Georgia Lien Laws: Types, Priority, and Removal

Georgia’s lien laws let creditors attach a legal claim to a debtor’s property to secure an unpaid debt, whether the debt comes from construction work, back taxes, or a court judgment. The three you’re most likely to encounter are mechanic’s liens (for unpaid contractors and suppliers), tax liens (state and federal), and judgment liens (from court awards). Each has its own filing rules, deadlines, and priority position, and small procedural mistakes routinely invalidate otherwise legitimate claims.

Mechanic’s Liens

Mechanic’s liens protect people who improve real property and don’t get paid. Under O.C.G.A. § 44-14-361, that includes general contractors, subcontractors, material suppliers, machinists, manufacturers, registered architects, professional engineers, registered land surveyors, and registered foresters. The one disqualifier: the claimant cannot have taken personal security, like a promissory note, for the work.¹

Subcontractors and suppliers can file even without a direct contract with the owner. But the total of all liens on a property cannot exceed the original contract price between the owner and the general contractor.² On a $200,000 project where the GC has already been paid $150,000, the unpaid subs and suppliers are collectively fighting over a $50,000 ceiling.

The 90-Day Filing Deadline

A mechanic’s lien claim must be filed within 90 days after the claimant last performed labor or delivered materials to the property. It’s filed with the clerk of superior court in the county where the property sits.²

The lien statement itself has to include:

The dollar amount claimed
A description of the property and the improvements made to it
The name of the property owner
The date the claim became due (the last date labor, services, or materials were supplied)
A statement about the lien’s expiration under O.C.G.A. § 44-14-367
A notice informing the owner of the right to contest the lien

Leave out the expiration statement or the right-to-contest notice, and the lien is invalid. Everything substantive can be perfectly accurate and the filing still fails on the missing procedural line.

Notice to the Owner After Filing

No later than two business days after recording, the claimant has to send a true and accurate copy of the claim to the owner by registered mail, certified mail, or statutory overnight delivery. If the owner’s address cannot be located, the copy goes to the contractor as the owner’s agent. When the owner is a business entity registered with the Georgia Secretary of State, mailing to the entity’s address or its registered agent works.²

Personal delivery does not satisfy this requirement. The statute lists the three acceptable methods and nothing else counts.

Preliminary Notice: Optional

Georgia does not require a preliminary notice before filing a lien. Under O.C.G.A. § 44-14-361.3, filing one is entirely optional, and a claimant can enforce a lien without ever sending one.³ Some claimants file one within 30 days of first supplying labor or materials as a way to prompt earlier resolution. If you do file one, a copy has to go to the contractor or owner within seven days by registered mail, certified mail, or statutory overnight delivery.

Notice of Commencement

Within 15 days after work physically begins, the owner, the owner’s agent, or the contractor must file a notice of commencement with the clerk of superior court and post a copy at the site. It identifies the contractor, the project, the owner, and any construction lender and bond surety.⁴ Subcontractors and suppliers can request a copy in writing, and the contractor is required to provide one. If you’re a sub, this document tells you who to serve if you later have to file.

The 365-Day Enforcement Deadline

Filing the lien is only step one. The claimant then has to commence an enforcement lawsuit within 365 days of the filing date.² Miss that date and the lien expires. No extensions.

The lawsuit asks the court to confirm the lien’s validity and, if the debt is still unpaid, order the property sold to satisfy it. The claimant has to prove proper filing, actual performance of the work, and non-payment. Owners who get served with an enforcement suit and ignore it can end up facing a default judgment and a court-ordered sale.

Tax Liens

The Georgia Department of Revenue files state tax liens, sometimes called state tax executions, against individuals and businesses with unpaid state tax debt. The lien is recorded with the clerk of superior court in one or more counties, making it public and securing the debt against the taxpayer’s property. The Department can file without prior notice to the taxpayer if it determines that’s in the state’s interest.⁵

Once recorded, a state tax lien makes it hard to sell or transfer property and opens the door to collection actions.⁶ Under O.C.G.A. § 48-2-56, tax liens are superior to all other liens and must be paid before any other debt, lien, or claim. Among tax liens themselves the order is state, then county, then school and special tax districts, then municipal.⁷

Federal Tax Liens

The IRS files a Notice of Federal Tax Lien after it assesses a liability, sends a bill, and the taxpayer fails to pay.⁸ Under 26 U.S.C. § 6323, a federal tax lien is not valid against a mechanic’s lienor or a judgment lien creditor until the IRS files that notice. If your mechanic’s lien was recorded before the IRS filed, your lien generally comes first.⁹

There’s also a narrow carve-out for small residential repairs. Even after the IRS files, a mechanic’s lien for repairs or improvements to an owner-occupied residence of four units or fewer takes priority over the federal tax lien if the contract price is $5,000 or less.

Judgment Liens

When a creditor wins a money judgment in a Georgia court, that judgment can attach to the debtor’s property. Under O.C.G.A. § 9-12-80, all judgments obtained in Georgia courts bind the defendant’s real and personal property from the date of judgment.¹⁰

To actually enforce the judgment against specific property, the creditor obtains a writ of fieri facias, commonly called a “fi. fa.,” and records it on the general execution docket at the clerk of superior court. The creditor can record it in any county where the debtor owns real property or has seizable assets. Once recorded, the fi. fa. gives the sheriff authority to seize assets to satisfy the judgment.

Lien Priority

When more than one lien hits the same property, priority controls who gets paid first if the property sells. The default rule is “first in time, first in right.” Tax liens override that rule and go to the front regardless of when they were filed.⁷

If a property owner owes back taxes, an unpaid contractor, and a judgment creditor, the tax authority collects first. Whatever’s left goes to the contractor and judgment creditor in filing-date order. A mechanic’s lien claimant should always check for outstanding tax liens before spending money on enforcement, because there may be nothing left to collect.

Removing a Lien From Your Property

There are three usual paths off the title: pay the debt, post a bond, or defeat the lien.

Payment and Cancellation

Pay the underlying debt, and the lienholder must mail a written cancellation to the property owner within 60 days.¹¹ The cancellation is then recorded with the clerk of superior court to clear the title. If the lienholder stalls, the owner has legal recourse to force it.

Bonding Off a Mechanic’s Lien

Owners who need to sell or refinance while a mechanic’s lien is pending can post a bond to release the lien from the property. Under O.C.G.A. § 44-14-364, the bond must be set at double the amount claimed. It can be a surety bond with security approved by the clerk, or a cash deposit.¹² Bonding off doesn’t resolve the dispute. It moves the claimant’s security from the property to the bond so the property can transact while the fight continues.

Challenging a Lien

Georgia’s procedural requirements are strict, so technical defenses often win.

Missed Deadlines

The most common defense is untimeliness. If the claimant blew the 90-day filing deadline, the lien is invalid. If the claimant filed on time but failed to sue within 365 days, the lien expires by operation of law.² Courts do not bend these deadlines. File on day 91 or sue on day 366 and the underlying debt no longer matters.

Procedural Defects

A lien statement that omits the expiration statement or the right-to-contest notice is invalid on its face. Failing to serve the owner within two business days by one of the three permitted methods is another frequent flaw. Owners should read the lien paperwork closely. Mistakes are more common than most claimants think.

Substantive Challenges

An owner can also contest whether the work was actually performed, whether the amount is accurate, or whether the claimant took personal security (which disqualifies a mechanic’s lien). If the aggregate of all liens exceeds the contract price, the owner can move to reduce or invalidate the excess.

Slander of Title

A lien filed wrongfully or maliciously can support a slander of title claim under O.C.G.A. § 51-9-11. The owner has to prove a false statement about the title, malice, and actual special damages.¹³

Special damages are where these claims usually fail. Georgia courts read the term narrowly. Vague statements that the lien blocked a sale or refinance aren’t enough without specific dollar figures. Attorney fees spent removing the lien don’t count, and neither does emotional distress. You need concrete financial harm, pleaded with enough detail that the defendant knows exactly what you lost.

What Happens if the Owner Files Bankruptcy

A bankruptcy filing triggers a federal automatic stay that stops lien enforcement in its tracks. Under 11 U.S.C. § 362, no creditor can create, perfect, or enforce a lien against the debtor’s property once the petition is filed.¹⁴ A mechanic’s lien claimant mid-lawsuit stops. A tax authority moving to seize stops.

The stay stays in place until the property leaves the bankruptcy estate or the court lifts it. Creditors can ask the court to lift the stay if there’s no equity for the debtor and the property isn’t needed for reorganization. Lien claimants usually need to participate in the case to protect their position, because under 11 U.S.C. § 506 a secured claim is only treated as secured up to the property’s current value. A $50,000 lien on a property worth $30,000 becomes $30,000 secured and $20,000 unsecured.¹⁵

Georgia’s homestead exemption under O.C.G.A. § 44-13-100 lets an individual debtor exempt up to $21,500 of equity in a residence, doubled to $43,000 when the property is titled in one spouse’s name and both spouses are debtors.¹⁶ The exemption shields against judgment liens, but it does not defeat mechanic’s liens for work done on the property or tax liens, which attach regardless.

1
Justia. Georgia Code 44-14-361 – Creation of Liens
2
Justia. Georgia Code 44-14-361.1 – How Liens Declared and Created; Amendment; Record; Commencement of Action; Notice; Priorities; Parties; Limitation on Aggregate Amount of Liens
3
Justia. Georgia Code 44-14-361.3 – Preliminary Notice of Lien; Form
4
Justia. Georgia Code 44-14-361.5 – Liens of Persons Furnishing Labor, Services, or Materials; Notice of Commencement
5
Department of Revenue. Liens
6
Department of Revenue. Lien – FAQ
7
Justia. Georgia Code 48-2-56 – Liens for Taxes; Priority
8
Internal Revenue Service. Understanding a Federal Tax Lien
9
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 6323 – Validity and Priority Against Certain Persons
10
Justia. Georgia Code 9-12-80 – Equal Dignity and Binding Effect of Judgments
11
Justia. Georgia Code 44-14-3 – Furnishing of Cancellation by Holder of Instrument
12
Justia. Georgia Code 44-14-364 – Release of Lien on Approval of Bond
13
Justia. Georgia Code 51-9-11 – Slander or Libel Concerning Title to Land
14
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 362 – Automatic Stay
15
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 506 – Determination of Secured Status
16
Justia. Georgia Code 44-13-100 – Exemptions for Purposes of Bankruptcy