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Rhode Island Mechanics Lien

File a Rhode Island mechanics lien to secure payment for construction work. Learn the 200-day notice of intention deadline, the pre-work notice, and enforcement.

Introduction

A Rhode Island 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 perfected, the lien attaches to the property and clouds the title, and can be enforced by a court-ordered sale. Rhode Island protects the right in Chapter 34-28, but the lien only holds if you perfect it on time. A contractor who deals directly with the owner must first give a Notice of Possible Mechanic's Lien before starting work or delivering materials. To perfect the lien, you must mail a Notice of Intention to Claim Lien to the owner and record a copy in the land evidence records before or within 200 days after your last work or materials. You must then file a complaint and a notice of lis pendens within 40 days after recording. DocDraft prepares a Rhode Island 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. 1

    A Rhode Island mechanics lien secures payment against the improved property. Contractors, subcontractors, laborers, and material suppliers who furnished work to improve real property and were not paid can claim one under Chapter 34-28 of the General Laws.

  2. 2

    Direct contractors must give a pre-work notice. Under section 34-28-4.1 a contractor dealing directly with the owner must provide a Notice of Possible Mechanic's Lien before commencing work or delivering materials; material suppliers are excepted from this requirement.

  3. 3

    The lien is perfected within 200 days. Under section 34-28-4 you must mail the owner a Notice of Intention to Claim Lien and record a copy in the land evidence records before or within 200 days after doing the work or furnishing materials.

  4. 4

    You must sue quickly after recording. Under section 34-28-10 the lienholder must file a complaint to enforce and a notice of lis pendens in Superior Court within 40 days after the notice of intention is recorded, or the lien dissolves.

  5. 5

    Rhode Island reads the requirements strictly. Missing the pre-work notice, the 200-day recording deadline, or the tight 40-day suit deadline generally forfeits the lien, though a separate contract claim for the debt may remain.

  6. 6

    The notices use prescribed forms. Section 34-28-4 sets out the Notice of Intention to Claim Lien form, and section 34-28-4.1 prescribes the Notice of Possible Mechanic's Lien, so the wording must track the statute.

  7. 7

    The pre-work notice is the homeowner's shield. Rhode Island imposes no owner-occupied dollar cap; instead the mandatory Notice of Possible Mechanic's Lien warns the owner up front, and a direct contractor who skips it loses the right to claim a lien.

Key decisions before you file

Before you file a Mechanics Lien in Rhode Island, 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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NOTICE OF INTENTION TO CLAIM LIEN (RHODE ISLAND)

Given and recorded under R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 34-28. The claimant mails this Notice of Intention to Claim Lien to the owner by registered or certified mail and records a copy in the land evidence records to perfect a mechanics lien on the real property described below.

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

  2. OWNER OR REPUTED OWNER Name: [OWNER NAME] Address: [OWNER ADDRESS]

  3. HIRING PARTY The claimant furnished the work under contract with, or at the request of: [PERSON OR COMPANY THAT ORDERED THE WORK].

  4. PROPERTY Street address: [PROPERTY ADDRESS]. Legal description: [LEGAL DESCRIPTION]. City or town and county: [CITY/TOWN AND COUNTY].

  5. WORK OR MATERIALS FURNISHED General description of the labor or materials furnished for construction, erection, alteration, or repair: [DESCRIPTION]. Date first furnished: [FIRST DATE]. Date last furnished: [LAST DATE].

  6. AMOUNT OF THE CLAIM The amount claimed as due, after deducting all just credits and offsets, is: $[AMOUNT].

  7. SIGNATURE The claimant, or the claimant's authorized agent, signs this notice and states that the facts in it are true to the best of the claimant's knowledge and belief.

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

NOTICE OF POSSIBLE MECHANIC'S LIEN (given by a direct contractor to the owner before commencing work or delivering materials, under section 34-28-4.1)

WARNING: The property described above may be subject to a mechanic's lien if the contractor named below, or a subcontractor or supplier working under that contractor, is not paid for labor or materials furnished to improve the property. This notice is given before work begins so that the owner is aware a lien may be claimed.

To: [OWNER NAME AND ADDRESS] From (contractor): [CONTRACTOR NAME AND ADDRESS] Date given: [DATE]

Note: This Rhode Island mechanics lien notice follows R.I. Gen. Laws Chapter 34-28, including the prescribed forms in sections 34-28-4 and 34-28-4.1. Confirm the current statutory wording, contents, and deadlines, or have this reviewed by an attorney, before you record. Remember that a complaint to enforce and a notice of lis pendens must be filed within 40 days after this notice of intention is recorded.

Rhode Island Requirements for Mechanics Lien

Rhode Island Filing Deadline and Office

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

Frequently Asked Questions

A Rhode Island mechanics lien is a claim that a contractor, subcontractor, or supplier records against a property they improved but were not paid for. It attaches to the real estate and clouds the title, so the owner cannot easily sell or refinance, and it can be enforced by a court-ordered sale. Chapter 34-28 of the General Laws governs it.

Contractors, subcontractors, laborers, and material suppliers who furnished labor or materials to improve the property and were not paid can claim a lien. A contractor dealing directly with the owner must first give the owner a Notice of Possible Mechanic's Lien before work begins; material suppliers are not required to give that notice.

You perfect the lien by mailing the owner a Notice of Intention to Claim Lien and recording a copy in the land evidence records before or within 200 days after your last work or materials, under section 34-28-4. Rhode Island uses this recorded notice of intention, rather than a separate claim of lien, to fix the lien.

A contractor who contracts directly with the owner must give a Notice of Possible Mechanic's Lien before commencing work or delivering materials, under section 34-28-4.1. It can appear in the written contract or be sent by certified mail. Material suppliers are excepted, but for a direct contractor it is a condition of having any lien.

Rhode Island's enforcement deadline is short. Under section 34-28-10 you must file both a complaint to enforce the lien and a notice of lis pendens in Superior Court within 40 days of the date the notice of intention was recorded. Miss that 40-day window and the lien dissolves, so calendar it as soon as you record.

Missing the pre-work notice, the 200-day recording deadline, or the 40-day suit deadline usually means the lien is lost, because Rhode Island applies these rules strictly. You may still sue the party that hired you for breach of contract to recover the debt, but you give up the security a lien provides against the property.

No. The state sets no owner-occupied dollar limit. Instead its homeowner protection is the pre-work Notice of Possible Mechanic's Lien that a direct contractor must give under section 34-28-4.1. That notice warns the owner a lien is possible before any work starts, and skipping it defeats the contractor's lien.

When the debt is paid, the claimant should record a release or discharge of the notice of intention to clear the land evidence records. A lien also dissolves on its own if no enforcement complaint and lis pendens are filed within 40 days of recording. An owner who believes a lien is invalid can challenge it, and it can be bonded off.