Question 1

Who must serve a Minnesota pre-lien notice, and who is excused?

Accepted Answer

Subdivision 2 of section 514.011 reaches every person who contributes to the improvement so as to be entitled to a lien under section 514.01, except a party under direct contract with the owner. That is the subcontractor, the sub-subcontractor, the material supplier and the equipment provider. A party in direct contract with the owner falls under subdivision 1 instead, which is satisfied by including the prescribed notice in the written contract with the owner and giving the owner a copy. Subdivision 1 also excuses a contractor who is itself an owner of the improved real estate, a corporate contractor whose officer or controlling shareholder owns the property, a contractor who is an officer or controlling shareholder of the owner corporation, and a corporate contractor managed or controlled by substantially the same people as the owner corporation.

Question 2

Who has to receive a Minnesota pre-lien notice?

Accepted Answer

The owner, or the owner's authorized agent. That is the whole list in section 514.011. Subdivision 5 defines owner for this purpose as the owner of any legal or equitable interest in the real property whose interest is either known to the person contributing to the improvement or has been recorded or filed for record if registered land, and who enters into a contract for the improvement. Minnesota does not make the construction lender a recipient of this notice, and it does not make the general contractor one either, which is a real difference from states that require a three way service. Serve the owner correctly and the recipient list is complete.

Question 3

How many days does Minnesota give, and when does the clock start?

Accepted Answer

For a subcontractor or supplier, the statute says the notice must be given not later than 45 days after the lien claimant has first furnished labor, skill or materials for the improvement. The clock starts at your own first delivery or first day of work on that project, not at your contract date and not at a missed invoice, so pin that date down first. For a contractor dealing with the owner where no written contract was entered into, subdivision 1 requires the separately prepared notice to be delivered within ten days after the work of improvement is agreed upon. Where there is a written contract, the contractor's notice belongs in the contract itself and no separate ten day delivery arises.

Question 4

How must a Minnesota pre-lien notice be delivered?

Accepted Answer

Section 514.011 names two methods and no others, and uses the same pair in both subdivisions: personal delivery, or certified mail, to the owner or the owner's authorized agent. Fax, email and ordinary first class mail are not among the methods the section lists. Certified mail is the practical choice for most suppliers because it produces a dated record of what left your office and where it went. If you hand deliver instead, note the date, the place and the person who took it at the time, not weeks later when the dispute has already started.

Question 5

Does Minnesota prescribe the exact words of the pre-lien notice?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and this is the heart of the Minnesota document. Subdivision 2 sets out the subcontractor text in full: that the notice is to advise the owner of their rights under Minnesota law in connection with the improvement, that any person or company supplying labor or materials may file a lien if not paid, blanks for the name and address of the subcontractor, the name of the owner's contractor, the type of service or the material supplied, and an estimate of the claimant's charges, then the owner's right to pay the claimant directly and deduct it from the contract price or to withhold the amount due until 120 days after completion unless a signed lien waiver is produced, and finally the line that the claimant may not file a lien if the owner paid the contractor in full before receiving the notice. Subdivision 1 sets out the shorter contractor paragraphs (a) and (b). Reproduce the statute's language rather than paraphrasing it.

Question 6

Which Minnesota properties fall outside the pre-lien notice rule?

Accepted Answer

Three carve-outs sit in the exceptions subdivisions. Subdivision 4a removes the section where the contractor is managed or controlled by substantially the same persons who manage or control the owner. Subdivision 4b removes it in connection with an improvement to real property consisting of or providing more than four family units when the improvement is wholly residential in character. Subdivision 4c removes it on real property that is not in agricultural use and is wholly or partially nonresidential in use, where the work adds more than 5,000 total usable square feet of floor space, or the existing property already contains more than 5,000 total usable square feet, or the property contains more than 5,000 square feet and the work is not a new building or an addition to or improvement of an existing one. That third clause expressly covers clearing, excavating, grading, filling, landscaping, well drilling, paving or striping a parking lot, and ditch, drain or reservoir work.

Question 7

What happens if a Minnesota pre-lien notice is never given?

Accepted Answer

Minnesota does not shrink the claim to recent work the way some states do. For a subcontractor, subdivision 2 makes the notice a necessary prerequisite to the validity of any claim or lien, so without it the lien right does not stand. For a contractor, subdivision 1 says in terms that a person who fails to provide the notice shall not have the lien and remedy provided by the chapter. The one relief in the section is subdivision 2(b), and it is for subcontractors only: a person entitled to a lien does not lose the right to the lien for failure to strictly comply with subdivision 2 if a good faith effort was made to comply, unless the owner or another lien claimant proves damage as a direct result. That clause rewards a documented attempt, not an omission.

Question 8

Does Minnesota require proof that the pre-lien notice reached the owner?

Accepted Answer

Section 514.011 prescribes no proof of notice declaration and no affidavit, which is unusual and is one reason to keep your own record carefully. What the section does instead is limit you to personal delivery or certified mail, so the certified mail documentation is the evidence the statute's own method produces. Keep the certified mail receipt, the tracking record and a copy of exactly what you sent in the job file from the day it goes out. Minnesota does ask about the notice later on: the Department of Commerce Uniform Conveyancing Blank for a mechanic's lien statement carries a line stating that notice as required by section 514.011, subdivision 2, if any, was given.

Minnesota Pre-Lien Notice

Find out where you stand in Minnesota

Introduction

Key Things to Know

Key decisions before you file

Customize your Preliminary Notice Template with DocDraft

Minnesota Requirements for Preliminary Notice

Subcontractors and Suppliers Serve, Contractors Contract

The Owner Is the Only Recipient

Forty Five Days From First Furnishing, Ten for an Oral Contract

Personal Delivery or Certified Mail, Nothing Else

The Statute Writes the Wording, and the Type Size

Four Exemptions, Including the 5,000 Square Foot Tests

Omission Defeats the Claim, Good Faith May Save a Subcontractor

No Prescribed Proof, So Demand the Owner Details and Keep the Receipt

Frequently Asked Questions