Ohio Notice of Furnishing

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   A notice of furnishing is the paper a subcontractor or material supplier serves to keep Ohio lien rights, and Section 1311.05 ties it to the owner's document: it is required where any person has recorded a notice of commencement for the improvement, and division (H) excuses it where the owner who contracted for the work never recorded one.

2. 2

   Two parties must receive it, and both names come off the recorded notice of commencement: the owner's, part owner's or lessee's designee named in it, and the original contractor under the contract you are working under. Use the addresses listed in that notice.

3. 3

   If no designee is named, or the designee has died or ceased to exist, serve the owner, part owner or lessee named in the notice of commencement. Where no designee is named and several owners are, service on the first owner named is sufficient.

4. 4

   A lender named in the notice of commencement may be sent a copy, and no claimant is required to copy the lender to keep lien rights. Section 1311.05 adds that a lender's receipt of the notice imposes no duty on the lender about disbursing loan proceeds or paying anyone.

5. 5

   The window is 21 days from the day you first performed labor or work or furnished materials, and it opens only once the notice of commencement is on record. Two extensions exist: if the owner fails to record, your time runs until 21 days after it is recorded, and if the owner fails to serve it on your written request, until 21 days after it actually reaches you.

6. 6

   Four classes never have to serve one: an original contractor for lien rights under its own contract with the owner, a material supplier in direct privity with the owner, a subcontractor or material supplier in direct privity with the original contractor as regards the original contractor, and any laborer. Section 1311.05 also does not apply to an improvement made under a home construction contract.

7. 7

   Division (B) prints the form and requires the notice to be in substantially that shape, including the capitalized WARNING TO OWNER paragraph telling the owner that the Ohio mechanics' lien law requires the notice and that legal assistance protects against paying twice for the improvements.

Ohio Requirements for Preliminary Notice

• The Designee and the Original Contractor From the Notice of Commencement

  Section 1311.05(A) requires service on the owner's, part owner's or lessee's designee named in the notice of commencement or amended notice, and on the original contractor under the contract you are performing under, at the addresses listed in that notice. If no designee is named, or the designee has died or ceased to exist, serve the owner named in the notice; where several owners are named in that case, the first one named is sufficient.

• Twenty-One Days From First Furnishing, Opening at the Recorded Notice

  The notice may be served at any time after the notice of commencement or amended notice goes on record, and must be served within twenty-one days after you first performed labor or work or furnished the first materials. Section 1311.04(I) extends your time until twenty-one days after a late recording, and Section 1311.04(J) until twenty-one days after the notice of commencement actually reaches you if the owner ignored your written request.

• Four Classes Never Have to Serve One

  No original contractor, for lien rights under its own contract with an owner, part owner or lessee. No material supplier in direct privity of contract with the owner, as to the owner or designee. No subcontractor or material supplier in direct privity of contract with the original contractor, as to that original contractor. And under division (G), no laborer.

• No Notice Needed Where the Owner Never Recorded One

  Division (H) excuses a subcontractor or material supplier from serving a notice of furnishing to keep lien rights if the owner, part owner or lessee who contracted for the labor, work or materials fails to record a notice of commencement. Division (E) separately takes the whole section off any improvement made pursuant to a home construction contract as defined in Section 1311.011, and division (I) does the same where the notice of commencement was filed by the Section 1311.04(O) financing route.

• The Printed Form and the WARNING TO OWNER Paragraph

  Division (B) prints the form and requires the notice to be in substantially that shape, including the capitalized paragraph that begins WARNING TO OWNER: THIS NOTICE IS REQUIRED BY THE OHIO MECHANICS' LIEN LAW, and goes on to say that if the owner has questions about rights and duties under these statutes the owner should seek legal assistance to be protected from the possibility of paying twice for the improvements to the property. Reproduce the statute's words. Division (C) accepts any property description that reasonably identifies the real property.

• Three Means of Service, and Certified Mail Counts on Mailing

  Section 1311.19(A) permits the county sheriff using an Ohio Rules of Civil Procedure method; certified or registered mail, overnight delivery service, hand delivery, or any other method which includes a written evidence of receipt; or the Section 1701.07(H) route for a corporation. For a notice of furnishing sent by certified mail, service is complete on the date of the mailing, and an envelope returned unclaimed or refused from the address in the notice of commencement is served when first attempted.

• Proof of Receipt, and the Three-Day Presumption

  No separate affidavit of service is prescribed for this notice. Keep whatever written evidence of receipt the chosen method produced. Section 1311.19(C) treats the document as served, whichever method was used, where the person served acknowledges receipt or actual receipt is proved by a preponderance of evidence, and presumes receipt three days after mailing unless a written acknowledgement, receipt or other evidence proves otherwise.

• Late Service Keeps Only the Last Twenty-One Days

  Division (D)(1) provides that a notice of furnishing served more than twenty-one days after your first labor, work or material at the site preserves lien rights for amounts owing for what was performed and furnished within the twenty-one-day period immediately preceding service, and thereafter, but does not revive prior lien rights for anything furnished before that window. Serving late still protects everything from the service date forward.