How to File a Notice of Contest of Lien in Florida

To file a Notice of Contest of Lien in Florida, you record a short statutory form with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county where the property sits, and the clerk then serves it on the lienor. Service starts a 60-day countdown: the lienor must file a foreclosure lawsuit within that window or the lien is extinguished automatically by operation of law.¹ The filing fee is typically under $50, and no court hearing is required.

Why the Notice Exists

A construction lien recorded in Florida’s public records stays enforceable for one year from its recording date. If the lienor records an amended claim, the year restarts from the amended date. Either way, the lienor must sue to foreclose before that year runs, or the lien lapses on its own.¹

A year is a long time to carry an encumbrance. Title companies flag active liens, which complicates any sale or refinance. Section 713.22(2) lets an owner cut the wait short: recording a Notice of Contest compresses the lienor’s window from one year to 60 days from the date of service.¹ The notice also works against claims on bonds or other security posted under Sections 713.23 or 713.24, so a lien already transferred to a bond can still be contested this way.

What the Notice Must Contain

The statute provides a form the notice must follow substantially. That leaves some flexibility on layout, but the required content is fixed. Your notice needs to include:

The lienor’s name and address, taken from the original claim of lien or its most recent amendment
The date the lienor recorded the claim of lien
The recording information (official records book and page number, or instrument number, depending on the county) assigned when the lien was recorded
The county where the lien was recorded
A statement that the lienor’s time to file suit is limited to 60 days from the date the notice is served

The owner or the owner’s attorney signs it.¹ Many county clerks publish a blank fill-in form that covers every required element. Copy the lienor’s name, address, and recording details exactly as they appear on the original claim; small discrepancies can create problems later if the lienor argues service was defective.

Filing and Service Through the Clerk

You submit the completed notice to the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county where the property is located. The clerk handles both recording and service, so you do not serve the lienor yourself. The statutory sequence is:

The clerk records the notice in the official records.
The clerk certifies the service and date of service on the face of the notice.
The clerk serves a copy of the recorded notice on the lienor at the address shown in the claim of lien or its most recent amendment, using a method allowed under Section 713.18.
The clerk sends a copy of the recorded notice, with the certificate of service, back to the owner or the owner’s attorney.

Section 713.18 permits hand delivery, certified mail, registered mail, or common carrier delivery with evidence of delivery.² Most clerks use certified mail. Keep the returned copy: the certified service date stamped by the clerk is the date that starts the 60-day countdown, and it is your proof of when the clock began.

Filing Cost

Florida’s statutory recording fee is $10 for the first page and $8.50 for each additional page.³ On top of that, the clerk charges a service fee of up to $20 for preparing and serving the notice, plus postage for certified mail. Total out-of-pocket cost usually runs under $50.

How the 60 Days Are Counted

The date the clerk serves the notice is not the date you filed it, and confusing the two is the most common way owners miscount. The clock runs from the service date certified on the face of the recorded notice.¹

Chapter 713 supplies its own counting rule. The day of service does not count; you start counting the next day. If day 60 falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the deadline rolls to the next regular business day.⁴ A lienor who miscounts by a single day loses the secured claim permanently, so the exact service date is the detail to track.

What Happens When the Deadline Passes

If the lienor does not file a foreclosure lawsuit within 60 days of service, the lien is extinguished automatically.¹ You do not need a motion, a court order, or any additional filing. The lien simply ceases to exist as a matter of law, and the property is cleared of that encumbrance.

One boundary worth knowing: the lien is gone, but the underlying debt may not be. Section 713.30 preserves the lienor’s right to sue on the contract as if there had been no lien at all.⁴ The practical effect is that the contractor drops from secured creditor to unsecured creditor. Without a lien, they cannot use your property as collateral or force a sale to collect.

When a Lien Transfer Bond May Be a Better Fit

Sixty days is fast compared with a year, but it is still too slow when a sale or refinance is closing next week. Section 713.24 offers a same-day alternative: transfer the lien from the property to a cash deposit or surety bond. Once the transfer is recorded, the property is released, and the lienor’s claim attaches to the security instead.⁵

The required amount is not just the face value of the lien. It equals the full amount claimed, plus three years of interest at the legal rate, plus either $5,000 or 25 percent of the lien amount, whichever is greater, to cover potential attorney’s fees and costs.⁵ On a $50,000 lien, that works out to roughly $75,000 or more. The Notice of Contest costs under $50 and takes up to 60 days; the transfer clears title the same day but ties up substantial money or bond premium. Which one fits depends on how much time you have.

Attorney’s Fees Cut Both Ways

Section 713.29 awards attorney’s fees to the prevailing party in any lawsuit to enforce a lien or a claim against a bond. It runs in both directions: if the lienor wins the foreclosure suit, they recover fees; if the owner defeats the lien, the owner recovers fees.⁶ The court sets the reasonable amount.

This fee-shifting rule tends to reshape the 60 days into a negotiation period. A lienor with a weak claim faces the prospect of paying the owner’s legal bills on top of losing the case, and an owner contesting a solid lien faces the same exposure in reverse. Many disputes settle inside the window for exactly this reason.

If You Suspect the Lien Is Fraudulent

Contesting the lien and forcing a filing deadline is one path. If the lien itself was filed in bad faith, a stronger remedy sits alongside it. Section 713.31 defines a fraudulent lien as one where the lienor deliberately inflated the amount claimed, included charges for work never performed on the property, or compiled the claim with reckless disregard for accuracy amounting to willful exaggeration.⁷

A finding of fraud is a complete defense to enforcement. The court declares the lien unenforceable, and the lienor forfeits any lien on the property, not just the inflated portion. The owner can also recover damages, court costs, clerk’s fees, and reasonable attorney’s fees.⁷ The statute is careful, though: a minor mistake or a genuine good-faith dispute about the amount owed is not fraud. The exaggeration must be willful. If you suspect fraud and the lienor does file suit inside the 60-day window, that is the moment to raise it as an affirmative defense or counterclaim rather than relying on the contest notice alone.

1
Justia Law. Florida Statutes 713.22 – Duration of Lien
2
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 713.18 – Service
3
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 28.24 – Clerk Fee Schedule
4
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes Chapter 713 – Liens, Generally
5
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 713.24 – Transfer of Liens to Security
6
The Florida Legislature. Florida Statutes 713.29 – Attorney Fees
7
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes 713.31 – Remedies in Case of Fraud or Collusion