Missouri Notice to Owner

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   Missouri section 429.012 requires a written notice carrying the prescribed NOTICE TO OWNER disclosure, in ten-point bold type, warning the owner that unpaid suppliers can lien the property and that the owner may ask the contractor for lien waivers to avoid paying twice. It is a warning, not a lien, and it is not recorded.

2. 2

   The duty falls on the original contractor, the party in contract with the owner, and on no one else. A subcontractor, supplier or laborer owes nothing under section 429.012, which reverses the usual arrangement.

3. 3

   There is no day count in the Missouri statute. The bar is a payment bar: the notice must be provided prior to the original contractor receiving payment in any form of any kind from the person with whom the contract is made.

4. 4

   Four delivery moments are named, and any of them satisfies the section: at the time of the execution of the contract, when the materials are delivered, when the work is commenced, or delivered with the first invoice. Section 429.012 names no mail or service method, so it fixes the moment rather than the mechanism.

5. 5

   Compliance is a condition precedent to the creation, existence or validity of any mechanic's lien in favor of that original contractor, and an original contractor who fails to provide the notice with intent to defraud is guilty of a class B misdemeanor.

6. 6

   New residences are carved out where the buyer has been furnished mechanics' and suppliers' lien protection through a title insurance company registered in the state of Missouri (section 429.012.4).

7. 7

   On the repair or remodeling of or addition to owner-occupied residential property of four units or less, section 429.013 adds the CONSENT OF OWNER, in ten point bold type and signed separately from the section 429.012 notice. Without it, full payment to the contractor is a complete defense to all liens filed by anyone other than the original contractor.

Missouri Requirements for Preliminary Notice

• The Prescribed NOTICE TO OWNER Block, in Ten Point Bold Type

  Section 429.012.1 requires a written notice including the prescribed disclosure language in ten-point bold type under the heading NOTICE TO OWNER: that failure of this contractor to pay those persons supplying material or services to complete this contract can result in the filing of a mechanic's lien on the property, that to avoid this result the owner may ask the contractor for lien waivers from all persons supplying material or services for the work described in the contract, and that failure to secure lien waivers may result in the owner paying for labor and material twice.

• Only the Original Contractor Owes It

  The duty in Section 429.012.1 falls on every original contractor who performs work or furnishes material for a building, erection or improvement upon land, or for repairing the same, under or by virtue of any contract. Subcontractors, material suppliers and laborers owe no notice under this section. The section also reaches work ordered without a contract by a city, town, village or charter county to abate a dangerous building under Section 67.410.

• No Day Count: a Payment Bar and Four Moments

  Section 429.012.1 sets no number of days. It requires the notice to be provided prior to the original contractor receiving payment in any form of any kind from the person with whom the contract is made, and names four moments for delivery: at the time of the execution of the contract, when the materials are delivered, when the work is commenced, or delivered with the first invoice.

• The Person With Whom the Contract Is Made

  The notice goes to the person with whom the contract is made, or to the owner if there is no contract. That is the entire recipient list in Section 429.012. No construction lender and no general contractor is named as a recipient.

• Condition Precedent, Plus a Class B Misdemeanor

  Section 429.012.2 makes compliance a condition precedent to the creation, existence or validity of any mechanic's lien in favor of that original contractor, so the lien right does not arise without the notice. Section 429.012.3 adds that an original contractor who fails to provide the notice with intent to defraud is guilty of a class B misdemeanor, and that a contractor who knowingly issues a fraudulent lien waiver or a false affidavit is guilty of a class D felony.

• Title Insurance Lien Protection Carve-Out

  Section 429.012.4 provides that subsections 1 and 2 do not apply to new residences for which the buyer has been furnished mechanics' and suppliers' lien protection through a title insurance company registered in the state of Missouri. The carve-out turns on who holds that protection, not on the contract price, and the section sets no dollar threshold.

• The CONSENT OF OWNER Block on Owner-Occupied Residential Repairs

  Section 429.013 applies only to the repair or remodeling of or addition to owner-occupied residential property of four units or less, and not to original development. On that work no person other than an original contractor has a lien unless an owner has agreed in a written contract to be liable for the costs if unpaid, in a consent printed in ten point bold type, signed separately from the Section 429.012 notice, carrying the prescribed CONSENT OF OWNER wording. Absent the consent, full payment to the contractor is a complete defense to all such liens, and partial payment is an offset to the extent paid.

• Retain the Notice and Produce It on Request

  Section 429.013.3 requires every original contractor to retain a copy of the Section 429.012 notice and any consent signed by an owner, and to furnish a copy to any person performing work or furnishing material on request. No proof of service affidavit is prescribed for the notice itself. On the residential track it is a condition precedent to any lien by a party other than the original contractor that a copy of the signed consent be attached to the recording of a claim of lien, and one owner's signature binds all owners.