor; from the building permit document and posted inspection record card; from the notice posted at the jobsite on projects over $5,000.

   How

   Ask the prime contractor in writing. RCW 60.04.261: 'The prime contractor shall immediately supply the information listed in RCW 19.27.095(2) to any person who has contracted to supply materials, equipment, or professional services or who is a subcontractor on the improvement.' The same information is on the building permit and on the notice the prime must post at the site under RCW 60.04.230.

   Proof to keep

   Your written request and their written answer. A photo of the posted jobsite notice and of the permit card, with the date.

   What the document must contain

   • Property legal description or tax parcel number, and street address if available
   • Property owner's name, address and phone number
   • Prime contractor's business name, address, phone number and current state contractor registration number
   • Construction lender information, or payment bond information

   If you miss it: No direct penalty on you, but you cannot send a valid notice or record a valid lien without this. If the prime never posted the notice, note that: whether the notice also has to go to the prime contractor depends on the prime having complied with RCW 19.27.095, 60.04.230 and 60.04.261.

   RCW 60.04.261; RCW 19.27.095(2); RCW 60.04.230(opens the statute in a new tab)
3. 3

   Step 3: Send the Notice of a Right to Claim a Lien to the owner

   Send it the day you start. The rule is a look-back, not a cutoff: your notice only protects what you furnished in the 60 days BEFORE the day you mail or hand it over. On new construction of a single-family residence that shrinks to 10 days. Every day you wait, you drop a day of work off the back.

   This is the notice that keeps your lien alive. Washington does not kill a late notice, it amputates it. Serve on day 100 of a six-month job and you still hold a valid lien, just one that covers only the last 60 days of what you supplied. Two groups do not need it at all: anyone who contracted directly with the owner or the owner's common law agent, and laborers whose claim is based solely on performing labor. A third group is exempt in most cases: subcontractors who contract directly with the prime contractor. Suppliers and equipment rental companies get no exemption at any tier, including when they sell straight to the prime.

   Where it goes

   The owner or reputed owner of the property, and where required, the prime contractor.

   How

   Mail it by certified or registered mail to the owner or reputed owner. Or deliver or serve it personally and get evidence of delivery: a receipt or other acknowledgment signed by the owner, or an affidavit of service. Regular mail and email are not on the list. If the prime contractor is in compliance with RCW 19.27.095, 60.04.230 and 60.04.261, send the same notice to the prime contractor too, unless you contracted directly with the prime.

   Proof to keep

   The certified or registered mail receipt with its date stamp, and the return card if you get one back. If you delivered it by hand, the signed receipt or your affidavit of service. Keep a copy of the notice exactly as sent. The date of sending is what sets your look-back window, so that postmark is the single most valuable piece of paper in the file.

   What the document must contain

   • The statute says the notice 'shall include but not be limited to the following information and shall substantially be in the following form' at RCW 60.04.031(4). The form is captioned NOTICE TO OWNER.
   • To: the owner / reputed owner
   • Date
   • Re: description of the property, street address or general location
   • From: your business name
   • AT THE REQUEST OF: the name of the person who ordered your services, materials or equipment
   • Brief description of the professional services, materials or equipment you provided or will provide
   • Sender name, address and telephone number
   • The statutory IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR YOUR PROTECTION block that comes with the form

   If you miss it: You do not lose the lien. You lose everything you furnished more than 60 days before the date you sent the notice (more than 10 days, on new construction of a single-family residence). You can hold a clean, recorded, enforceable lien that covers almost nothing you are owed. Separately, RCW 60.04.031(6): 'A lien authorized by this chapter shall not be enforced unless the lien claimant has complied with the applicable provisions of this section.'

   RCW 60.04.031(1), (2), (4), (6)(opens the statute in a new tab)
4. 4

   Step 4: On an owner-occupied home repair or remodel, get that notice in before the owner pays the GC

   Before the owner pays the prime contractor. There is no day count here at all. This is a money clock, not a calendar clock.

   Same notice as the previous step, different rule. On repair, alteration or remodel of an existing owner-occupied single-family residence, if you did not contract directly with the owner-occupier, your lien 'may only be satisfied from amounts not yet paid to the prime contractor by the owner at the time the notice described in this section is received.' If the homeowner has already paid the general contractor in full when your notice lands, your lien is worth zero no matter how fast you were. Also note: the usual exemption for subcontractors who contract directly with the prime is switched OFF on these jobs. The sub who never sends notices in Washington loses the lien on the first kitchen remodel. 'Owner-occupied' means a single-family residence occupied by the owner as his or her principal residence.

   Where it goes

   The owner-occupier, and the prime contractor where required.

   How

   Same methods as the standard notice: certified or registered mail, or personal delivery with evidence of delivery. Timing of RECEIPT is what counts here, and the statute defines received as actual receipt by personal service or registered or certified mail, or three days after mailing by registered or certified mail, not counting Saturdays, Sundays or legal holidays. Those three days are three days of the owner potentially paying the GC.

   Proof to keep

   Certified or registered mail receipt showing the mailing date, plus the return receipt showing the delivery date. On this job type the delivery date is what caps your recovery, so chase the green card. If you know what the owner had paid the GC as of that date, document it.

   What the document must contain

   • Same statutory NOTICE TO OWNER form as the standard notice, RCW 60.04.031(4)

   If you miss it: Your lien survives but only reaches money the owner still owes the prime contractor on the date your notice was received. Fully paid owner, zero recovery. Contractors who contract directly with the owner-occupier are in the opposite position: RCW 60.04.031(3)(a) says they need no notice and have a lien for the full amount due under their contract.

   RCW 60.04.031(3), (3)(a), (3)(b); RCW 60.04.011 ('owner-occupied')(opens the statute in a new tab)
5. 5

   Step 5: Send a Notice to Lender once a payment is 5 days late

   Optional

   You can send it once you have not been paid within five days after the date payment was required. The deadline is within thirty-five days of the date payment was required. It is a fresh 35-day clock for each payment that goes unpaid.

   This is Washington's version of a stop notice, and it is the only tool that actually stops money leaving the project instead of just staking a claim after it is gone. It makes the construction lender freeze the amount you say you are owed out of the next draw. Completely separate from your lien clock, and easy to miss because it runs off your invoice dates, not off first or last furnishing.

   Where it goes

   The lender, at the office administering the interim or construction financing. Send a copy to the owner and to the appropriate prime contractor.

   How

   Give the notice in the statutory form. Methods are certified or registered mail, or personal delivery with a receipt or other signed acknowledgment or an affidavit of service.

   Proof to keep

   Certified or registered mail receipts for all three recipients, the invoice or contract term establishing the date payment was required, and a copy of the notice as sent.

   What the document must contain

   • The statutory notice to lender form set out in RCW 60.04.221
   • The amount claimed to be due

   If you miss it: Nothing happens to your lien. You just lose this remedy for that payment. If you do send it, the lender 'shall withhold from the next and subsequent draws the amount claimed to be due as stated in the notice', to the extent sufficient financing funds remain undisbursed, and withheld funds are not released except by written agreement of the parties or by court order. A lender that wrongfully disburses has its mortgage or deed of trust subordinated to your lien to the extent of the wrongful disbursement, plus costs and fees.

   RCW 60.04.221(opens the statute in a new tab)
6. 6

   Step 6: Record your claim of lien within 90 days

   Not later than ninety days after YOU stopped furnishing labor, professional services, materials or equipment (or the last date employee benefit contributions were due). It runs from your own last day on the job, not from completion or abandonment of the whole project. Every claimant type gets the same 90 days: prime contractor, sub, supplier, design professional, laborer. Residential and commercial are the same too.

   This is the lien itself. You record it with the county auditor and it becomes a public encumbrance on the property. Washington gives no extension, no grace and no owner-filed notice that shortens it.

   Where it goes

   The county auditor's recording office for the county where the subject property is located (in King County, the Recorder's Office). Fee check: King County and Spokane County both list $303.50 for the first page and $1.00 for each additional page on their published schedules, so budget roughly $305 for a typical two-page lien, plus $50 if your document does not meet standard recording format. Fees vary by county, so confirm with that county's auditor before you go.

   How

   File it for recording with the county auditor's recording office. It is recorded the same way deeds are recorded under chapter 65.08 RCW, and the auditor may charge no higher fee for a claim of lien than for other documents.

   Proof to keep

   The conformed recorded copy showing the auditor's recording number, date and time. Your own dated records proving your first and last furnishing dates: delivery tickets, daily reports, signed timesheets, final invoice.

   What the document must contain

   • A claim of lien substantially in the form at RCW 60.04.091(2) is sufficient
   • Your name, phone number and address
   • The first and last date on which you furnished labor, professional services, materials or equipment
   • The name of the person indebted to you. On a sub's lien this is the general contractor, NOT the owner
   • The street address, legal description, or other identifying description of the property
   • The name of the owner or reputed owner, or a statement that it is unknown
   • The principal amount for which the lien is claimed
   • The name of the assignee, if the lien has been assigned
   • Credit terms, if credit was given and you want the enforcement extension. It only works if the terms are stated IN the recorded claim of lien
   • Signed by you or someone authorized to act for you, who must affirmatively state they have read the notice of claim of lien and believe it to be true and correct UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY
   • AND acknowledged (notarized) pursuant to chapter 64.08 RCW. You need both the perjury statement and the acknowledgment. Either one alone is defective
   • If more than one piece of property is involved, designate the amount due on each piece (RCW 60.04.131)

   If you miss it: No lien. Ninety days from your last furnishing is the whole window and there is no cure. Be careful with the last-day date: on an improvement of two or more separate residential units, RCW 60.04.101 says the time for filing against each separate unit starts running on the cessation of your work on that unit, so a townhouse row can have several different 90-day clocks and the early ones expire while you are still on site. Also, if you fail to designate the amount due on each property where more than one is involved, your lien is subordinated to other liens under this chapter.

   RCW 60.04.091(1), (2); RCW 60.04.101; RCW 60.04.111; RCW 60.04.131; RCW 36.18.010(opens the statute in a new tab)
7. 7

   Step 7: Mail a copy of the recorded lien to the owner within 14 days

   Within fourteen days of the time the claim of lien is filed for recording. Count from the recording date, not from the day you mailed it in.

   A short, quiet obligation that most people find out about only when their lawyer asks for the receipt. It does not affect whether the lien is valid. It affects whether the lien is worth enforcing, because it controls your right to attorneys' fees against the owner, and fees are often larger than the debt.

   Where it goes

   The owner or reputed owner of the property.

   How

   Mail it by certified or registered mail, or serve it personally. Those are the two methods the statute lists.

   Proof to keep

   Certified or registered mail receipt dated within 14 days of the recording date, or your proof of personal service. Staple it to the conformed recorded copy so the two dates sit side by side.

   What the document must contain

   • A copy of the claim of lien as recorded

   If you miss it: The lien survives, but you forfeit any right to attorneys' fees and costs against the owner under RCW 60.04.181. RCW 60.04.091(2) says so in terms. On a modest claim this is frequently the difference between a lien worth foreclosing and one that costs more to enforce than it recovers.

   RCW 60.04.091(2); RCW 60.04.181(opens the statute in a new tab)
8. 8

   Step 8: Public job only: file your payment bond claim within 30 days of completion and acceptance

   Within 30 days from and after the completion of the contract with an acceptance of the work by the affirmative action of the board, council, commission, trustees, officer or body acting for the state, county or municipality. The trigger is the public body's formal acceptance vote, not the day the crews left.

   On a public job the contractor's payment bond replaces the lien. This is your claim against it. Note the trigger carefully: acceptance by affirmative action of the governing body is a dated event you can look up in their minutes, and it is not the same as substantial completion or final inspection.

   Where it goes

   With the board, council, commission, trustees or body acting for the state, county, municipality or other public body, city, town or district.

   How

   Present and file a notice of claim, signed by the person or corporation making the claim. The statute states no notarization or verification requirement.

   Proof to keep

   Date-stamped copy of the filed claim, and the public body's minutes or resolution showing the date of acceptance of the work.

   What the document must contain

   • A notice of the claim
   • Signed by the person or corporation making the claim

   If you miss it: You lose the bond claim. Separate timing point on fees: attorneys' fees are not allowed in any suit brought before the expiration of thirty days following the date of filing the notice, so do not sue immediately. After that 30 days, a successful claimant recovers reasonable attorneys' fees in addition to all other costs.

   RCW 39.08.030(opens the statute in a new tab)
9. 9

   Step 9: Public job only: file your retainage claim within 45 days of completion of the contract work

   Within forty-five days of completion of the contract work. Different deadline and different trigger from the 30-day bond claim. Do not assume filing one covers the other.

   Public bodies hold back up to five percent of the money earned by the contractor as a trust fund. That retained money is a separate pot from the bond, with its own lien, its own notice deadline and its own foreclosure deadline. The lien is on the money reserved, not on the real property.

   Where it goes

   The public body holding the retainage.

   How

   Give notice of the lien in the manner provided in RCW 39.08.030.

   Proof to keep

   Date-stamped copy of the filed notice, and documentation of the completion date of the contract work.

   What the document must contain

   • Notice of the lien of the claimant, in the manner provided in RCW 39.08.030

   If you miss it: You lose your claim on the retained percentage. Note the contractor may substitute a bond for all or any portion of the retainage under RCW 60.28.011(6); when that happens those bonded funds are subject to claims and liens the same way the retained percentage would have been.

   RCW 60.28.011(1), (2), (6)(opens the statute in a new tab)
10. 10

    Step 10: File the foreclosure lawsuit within eight calendar months of recording

    Eight CALENDAR months after the claim of lien was recorded. Count months on the calendar, not 240 days and not 8 x 30. Recorded March 14, the action must be filed by November 14. If you were given credit AND the credit terms are stated in the recorded claim of lien, it is eight calendar months after the expiration of that credit instead.

    Recording the lien does not collect anything. It is a placeholder that expires. To keep it alive you have to sue to foreclose it, in the same way a mortgage is judicially foreclosed.

    Where it goes

    Superior court for the county where the property is located.

    How

    File a civil action in superior court in the county where the property is located, in the manner prescribed for the judicial foreclosure of a mortgage.

    Proof to keep

    The file-stamped complaint showing the filing date, and the conformed recorded lien showing the recording date. Put both dates on the front of the file.

    What the document must contain

    • Join the owner as a party
    • Join any person who, before the action was commenced, has a recorded interest in the property. An interest holder who is not joined is not foreclosed or affected

    If you miss it: The lien stops binding the property. RCW 60.04.141: 'No lien created by this chapter binds the property subject to the lien for a longer period than eight calendar months after the claim of lien has been recorded unless an action is filed by the lien claimant within that time in the superior court.' The period is tolled by the filing of a petition under Title 11 of the United States Code by an owner of property subject to the lien. If someone else has already started a foreclosure action and you were not made a party, you can apply to the court to be joined, and that application tolls the limitation period until the application is decided.

    RCW 60.04.141; RCW 60.04.171(opens the statute in a new tab)
11. 11

    Step 11: Serve the owner within 90 days of filing the lawsuit

    Within ninety days of the date you filed the action. A second clock starts the moment the complaint is stamped.

    Filing inside eight months is necessary but not sufficient. Washington conditions the lien on both filing AND service. This one catches people who file on the last possible day and then take their time serving.

    Where it goes

    The owner of the subject property.

    How

    Service on the owner of the subject property, in the manner required for service in a civil action.

    Proof to keep

    The return of service or affidavit of service showing the date, matched against the file stamp on the complaint.

    If you miss it: You lose the lien even though you filed on time. RCW 60.04.141 requires that 'service is made upon the owner of the subject property within ninety days of the date of filing the action.'

    RCW 60.04.141(opens the statute in a new tab)
12. 12

    Step 12: Public job only: foreclose the retainage lien within four months of filing it

    Four months from the time of the filing of the retainage claim.

    The 45-day retainage claim expires on its own if you do not sue on it. After the four months run without an action, the public body releases the retained funds to the contractor and there is nothing left to claim.

    Where it goes

    Court of competent jurisdiction.

    How

    Bring an action to foreclose the lien on the retained percentage.

    Proof to keep

    File-stamped complaint, and the date-stamped retainage claim it runs from.

    If you miss it: The retained funds are released to the contractor and your claim on them is gone. A claimant who does prevail recovers attorney fees in such sum as the court finds reasonable.

    RCW 60.28.030(opens the statute in a new tab)
13. 13

    Step 13: Respond fast if you are served with a frivolous-lien show cause order

    The hearing is set no earlier than six and no later than fifteen days following the date you are served. You may have less than a week.

    This is the lever the other side can pull, and most contractors never see it coming. The owner (or a contractor, subcontractor, lender or another lien claimant) can drag your lien into superior court on a few days' notice and ask that it be thrown out as frivolous, or cut down as clearly excessive. It jumps the queue ahead of your own eight-month timetable.

    Where it goes

    Superior court for the county where the property, or some part of it, is located.

    How

    The applicant serves the application and the show cause order on you. You appear at the hearing and show why the lien is not frivolous and not clearly excessive.

    Proof to keep

    Everything that supports the amount you claimed: signed contract and change orders, delivery tickets, invoices, payment history, and the credits and offsets you applied before arriving at the number on the lien.

    If you miss it: If the court finds the lien frivolous and made without reasonable cause, it releases the lien. If it finds the lien clearly excessive, it reduces it. Either way it awards costs and reasonable attorneys' fees to the applicant, to be paid by you. It cuts both ways: if your lien is upheld, the court issues an order saying so and awards you costs and reasonable attorneys' fees, paid by the applicant.

    RCW 60.04.081(opens the statute in a new tab)
14. 14

    Step 14: Sign and deliver a release once you are paid

    Immediately, upon payment and acceptance of the amount due to you and upon demand of the owner or the person making payment.

    Closing the loop. Once the money is in, the statute obliges you to clear the record.

    Where it goes

    To the owner or the person who made the payment. Record it with the county auditor to clear title.

    How

    Prepare and execute a release of all lien rights for which payment has been made.

    Proof to keep

    A copy of the executed release and, if recorded, the conformed recorded copy.

    What the document must contain

    • A release of all lien rights for which payment has been made

    If you miss it: You are in breach of a statutory duty and exposed on any claim the owner brings over the clouded title. There is no upside to sitting on a release after you have been paid.

    RCW 60.04.071(opens the statute in a new tab)

Who can claim a lien in Washington

Where you file

Office

County Auditor, Recording Division, for the county where the subject property is located (in King County, the King County Recorder's Office)

Recording fee

$304–$360

Notarization

Required

Sworn or verified

Signed under penalty of perjury

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 Washington

• Treating the 60-day notice as a deadline you either meet or miss. It is a rolling look-back. A notice mailed today protects only what you furnished in the previous 60 days. Send it late and you will hold a valid, recorded, enforceable lien that covers a fraction of what you are owed, and nothing in the process will tell you that. Send the notice on day one. RCW 60.04.031(1).
• Using 60 days on a new house. On new construction of a single-family residence the look-back is TEN days, not sixty. This is the most common small-contractor project type in the state and the most expensive place to carry the wrong number. RCW 60.04.031(1), final sentence.
• A subcontractor assuming 'I never send notices in Washington.' First-tier subs who contract directly with the prime contractor really are exempt, under RCW 60.04.031(2)(c), which is unusual and which teaches a bad habit. That exemption is switched off on repair, alteration or remodel of an existing owner-occupied single-family residence, RCW 60.04.031(3)(b). The same sub is exempt on a commercial tenant improvement and not exempt on a kitchen remodel.
• A supplier assuming the subcontractor exemption covers it. It does not. Suppliers and equipment rental companies get no exemption at any tier, including when they sell directly to the prime contractor. RCW 60.04.031(2).
• On an owner-occupied home remodel, being on time and still recovering nothing. Under RCW 60.04.031(3)(b) a claimant who did not contract directly with the owner-occupier can be paid only from amounts not yet paid to the prime contractor when the notice is received. If the homeowner already paid the GC in full, a fast, perfect lien is worth zero. Early beats on-time here.
• The RCW 18.27.114 disclosure statement. It is not a lien statute, so nobody thinks about it, and it is an absolute bar. Residential jobs on four or fewer units at $1,000 or more, and commercial building jobs from $1,000 up to under $60,000. Deliver it before starting work and get the customer's signature. It hits the contractor in direct contract with the customer, who is correctly sure it needs no preliminary notice and wrongly concludes there is nothing to do up front.
• Letting contractor registration lapse around contract signing. RCW 18.27.080 blocks you from bringing or maintaining the action unless you were duly registered and held a current, valid certificate at the time you contracted. Perfect lien timing does not save an unregistered contractor.
• Counting the 90 days from project completion. It runs from the day YOU ceased to furnish, not from completion or abandonment of the improvement. RCW 60.04.091(1).
• Running one 90-day clock across a multi-unit residential project. RCW 60.04.101 starts a separate clock for each separate residential unit, running from cessation of your work on THAT unit. On a townhouse row the clock on unit one can expire while you are still framing unit six.
• Notarizing a lien that has no penalty-of-perjury statement. RCW 60.04.091(2) requires both: the signer must affirmatively state they have read the claim of lien and believe it true and correct under penalty of perjury, AND it must be acknowledged under chapter 64.08 RCW. One without the other records cleanly and fails later.
• Putting the owner's name in the 'person indebted to the claimant' blank. On a subcontractor's or supplier's lien that is the general contractor, not the owner. It is a facial defect on the statutory form.
• Padding the amount claimed. RCW 60.04.081 lets the owner force a hearing on six to fifteen days' notice and shifts costs and reasonable attorneys' fees onto you if the lien is frivolous or clearly excessive. Apply your credits and offsets before you pick the number. And under RCW 60.04.131, if more than one property is involved and you do not designate the amount due on each, your lien is subordinated to other liens under the chapter.
• Skipping the 14-day copy to the owner. The lien survives, but you forfeit attorneys' fees and costs against the owner under RCW 60.04.181. RCW 60.04.091(2).
• Treating eight calendar months as 240 days. It is calendar months from the recording date. Depending on the months involved the real span is 242 to 245 days, and any day-count shortcut that lands you past the calendar-month date loses the lien.
• Filing suit on time and serving late. RCW 60.04.141 requires filing within eight calendar months AND service on the owner within ninety days of filing. File on day 239, serve on day 91 after that, lose the lien.
• Assuming credit terms in the contract extend the eight months. They only extend it if the credit terms are stated IN the recorded claim of lien. RCW 60.04.141.
• Recording a mechanics lien on a public job. No chapter 60.04 lien attaches to public property. The remedies are the payment bond under chapter 39.08 RCW and the retained percentage under chapter 60.28 RCW, and they have three short clocks: 10 days for a supplier's notice to the prime, 30 days for the bond claim after completion and acceptance, 45 days for the retainage claim after completion of the contract work. None of them is 90 days.
• On a public job, sending the 10-day notice to the public body instead of the prime contractor. RCW 39.08.065 names the contractor as the recipient, and missing it bars any suit against the contractor or the bond.
• Filing a 30-day bond claim and then believing you have four months to foreclose. The four months in RCW 60.28.030 attaches to the 45-day retainage claim, not to the bond claim. They are two separate remedies with two separate clocks.
• Never sending the RCW 60.04.221 notice to lender. It is the only mechanism that stops money leaving the project rather than staking a claim after it is gone, and it runs on its own 35-day clock from each date a payment was required. Most claimants let it expire without knowing it existed.

After you file

• Mail or personally serve a copy of the recorded lien on the owner within 14 days of recording, by certified or registered mail. Missing it does not void the lien but forfeits attorneys' fees and costs against the owner under RCW 60.04.181. RCW 60.04.091(2).
• Your lien has priority over any lien, mortgage, deed of trust or other encumbrance that attached to the land after, or was unrecorded at, the time you commenced labor or professional services or first delivered materials or equipment. RCW 60.04.061.
• The owner can withhold from the prime contractor the amount of money for which a claim is recorded by a subcontractor, supplier or laborer. This is one reason a recorded lien moves things. RCW 60.04.151.
• The owner, a contractor, subcontractor, lender or another lien claimant can bond around your lien. Recording the bond releases the property from the lien and your claim moves to the bond. The bond must be the greater of $5,000 or twice the lien if the lien is $10,000 or less, or at least one and a half times the lien if it is over $10,000. Your deadline does not change: if no action is commenced within the RCW 60.04.141 period, the surety is discharged. RCW 60.04.161.
• Any of those same parties can also apply for a show cause hearing on 6 to 15 days' notice to release the lien as frivolous or reduce it as clearly excessive, with costs and reasonable attorneys' fees against you if they win, and against them if they lose. RCW 60.04.081.
• File the foreclosure action in superior court within eight calendar months of recording, joining the owner and everyone with a recorded interest in the property as of the commencement of the action. RCW 60.04.141; RCW 60.04.171.
• Serve the owner within 90 days of filing the action. RCW 60.04.141.
• Keep the case moving. If the action is not prosecuted to judgment within two years after commencement, the court in its discretion may dismiss for want of prosecution, and that dismissal, or a judgment that no lien exists, cancels the lien. RCW 60.04.141.
• If another claimant's foreclosure action is already running and you were not made a party, apply to the court to be joined. The application tolls the limitation period until the application is decided or another time the court sets. Courts can also consolidate multiple foreclosure actions. RCW 60.04.171.
• Proceeds are applied in a statutory rank order: labor liens, then employee benefit plan contributions, then materials, supplies and equipment, then subcontractors, then prime contractors and professional services. The court may allow the prevailing party, plaintiff or defendant, its recording fee, title report cost, bond costs and attorneys' fees and necessary expenses as part of costs. RCW 60.04.181.
• The eight-month period is tolled if an owner of property subject to the lien files a petition under Title 11 of the United States Code. RCW 60.04.141.
• Once you are paid, upon demand of the owner or the person making payment you must immediately prepare and execute a release of all lien rights for which payment has been made. RCW 60.04.071.