Colorado Mechanics Lien
File a Colorado mechanics lien to secure payment for construction work. Record the lien within four months of finishing, then enforce within six months.
Introduction
A Colorado mechanics lien is a legal claim recorded against real property by a contractor, subcontractor, or supplier who improved the property and was not paid. Once recorded, the lien attaches to the property, clouds the title, and can be enforced by a court-ordered sale. That security is what gives the lien its leverage, and Colorado grants it under Revised Statutes Title 38, Article 22. Colorado requires no pre-work preliminary notice, but you must serve a notice of intent to file a lien on the owner and the prime contractor at least 10 days before recording the lien statement. You record that statement within four months after your last labor or materials are furnished, or within two months if you furnished only day labor. You must then sue to enforce within six months after the work ends. DocDraft prepares a Colorado mechanics lien and its notices from your project details, and attorney review is available before you record.
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Key Things to Know
- 1
A Colorado mechanics lien secures payment against the improved property. Contractors, subcontractors, materialmen, laborers, and others who furnished work or materials and were not paid can claim one under Revised Statutes sections 38-22-101 and following.
- 2
Colorado does not require a pre-work preliminary notice to preserve the lien. The operative notice comes later: a notice of intent to file, which under section 38-22-109 must be served before you record the lien statement.
- 3
You must serve a notice of intent to file a lien on the owner and the prime contractor at least 10 days before recording the lien statement with the county clerk and recorder, under section 38-22-109.
- 4
Record the lien statement within four months after the day your last labor or materials are furnished. Someone who furnished only labor by the day or piece has two months after the improvement is completed, under section 38-22-109.
- 5
Recording is not the last step. Section 38-22-110 says no lien holds the property longer than six months after the last work or materials, or completion, unless you commence an action within that period.
- 6
Colorado reads these rules strictly. Missing the 10-day notice of intent, the four-month recording window, or the six-month deadline to sue generally forfeits the lien, though a separate contract claim for the debt may remain.
- 7
The lien statement has required contents. Section 38-22-109 calls for the amount claimed, the name of the owner, the person who furnished the work, a description of the property, and a sworn statement, all recorded with the county clerk and recorder.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Mechanics Lien in Colorado, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Mechanics Lien guide walks through them.
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Colorado Requirements for Mechanics Lien
Colorado Filing Deadline and Office
File the Colorado mechanics lien in the correct office, a county recorder or court as Colorado requires, within the state's deadline after you last furnish labor or materials. Colorado applies the deadline strictly, so filing late or in the wrong office can void the lien.