Georgia Mechanics Lien: Notice, Filing, and Owner Defenses

A Georgia mechanics lien is a claim that a contractor, subcontractor, supplier, or design professional records against real property to secure payment for labor, services, or materials that improved that property. The lien clouds the title, which pressures owners and general contractors to resolve unpaid bills rather than let the dispute head toward a foreclosure sale. Georgia courts require strict compliance with the statute, and a single missed deadline or missing piece of required language can void the claim.

Who Can File

Georgia’s lien statute covers general contractors, subcontractors, laborers working for subcontractors, and material suppliers who furnish materials to a contractor or subcontractor. It also covers registered architects, land surveyors, professional engineers, foresters, and interior designers, along with companies that rent tools, machinery, or equipment used on the project.¹

You do not need a direct contract with the property owner. A subcontractor hired by the general contractor, or a supplier selling to a subcontractor, still has lien rights. The chain has one hard limit: a supplier who sells to another supplier, rather than to a contractor or subcontractor, is outside the statute. Design professionals get lien rights only if their plans or work were actually used in the construction.

Licensing is a threshold issue. For any contract signed on or after July 1, 2008, if the work required a residential or commercial general contractor license and the contractor was unlicensed at signing, the contract is unenforceable and no lien or bond claim can exist in that contractor’s favor. Licensed subcontractors and suppliers working under an unlicensed general contractor keep their own lien rights.²

One boundary worth stating up front: mechanics liens cannot attach to government-owned property. Contractors and suppliers on public projects have to look to the payment bond required under Georgia’s Little Miller Act for public contracts over $250,000.³

The Notice Chain Before You File

Subcontractors and suppliers routinely lose their lien rights here without knowing it. Georgia allows the owner, the owner’s agent, or the general contractor to file a Notice of Commencement with the superior court clerk within 15 days after work physically begins, and to post a copy at the job site.⁴

When a Notice of Commencement has been filed, any lien claimant without a direct contract with the general contractor must send a written Notice to Contractor to the owner and the contractor. The deadline is 30 days from the filing of the Notice of Commencement or 30 days from the claimant’s first delivery of labor, services, or materials, whichever is later. Miss it and the lien rights are gone for that project.⁴

If no Notice of Commencement was ever filed, the Notice to Contractor requirement does not apply. The practical difficulty is knowing which situation you are in, since subcontractors often cannot easily tell whether a notice was filed. The safe habit is to send the Notice to Contractor on every job.

Filing the Lien

The lien is recorded with the clerk of superior court in the county where the property sits. The deadline is 90 days after the claimant last provided labor, services, or materials to the project. There is no grace period; day 91 is too late.⁵

The lien document must include:

The specific dollar amount still owed.
A legal description of the property matching county records; a street address alone is not enough.
The date the claim became due, which is the last date labor, services, or materials were supplied.
A statement explaining when the lien expires under O.C.G.A. § 44-14-367.
A notice informing the owner of the right to contest the lien.

Leaving out the expiration statement or the owner’s-right-to-contest notice invalidates the lien entirely. The statute provides a form the claim must substantially follow.⁵

Within two business days after recording, the claimant must mail a true and accurate copy of the lien to the property owner by registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery. If the owner’s address cannot be found, the copy goes to the contractor as the owner’s agent. When the owner is a business registered with the Georgia Secretary of State, sending the copy to its registered agent address satisfies the requirement. If a Notice of Commencement was filed, the claimant must also send a copy of the lien to the contractor at the address on that notice.⁵

Recording fees typically run $25 to $35, depending on the county. Errors in the legal description can invalidate the lien, so it pays to pull the description straight from the deed records rather than reconstruct one.

Lien Waivers and the Nonpayment Trap

Lien waivers are routine. Every time a subcontractor or supplier takes a progress payment, the owner or general contractor typically asks them to sign a waiver confirming payment covers work through a stated date. Georgia requires the statutory waiver forms: an interim waiver for progress payments and a final waiver for the last payment. Waivers must follow the exact format prescribed in O.C.G.A. § 44-14-366(c), and deviations can render the waiver or a related affidavit invalid.

Here is the trap. Under Georgia law, once you sign a conditional waiver and 90 days pass without payment, a presumption arises that you were paid, and you are barred from filing a lien unless you preserved your rights before that clock ran out.

Preservation means filing an Affidavit of Nonpayment in the county real estate records within 90 days of signing the waiver, declaring that you were not in fact paid. Within seven days of filing, you must serve a copy on the property owner by registered or certified mail or statutory overnight delivery, and on the general contractor as well if you lack a direct contract with them. The affidavit does not extend the separate 90-day lien filing deadline running from the last day you furnished labor or materials, so you have to track both clocks. Your real filing deadline is whichever comes first.

Enforcing the Lien

Recording the lien is only step one. A lien that just sits on the record expires. The claimant must file a lawsuit, or start arbitration if the contract requires it, within 365 days of the date the lien was recorded. Missing that deadline makes the lien void.⁵

Within 30 days after filing that lawsuit, the claimant must also file a notice with the clerk of superior court in the county where the lien was recorded. The notice must identify the court or arbitration venue, the case name and number, the filing date, and the book and page number where the lien appears. It must be signed under oath by the claimant or their attorney. Georgia law states that a separate lis pendens filing is not required because this notice serves that purpose. Skipping this step within 30 days can render the lien unenforceable even if the lawsuit itself was timely.⁵

During the suit, the owner can attack the lien on procedural grounds: improper notice, missed deadlines, inflated amounts, defective property descriptions. If the lien is upheld, the court can order a foreclosure sale, with proceeds distributed by priority. Most disputes settle before that point.

Priority Against Other Claims

Georgia mechanics liens are superior to all other liens on the property except tax liens and liens the claimant had actual notice of before the work was performed or materials furnished.⁶ A mortgage recorded before construction began will generally beat the lien because the contractor is charged with knowledge of the public record. A mortgage recorded after work began may be subordinate.

Multiple mechanics lien claimants on the same project share the same priority tier rather than racing to record first. Tax liens sit at the top. A filed Notice of Commencement does not affect the priority of any loan secured by the property, whether the loan was recorded before or after the notice.⁴ If the property sells before a lien is perfected through a lawsuit, the new owner may take title free of unperfected liens, which is another reason prompt enforcement matters.

What a Property Owner Can Do

Owners are not stuck. Georgia gives them several tools to prevent liens, shorten the timeline, or clear a lien from title.

File a Notice of Commencement

The single most effective preventive step is filing a Notice of Commencement at the start of the project. Once filed, every subcontractor and supplier without a direct contract with the general contractor has to send a Notice to Contractor within 30 days or lose lien rights.⁴ The owner then knows who could file a lien later.

Collect Waivers With Every Payment

Owners should collect signed interim waivers from the contractor, subcontractors, and suppliers with each progress payment. At final payment, getting a Final Affidavit of Payment from the general contractor stating that everyone on the job has been paid creates a strong defense against later claims. Without waivers, an owner who has paid the general contractor in full can still face a valid lien from a subcontractor the contractor stiffed.⁷

File a Notice of Contest

If a lien is already on the record, the owner can record a Notice of Contest in the county real estate records and mail a copy to the claimant. That forces the claimant to file suit within 60 days or the lien expires automatically.⁷ This shortcut compresses the claimant’s usual 365-day window and is often the fastest way to clear a weak lien.

Bond Off the Lien

An owner who needs to sell or refinance before a dispute is resolved can post a bond that removes the lien from title. For most properties the bond must equal double the amount claimed. On the owner’s primary residence, the bond only has to match the lien amount.⁸ The bond can be a surety bond approved by the clerk of superior court or a cash deposit. Once posted, the lien transfers from the property to the bond, freeing the title while the payment fight continues.

Challenge Procedural Defects

Because Georgia courts require strict compliance, procedural defenses are powerful. An owner can attack a lien filed after the 90-day deadline, a lien missing the expiration statement or the right-to-contest notice, or a lien where the claimant failed to notify the owner within two business days of recording. Any of these defects can invalidate the lien outright.