Mechanics lien filing software that runs the deadline clock on every job before it runs out
Mechanics lien filing is the sequence of dated notices and recordings a contractor, subcontractor or supplier has to complete to keep a claim against the property it improved. Every step is a hard deadline: California requires a preliminary notice no later than 20 days after work is first furnished, Florida requires a notice to owner within 45 days of commencing, and a Florida claim of lien dies 1 year after recording unless a suit is filed. Neurobird holds the job, the parties and the clock on one record.
Neurobird Mechanics Lien Filing in short
- Start the clock the day work is first furnished instead of the day somebody remembers to worry
- Serve and log the preliminary notice or notice to owner with proof that survives a challenge
- Record the claim of lien inside the state window that actually applies to your tier
- 20 days Deadline for a California preliminary notice after the claimant first furnishes work. A late notice still counts, but it only protects work performed in the 20 days before it was served. California Civil Code 8204
- 60 days Window a California direct contractor gets to record a claim of lien once the owner records a notice of completion or cessation, replacing the ordinary 90 days after completion. California Civil Code 8412
- Pricing runs 149 to 1190 US dollars per month across 3 tiers. Early access is free.
What contractors, subcontractors and material suppliers actually deal with
Why it stays broken
Lien rights are created by fifty separate state statutes and lost on a calendar, not on the merits. The deadline usually hangs off a fact that happens on somebody else's property, such as the day the owner records a notice of completion, so the clock starts without anyone on the crew being told. Accounting software tracks the invoice, project software tracks the schedule, and the notice that protects the money is a task in somebody's inbox.
California Civil Code 8412 gives a direct contractor until the earlier of 90 days after completion of the work of improvement or 60 days after the owner records a notice of completion or cessation.
A sub-subcontractor or a materialman to a subcontractor must serve a copy of the notice on the contractor as a prerequisite to perfecting a lien under this chapter and recording a claim of lien.
Neurobird Mechanics Lien Filing Operations Platform
One record per job: the parties above and below you, the date work was first furnished, every notice that has gone out, the claim of lien if it was recorded, and the enforcement date that follows from all of it.
- 1Start the clock the day work is first furnished instead of the day somebody remembers to worry
- 2Serve and log the preliminary notice or notice to owner with proof that survives a challenge
- 3Record the claim of lien inside the state window that actually applies to your tier
- 4Watch the enforcement date and the release paperwork after recording, not just before it
What changes with Neurobird Mechanics Lien Filing?
The same work, read left to right: how it runs today, and how it runs once the record is in one place.
| Today | With Neurobird Mechanics Lien Filing |
|---|---|
| A preliminary notice goes out late and the job that was already paid slowly becomes the job that is not paid at all | Start the clock the day work is first furnished instead of the day somebody remembers to worry |
| Nobody is sure whether the owner recorded a notice of completion, which is the fact that shortens the window | Serve and log the preliminary notice or notice to owner with proof that survives a challenge |
| The lien is recorded on time and then sits there while the enforcement clock runs out in a different calendar | Record the claim of lien inside the state window that actually applies to your tier |
Who is this for?
The same statute, three different positions on the job.
You are two tiers down
Your deadlines are shorter and your notice list is longer. You need the party chain captured before the first delivery, not after the first late payment.
You never set foot on the site
You know a purchase order, not a project. You need the job, the owner and the first furnishing date attached to the account before anything ships.
You are the one being liened
Notices arrive from parties you did not hire. You need them logged against the job so a final payment affidavit is a document rather than an act of faith.
The deadline board, as your credit desk would work it
Close a notice and watch the recording window and the enforcement date move with it.
| Line item | Amount | |
|---|---|---|
| JOB-2190, owner recorded notice of completion, 30 day window | $1,840 | |
| JOB-2166, claim of lien recorded, action due in 41 days | $620 | |
| JOB-2214, first furnishing 14 days ago, preliminary notice due | $3,275 | |
| JOB-2151, notice of contest served, 60 day clock running | $455 |
Click recover to add a missed line to the invoice.
How does Neurobird Mechanics Lien Filing work?
Open the job
Owner, direct contractor, the party who hired you and the property description, captured once at the point where the first delivery or the first day of labor happens.
Serve the notice
The state rule picks the form and the window, the service is logged with its date and method, and the file keeps what you would have to produce if anyone contests it.
Run the clock to the end
Recording is the middle of the story. The record carries the enforcement date, the shortened window a notice of contest creates, and the release when the money finally lands.
What the statutes say about lien deadlines
Two states written out in detail, the windows that follow from an owner filing, and the federal rule that decides where a mechanic's lien sits against a tax lien.
Deadline for a California preliminary notice after the claimant first furnishes work. A late notice still counts, but it only protects work performed in the 20 days before it was served.
California Civil Code 8204Window a California direct contractor gets to record a claim of lien once the owner records a notice of completion or cessation, replacing the ordinary 90 days after completion.
California Civil Code 8412Window a California claimant other than the direct contractor gets after the owner records a notice of completion or cessation, half the time the direct contractor above them has.
California Civil Code 8414Time a California claimant has to commence an action after recording the claim of lien. Miss it and the claim of lien expires and is unenforceable, with an extension of credit capped at one year after completion.
California Civil Code 8460Florida notice to owner deadline, served before commencing or not later than 45 days after commencing to furnish labor, services or materials, and always before final payment is disbursed.
Florida Statutes 713.06Life of a recorded Florida claim of lien with no suit filed. An owner can cut that to 60 days by serving a notice of contest, after which an unenforced lien is extinguished automatically.
Florida Statutes 713.22Mechanics lien filing software questions, answered
Key terms
- What is a mechanics lien?
- It is a claim recorded against real property by someone who improved it and was not paid. It attaches to the property rather than to the person who owes the money, which is why the statutes surround it with dated notices: California Civil Code 8204 requires a preliminary notice within 20 days of first furnishing work.
- What are the deadlines after an owner records a notice of completion?
- In California they shorten. A direct contractor has 60 days from that recording under Civil Code 8412, and everyone else has 30 days under 8414, instead of the 90 days after completion that would otherwise apply. The filing happens on the owner's side, so the clock can start without anyone telling you.
Does this file the lien for me?
No. Recording happens at the county and service happens through whoever you already use. This is the record of what was served, when, on whom and with what proof, and the deadline that follows from it.
How does it handle several states at once?
The rule set belongs to the job, not to the company. A California job carries the 20 day preliminary notice and the 90 day action deadline, a Florida job carries the 45 day notice to owner and the one year life of the recorded lien.
What happens after the lien is recorded?
The part most systems forget. California gives 90 days to commence an action before the claim expires, and in Florida an owner can serve a notice of contest that cuts the remaining life to 60 days, so the record keeps running after the recording.
Why we are building this
We went looking for money that gets lost on a calendar rather than on the merits, and lien rights kept coming up. The work was done, the invoice is correct, and the claim is gone because a notice went out on day 24 instead of day 20. That is a record problem, and record problems are what we build. The statutes we read while scoping this are linked above, so you can check our reading of them instead of taking our word for it. If we have a state wrong, tell us and we will fix it.
Where the requirement comes from
Primary sources, straight from the regulators.
- California Civil Code 8204, preliminary notice timing The 20 day rule, what a late notice still protects and the separate treatment of design professionals.
- California Civil Code 8412, direct contractor claim of lien Ninety days after completion or sixty after a notice of completion, whichever arrives first.
- California Civil Code 8414, claim of lien by everyone else Why a subcontractor's window closes thirty days after a filing it never sees.
- California Civil Code 8460, enforcing the lien The ninety day action deadline and the narrow credit extension that pushes it out to a year.
- Florida Statutes 713.06, notice to owner Who must be served, the forty five day window and the wording the statute prints out in full.
- 26 U.S. Code 6323, priority against a federal tax lien Where a mechanic's lienor stands after a notice of tax lien is filed, and the $5,000 residential carve out.
How much does Neurobird Mechanics Lien Filing cost?
Priced per operation because the deadlines follow the company's position on the job rather than the size of the invoice. Jobs, notices and documents are unlimited on the upper tiers.
- Up to 50 open jobs
- Preliminary notice tracking
- State deadline rules
- Document storage
- Unlimited jobs
- Multi state rule sets
- Party chain capture
- Enforcement clock alerts
- Multiple branches
- Account to job matching
- Bulk notice runs
- Priority support
Get free early access
Early access means we load your open jobs, your states and your current notice list before you type anything, and the account stays free while we do it.
Straight answer on where this is: The software is in development. Nothing is purchasable today. Early access means you shape it and pay nothing while we build.
Prefer email? Write to office@neurobird.com and a person will reply. No autoresponder.