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Louisiana Mechanics Lien

File a Louisiana claim and privilege, the state's mechanics lien, to secure construction payment. Learn the 60-day filing deadline and one-year enforcement.

Introduction

A Louisiana mechanics lien, which the state calls a claim and privilege under the Private Works Act, is a claim filed against real property by a contractor, subcontractor, or supplier who improved it and was not paid. Once filed, the privilege attaches to the property, clouds the title, and can be enforced by a court-ordered sale, and that security is what gives it leverage. Louisiana sets the rules in La. R.S. 9:4801 and following. No preliminary notice is required of a general contractor or subcontractor to hold the claim. The deadline to file the statement of claim or privilege is generally 60 days after a notice of termination is filed, or 60 days after substantial completion or abandonment if none is filed. You must then sue the owner to enforce within one year after filing. DocDraft prepares a Louisiana statement of claim and privilege from your project details, and attorney review is available before you file.

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Key Things to Know

  1. 1

    A Louisiana claim and privilege secures payment against the improved property. General contractors hold a privilege under La. R.S. 9:4801, and subcontractors, laborers, and suppliers hold a claim against the owner and the contractor under 9:4802, for the price of their work.

  2. 2

    General contractors and subcontractors need no preliminary notice. Under La. R.S. 9:4802 a subcontractor has a claim for the price of its work without advance notice. A seller of movables or materials, by contrast, must deliver a notice of nonpayment to preserve its own claim.

  3. 3

    The filing deadline is usually 60 days. La. R.S. 9:4822 requires the statement of claim or privilege to be filed within 60 days after a notice of termination is filed, or 60 days after substantial completion or abandonment if none is filed.

  4. 4

    You must sue the owner within one year. La. R.S. 9:4823 extinguishes the claim and privilege unless the claimant brings an action against the owner to enforce it within one year after filing the statement of claim or privilege.

  5. 5

    Louisiana reads the Private Works Act strictly. Missing the filing period, misidentifying the property or owner, or failing to sue within the year can extinguish the privilege, though a separate contract claim against the party that hired you may remain.

  6. 6

    The statement of claim or privilege has required contents. La. R.S. 9:4822 requires a signed writing that reasonably identifies the immovable and the owner, states the amount and nature of the obligation, and itemizes the claim; filing mechanics are set in 9:4831.

  7. 7

    A notice of contract can change the clock. On work priced over $100,000, a general contractor must timely file a notice of contract under La. R.S. 9:4811, and when one is filed a subcontractor's period drops to 30 days after the notice of termination.

Key decisions before you file

Before you file a Mechanics Lien in Louisiana, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Mechanics Lien guide walks through them.

Open the Mechanics Lien guide

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STATEMENT OF CLAIM AND PRIVILEGE (LOUISIANA)

Filed under the Louisiana Private Works Act, La. R.S. 9:4801 and following. The undersigned claimant files this statement to preserve a claim and privilege against the immovable property described below for labor, services, or materials furnished to improve it.

  1. CLAIMANT Name: [CLAIMANT NAME] Address: [CLAIMANT ADDRESS] Role: [GENERAL CONTRACTOR / SUBCONTRACTOR / LABORER / SUPPLIER]

  2. OWNER Name of the owner (or reputed owner): [OWNER NAME] Address: [OWNER ADDRESS]

  3. IMMOVABLE PROPERTY Reasonable identification of the immovable: [LEGAL DESCRIPTION] Street address: [PROPERTY ADDRESS] Parish: [PARISH]

  4. PARTY WHO ORDERED THE WORK The claimant furnished the work under a contract with: [OWNER / CONTRACTOR / SUBCONTRACTOR], namely [NAME OF HIRING PARTY].

  5. NATURE OF THE OBLIGATION General nature of the labor, services, or materials furnished: [DESCRIPTION]. Date work last performed or materials last furnished: [LAST DATE].

  6. AMOUNT AND ITEMIZATION The amount owed, after all just credits, is: $[AMOUNT]. [ATTACH ITEMIZATION OF THE CLAIM.]

  7. SIGNATURE The undersigned signs this statement of claim and privilege as claimant or authorized agent.

Signature: [SIGNATURE] Printed name and title: [NAME AND TITLE] Date: [DATE]

[FILE this statement in the mortgage records of the parish where the property is located, per La. R.S. 9:4831, within 60 days after the notice of termination is filed, or within 60 days after substantial completion or abandonment if no notice of termination is filed. When the general contractor timely filed a notice of contract under La. R.S. 9:4811, a subcontractor files within 30 days after the notice of termination. Deliver a copy of the statement to the owner as required.]

Note: This Louisiana statement of claim and privilege follows La. R.S. 9:4801 through 9:4823. Suit against the owner to enforce the privilege must be brought within one year after filing. Confirm the current statutory contents and deadlines, or have this reviewed by an attorney, before filing.

Louisiana Requirements for Mechanics Lien

Louisiana Filing Deadline and Office

File the Louisiana mechanics lien in the correct office, a county recorder or court as Louisiana requires, within the state's deadline after you last furnish labor or materials. Louisiana applies the deadline strictly, so filing late or in the wrong office can void the lien.

Frequently Asked Questions

In Louisiana, what most people call a mechanics lien is a claim and privilege under the Private Works Act. A contractor, subcontractor, or supplier who improved real property and was not paid files it against the property. The privilege clouds the title, so the owner cannot easily sell or refinance, and it can be enforced by a court-ordered sale. La. R.S. 9:4801 and following set the rules.

General contractors hold a privilege under La. R.S. 9:4801, while subcontractors, laborers, and suppliers hold a claim against both the owner and the contractor under 9:4802 for the price of their work. A seller who furnished only materials is treated as a materialman and must deliver a notice of nonpayment to preserve its separate claim.

The general deadline is 60 days. Under La. R.S. 9:4822 you must file the statement of claim or privilege within 60 days after a notice of termination of the work is filed, or within 60 days after substantial completion or abandonment if no notice of termination is filed. When the general contractor timely filed a notice of contract, a subcontractor's window is 30 days after the notice of termination.

For a general contractor or subcontractor, no. La. R.S. 9:4802 gives a subcontractor a claim for the price of its work against the owner and contractor without any advance notice. The main exception is a seller of movables or materials, who must deliver a notice of nonpayment to preserve that materialman claim. The old 75-day rule was repealed in 2019.

You have one year. La. R.S. 9:4823 extinguishes the claim and privilege unless you file suit against the owner to enforce it within one year after you filed the statement of claim or privilege. This is an action against the owner specifically, and missing the year ends the privilege even if everything before it was done correctly.

Missing the 60-day filing period or the one-year deadline to sue the owner generally extinguishes the privilege, because Louisiana applies the Private Works Act strictly. You may still pursue the party that hired you on the contract to recover the unpaid amount, but you lose the privilege that secures the debt against the property itself.

Two Louisiana features surprise claimants. The device is a claim and privilege, not a recorded lien, and the statute's terminology follows that. And on projects priced over $100,000, the general contractor must file a notice of contract under La. R.S. 9:4811 before work begins to keep its privilege; a timely notice of contract also shortens a subcontractor's filing window to 30 days after the notice of termination.

When the debt is paid, the claimant should cancel the statement of claim or privilege in the mortgage records to clear the title. The privilege also lapses on its own if no action against the owner is filed within one year of filing. An owner who believes a claim is invalid can contest it in court, which decides whether the privilege stands.