Indiana Notice of Lien Rights

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   Indiana spells the consequence out twice, in the same three words. Subsection (h) says the furnishing of the notice is a condition precedent to the right of acquiring a lien upon the lot or parcel of land or the improvement on it, and subsection (i) says the furnishing and filing of the notice is a condition precedent to the right of acquiring a lien upon the real estate or the improvement constructed on it.

2. 2

   Repair work gets 30 days, new construction gets 60, and the count starts from your own first delivery or first labor on that dwelling. Neither subsection runs from a contract date, an invoice, or anything the owner filed.

3. 3

   On original construction the notice is only half the job. Subsection (i) requires a copy of the written notice to be filed in the recorder's office of the county inside the same 60 days, and the statute makes the furnishing and the filing together the condition precedent.

4. 4

   Address the original construction notice from the public record, not the job file. Subsection (i) names the owner as the owner appears in the latest entry in the transfer books described in IC 6-1.1-5-4 of the county auditor, or, where IC 6-1.1-5-9 applies, in the transfer books of the township assessor if any or the county assessor.

5. 5

   Both subsections apply only to a party that sells or furnishes on credit to a contractor, subcontractor, mechanic, or anyone other than the occupying owner or the owner's legal representative. A supplier dealing directly with the homeowner is not described by either one.

6. 6

   Neither subsection reaches a commercial building, an apartment block or anything beyond a single or double family dwelling, and subsection (h) is limited further to a dwelling that is already owner occupied, with its appurtenances or additions.

7. 7

   Because Indiana serves its code only as a JavaScript application and its data API requires a key, no copy of the statute on an Indiana state host could be read. Every value here is taken from three independent published copies that agree word for word, one of them marked current as of January 1, 2026, and attorney review is available if you want it confirmed.

Indiana Requirements for Preliminary Notice

• A Condition Precedent, Not a Formality

  Ind. Code 32-28-3-1(h) states that the furnishing of the notice is a condition precedent to the right of acquiring a lien upon the lot or parcel of land or the improvement on it. Subsection (i) states that the furnishing and filing of the notice is a condition precedent to the right of acquiring a lien upon the real estate or the improvement constructed on it. The statute provides no late route and no reduced claim.

• Thirty Days on Repairs to an Owner Occupied Dwelling

  Subsection (h) requires the written notice not later than thirty days after the date of first delivery or labor performed, where material, labor or machinery is sold or furnished on credit for the alteration or repair of an owner occupied single or double family dwelling or the appurtenances or additions to the dwelling. Attorney review available on this value, which is corroborated from three independent copies because Indiana publishes its code only through a JavaScript application and a key-gated API.

• Sixty Days on Original Construction, Plus a Recorder Filing

  Subsection (i) requires, for the original construction of a single or double family dwelling for the intended occupancy of the owner, both a written notice to the owner of the real estate and a copy filed in the recorder's office of the county, each not later than sixty days after the date of the first delivery or labor performed. Two acts, one window.

• The Occupying Owner, or the Owner in the Auditor's Transfer Books

  Under subsection (h) the recipient is the occupying owner of the parcel of land where the material, labor or machinery is delivered. Under subsection (i) it is the owner of the real estate as named in the latest entry in the transfer books described in IC 6-1.1-5-4 of the county auditor, or, if IC 6-1.1-5-9 applies, as named in the transfer books of the township assessor if any or the county assessor. Neither subsection names a general contractor or a construction lender.

• Credit Sales to Someone Other Than the Owner

  Both subsections apply to a person, firm, partnership, limited liability company or corporation that sells or furnishes on credit, to a contractor, subcontractor, mechanic, or anyone other than the occupying owner or the owner's legal representative. A claimant that supplied the owner directly, or that did not sell on credit, is not described by either subsection.

• No Prescribed Form, No Prescribed Delivery Method

  The statute asks only for a written notice of the delivery or work, or the delivery or labor, and of the existence of lien rights. Indiana prescribes no statutory form, no owner warning paragraph, no type size, no verification and no method of delivery for either notice, and gives the document no short name of its own.

• One and Two Family Dwellings Only

  Subsection (h) covers the alteration or repair of an owner occupied single or double family dwelling and its appurtenances or additions. Subsection (i) covers the original construction of a single or double family dwelling for the intended occupancy of the owner on whose real estate the construction takes place. Commercial projects and residential buildings with more than two dwelling units are described by neither.

• The Separate Pre-Start Notice Under Section 32-28-3-9

  Ind. Code 32-28-3-9(f) covers a subcontractor, equipment lessor, journeyman or laborer who gives the property owner, or the owner's agent if the owner is absent, written notice before labor is performed or materials or machinery is furnished, particularly setting forth the amount of labor contracted to be performed or the materials or machinery contracted to be furnished. It gives the same rights and remedies against the owner for everything furnished after the notice. Subsection (d) caps the owner's liability at what is due and may later become due to the claimant's employer or lessee, and subsection (g) divides an insufficient recovery pro rata.