How to File a Construction Lien in Oregon: Notices, 75-Day Filing, Foreclosure

To file a construction lien in Oregon, you send the required pre-lien notices, record a verified claim of lien with the county recorder within 75 days of your last day of work or project completion, mail a copy of the recorded lien to the owner within 20 days, and file a foreclosure lawsuit within 120 days of recording. Each step has its own statute, its own deadline, and its own penalty for getting it wrong. Miss one and you can lose the lien, the attorney fees, or both.

Confirm You Have Lien Rights

Oregon’s lien statute covers people who perform labor on an improvement, transport or furnish materials for it, or rent out equipment used in the construction. It also reaches those who prepare the lot or improve an adjoining road at the owner’s request.¹ If your work falls into one of those categories and you haven’t been paid, the filing process below applies to you.

Step 1: Send the Required Pre-Lien Notices

Which notice you owe depends on whether you contracted directly with the owner and whether the project is residential or commercial.

Information Notice to Owner (Residential Originals Only)

If you are the original contractor on a residential project and the contract price exceeds $2,000, you must deliver an Information Notice to Owner when the contract is signed. If a smaller contract grows past $2,000 later, deliver the notice within five days of knowing or reasonably expecting the price will cross that line. Delivery can be in person, by certified or registered mail, or by first class mail with a certificate of mailing.²

Skip this notice and you lose all lien rights on the project. The Construction Contractors Board can also suspend your license or impose a civil penalty up to $5,000. The one exception: if the owner is themselves a licensed contractor under ORS Chapter 701, the notice isn’t required.²

Notice of Right to Lien (Subs and Suppliers)

If you don’t have a direct contract with the owner, ORS 87.021 requires you to deliver a Notice of Right to a Lien. The notice tells the owner a lien may be placed on the property if you go unpaid.³

The timing rule catches people off guard. You can send the notice any time during the job, but it only protects work performed within eight business days before the date it’s delivered or mailed, plus any work after. Everything you provided before that lookback window is unprotected. Wait three months to send the notice and you’ve waived lien rights for three months of labor and materials.³ Send it on day one.

Two groups are exempt. Original contractors don’t need to send it because they contract directly with the owner, and anyone performing labor, supplying labor and materials, or renting equipment for a commercial improvement is exempt as well. Residential subcontractors and suppliers get no commercial exemption.¹

Step 2: Prepare and File the Claim of Lien Within 75 Days

You have 75 days to record your claim of lien, and the clock start depends on your role. If you supplied labor, materials, or rented equipment directly for the improvement, the 75 days run from the earlier of the date you stopped supplying or the date the project was completed. For other claimants, the clock starts at completion of construction.⁴

The 75 days is absolute. There is no extension, no good-cause exception, no grace period. When your last day of work and the completion date are close, count from the earlier one and build in a cushion.

What the Claim Must Contain

ORS 87.035 lists four required elements:

A true statement of the demand, with all credits and payments subtracted
The name of the owner or reputed owner, if known
The name of the person who hired you, bought your materials, or rented your equipment
A description of the property sufficient for identification, including the street address if known⁴

For a standard residential lot, the street address usually works. Raw land, subdivision parcels, or oddly situated properties generally require the legal description from the deed or tax records.

The claim has to be verified under oath by the person filing it or by someone with direct knowledge of the facts, which in practice means signing before a notary. A false verification can expose you to criminal liability under Oregon’s false swearing statute, so the dollar figures and property description must be accurate.¹ Overstating the amount owed is the most common drafting mistake and invites challenges that can weaken or invalidate the lien in court. Check every credit, change order, and partial payment before you sign.

Recording With the County

File the verified claim with the county recording officer in the county where the property sits.⁴ Oregon’s recording fee statute sets a base of $5 per page plus surcharges, which typically brings a single-page lien to roughly $75 to $85, with $5 more per additional page.⁵ Some counties add a small non-conforming fee if the first page doesn’t meet formatting standards, so call the clerk’s office before you submit. You can file in person or by mail; given the hard deadline, in-person or same-day courier is the safer choice.

Step 3: Mail Notice of the Filing to the Owner Within 20 Days

Recording isn’t the finish line. Under ORS 87.039, you must mail written notice to the property owner and any mortgagee that the claim has been filed, with a copy of the recorded lien attached, within 20 days of the filing date.¹

The statute says “mail” without specifying the class, but certified mail with return receipt gives you the proof of delivery you’ll need if the case ends up in court. Missing the 20-day window doesn’t kill the lien itself. It does strip your right to recover attorney fees and costs in a foreclosure suit, which is a significant financial hit given the cost of lien litigation.¹

Step 4: Send the Notice of Intent, Then Foreclose Within 120 Days

A recorded lien has a shelf life. You have 120 days from the filing date to bring a foreclosure lawsuit in circuit court. Miss that window and the lien expires and becomes unenforceable.¹

There is one narrow exception. If you extended credit to the owner and recorded the payment terms in the claim itself, the 120 days run from the end of the extended payment period rather than the filing date. Even then, no lien can survive longer than two years from the original filing.¹

Before filing suit, deliver a written Notice of Intent to Foreclose to the owner and any mortgagee at least 10 days ahead of the lawsuit. You must plead and prove compliance in the complaint. If you can’t show you delivered the notice, the court will not award attorney fees, costs, or disbursements even if you win.⁶

A Priority Warning for Material Suppliers

Lien priority is a collection issue rather than a filing issue, but one rule affects what suppliers do during the job. A lien for materials or supplies does not take priority over a recorded mortgage or trust deed unless the supplier delivers a copy of the Notice of Right to Lien (or one with substantially the same information) to the mortgagee within eight business days of delivering the materials. If the mortgagee then asks for a list of materials and the amount due, the supplier has 15 business days to provide it or lose priority.⁷ A valid lien that sits behind a construction loan can be worth very little when the property sells, so suppliers should calendar the eight-day mortgagee notice alongside the owner notice.

Why Clean Compliance Pays Off

Oregon’s lien statute awards reasonable attorney fees at trial and on appeal to the party that prevails on the lien’s validity and foreclosure.⁸ It cuts both ways: if the owner defeats the lien, you may owe their legal bills. Two separate notice failures, the 20-day post-filing notice under ORS 87.039 and the 10-day pre-foreclosure notice under ORS 87.057, each independently bar you from recovering fees even when you win on the merits. The lien can be valid and foreclosed, and you still eat your own legal costs. Treat every notice deadline as non-negotiable and keep proof of delivery for all of them.

1
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statute Chapter 87 Statutory Liens
2
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 87.093 – Information Notice to Owner; Rules; Contents; When Notice Must Be Delivered; Effect of Failure to Deliver Notice; Penalty
3
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 87.021 – Notice to Owners; Notice From Owner to Original Contractor; Effect of Failure to Give Notice
4
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 87.035 – Perfecting Lien; Filing Claim of Lien; Contents of Claim
5
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes Chapter 205 – County Clerks
6
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 87.057 – Notice of Intent to Foreclose; List of Materials Furnished and Statement of Prices; Effect of Failure to Give Notice
7
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 87.025 – Priority of Perfected Liens; Right to Sell Improvements Separately From Land; Notice to Mortgagee; List of Materials or Supplies
8
Oregon State Legislature. Oregon Revised Statutes 87.060 – Foreclosure; Right to Jury Trial; Distribution of Proceeds of Foreclosure Sale