How to Put a Lien on a Florida Business: Types, Filing, and Deadlines

To put a lien on a business in Florida, you file with either the Florida Department of State or the county clerk of court, and the exact paperwork depends on what kind of debt you’re collecting and whether you’re targeting the business’s equipment and inventory or its real estate. A creditor with a court judgment files a Judgment Lien Certificate for personal property or records a certified copy of the judgment for real property. A lender with a security agreement files a UCC-1 Financing Statement. A contractor or supplier who wasn’t paid records a Claim of Lien against the property they improved. Each route has its own documents, filing office, and deadlines, and missing any of them can void the lien entirely.

Pick the Right Lien for Your Situation

Three lien types cover almost every scenario involving a Florida business.

A judgment lien is available to any creditor who has already won a lawsuit and holds a final money judgment. Winning the judgment does not create a lien by itself. You have to record it separately, and where you record depends on whether you’re going after the business’s personal property or its real estate.¹

A UCC lien is usually consensual. It arises when the business pledges equipment, inventory, or receivables as collateral for a loan, and the lender files a UCC-1 Financing Statement to record that security interest. It’s not a collection tool for an unrelated debt. It’s the paperwork that perfects an agreement the borrower already signed.

A construction lien is available to contractors, subcontractors, and material suppliers who improved a business’s real property and weren’t paid. Florida’s construction lien statute is technical, with strict notice and timing rules that will defeat a claim if you miss them.

Filing a Judgment Lien

Personal Property: File a Judgment Lien Certificate with the State

A judgment lien on the business’s equipment, inventory, accounts, or other personal property is filed with the Florida Department of State’s Division of Corporations.² The Judgment Lien Certificate must include:

The business’s legal name and, if it’s a registered entity, the registered name and document filing number from the Department of State’s records, plus the business’s last known address and federal employer identification number if either appears on the judgment
Your legal name and address, and your attorney’s or authorized representative’s name if applicable
The court that entered the judgment, the case number, the date of entry, the amount owed, and the applicable interest rate
The signature of the judgment creditor, attorney, or authorized representative

Get the business’s exact registered name right. A mismatch between the certificate and the entity’s registered name can undermine the lien.³

Real Property: Record a Certified Judgment with the County Clerk

To lien business real estate, record a certified copy of the final judgment in the official records of the county where the property sits. The judgment itself must contain your address as the lien holder. If it doesn’t, prepare a separate affidavit stating your address and record it at the same time. Without the address, the recording will not create a lien on the property at all.¹

If the business owns real estate in more than one county, record in each county separately. County recording fees typically run between $10 and $82, depending on the county and the number of pages.

Filing a UCC-1 for a Secured Loan

UCC financing statements are filed electronically through the Florida Secured Transaction Registry.⁴ The UCC-1 needs the debtor’s exact legal name and address, the secured party’s name and address, and a description of the collateral specific enough to identify what’s covered, whether that’s particular equipment, general inventory, or accounts receivable.⁵ Filings submitted on current approved forms carry no fee for the basic filing.⁶

Filing a Construction Lien

Serve the Notice to Owner First

Every construction lienor except a direct laborer must serve a Notice to Owner before recording a Claim of Lien. The notice must include your name and address, a description identifying the property, and the nature of the labor or materials you’re furnishing.⁷

Serve the notice before you begin work or no later than 45 days after you start furnishing labor or materials. Sub-subcontractors and material suppliers to subcontractors also have to serve a copy on the general contractor. Missing the 45-day window is a complete defense: the owner can have the lien thrown out. Florida courts enforce the deadline strictly, and substantial compliance is not enough on timing.⁷

General contractors in direct contract with the owner do not need to serve a Notice to Owner. Everyone else should treat this step as the single most important one in the process.

Record the Claim of Lien

The Claim of Lien is a sworn document that must contain:

Your name and the address where notices can be served on you
The name of the person who hired you or with whom you contracted
A description of the labor, services, or materials furnished, and the contract price
A legal description of the real property
The property owner’s name
The dates you first and last furnished labor or materials
The amount still unpaid
If you’re not in direct contract with the owner, the date and method you served the Notice to Owner

Sign it and swear to it, either as the lienor or as an agent familiar with the facts. Minor errors won’t automatically defeat a lien unless they prejudiced someone, but the claim can be voidable when the errors are material.⁸

Record the Claim of Lien with the clerk of the circuit court in the county where the property is located. Multiple counties mean multiple recordings. After recording, serve the claim on the property owner, either before recording or within 15 days after. Missing that window makes the lien voidable to the extent the delay caused prejudice.⁸

Deadlines That Will Kill Your Lien

Florida lien law is unforgiving about timing. The dates that matter most:

Notice to Owner: Served before work begins or within 45 days of first furnishing labor or materials.
Claim of Lien recording: No later than 90 days after you last furnished labor, services, or materials. If the general contract was terminated, the deadline is 90 days after termination or 90 days after your last day of work, whichever comes first.⁸
Serving the Claim of Lien: Before recording or within 15 days after.
Foreclosing a construction lien: Within one year of recording, or within 60 days if the owner records and serves a Notice of Contest of Lien.⁹

Judgment liens are more forgiving on the front end. Florida judgments are generally enforceable for 20 years, and you can file the lien at any time while the judgment remains valid. The tighter clock runs on the lien’s own duration, below.

How Long the Lien Lasts and How to Renew It

Filing perfects the lien, gives public notice, and sets your priority date. Earlier filings generally get paid first if assets are sold. Each lien type has its own lifespan.

Judgment lien on personal property: Valid for five years from filing. You can file a second Judgment Lien Certificate within six months before or after the original expires. The second lasts another five years and is treated as a new lien, not a continuation. You cannot file a third.¹⁰
Judgment lien on real property: Valid for ten years from recording. Extend for another ten years by rerecording a certified copy of the judgment with an affidavit containing your current address before the initial lien expires.¹
UCC financing statement: Effective for five years. File a continuation statement within six months before expiration to extend another five years. Successive continuations are permitted indefinitely as long as you meet the window each time.¹¹
Construction lien: Expires one year after recording unless you file a foreclosure lawsuit. A Notice of Contest of Lien from the owner cuts the deadline to 60 days. Miss either and the lien is automatically extinguished.⁹

Making the Lien Actually Pay

Filing a lien does not automatically collect the debt. It clouds title and makes it difficult for the business to sell or refinance the encumbered property, which is real leverage, but if the business ignores it, you need to act.

For a construction lien, that means filing a foreclosure lawsuit in circuit court within the one-year window (or 60 days after a Notice of Contest). If you prevail, the court can order the property sold to satisfy your claim. Record a notice of lis pendens when you file so potential buyers see the property is tied up in litigation.⁹

For a judgment lien, you already have a judgment, so you can pursue other remedies at the same time, including garnishment or levy of execution. The lien secures your position when the encumbered property changes hands.

If the business files for bankruptcy, an automatic stay under federal law halts all efforts to create, perfect, or enforce a lien until the stay is lifted or the case ends. Violating the stay, even accidentally, can result in sanctions.

Releasing the Lien After Payment

Once the debt is paid, you have a legal obligation to release the lien.

For a judgment lien on personal property, the business can send you a written demand after satisfaction. You then have 30 days to deliver a written statement confirming release. Fail to respond in time and you’re liable for $100 in statutory damages plus any actual or consequential damages, including attorney’s fees.¹²

For a UCC lien, the secured party files a UCC-3 Termination Statement through the Florida Secured Transaction Registry. For a construction lien, record a satisfaction or release of lien with the county clerk. For a real-property judgment lien, the clerk records a satisfaction of judgment once the amount plus interest is paid. Holding onto a lien after the debt is paid exposes you to liability, so handle releases promptly.

Filing a Lien You Can’t Back Up

Florida treats fraudulent construction liens seriously. Willfully exaggerating the amount owed, or including charges for work you never performed, forfeits the lien. On top of that, anyone harmed by the fraudulent filing can sue for damages, attorney’s fees, the cost of any bond the owner had to post to discharge the lien, and punitive damages up to the difference between what you claimed and what was actually owed.¹³

A good-faith dispute about the amount is not fraud. But knowingly padding the claim can void the entire lien and produce a damages award against you.¹³ Even outside construction, filing a lien you know to be baseless can expose you to slander of title or abuse of process claims. If you’re unsure whether your claim supports a lien, a legal opinion before filing is far cheaper than defending a damages suit after.

1
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 55.10 – Judgments, Orders, and Decrees
2
Florida Department of State. Judgment Lien – Division of Corporations
3
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 55.203 – Judgment Lien Certificate
4
Florida Department of State. UCC Information
5
Legal Information Institute. UCC Financing Statement
6
Florida Secured Transaction Registry. UCC Fees
7
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 713.06 – Liens of Persons Not in Privity With Owner
8
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 713.08 – Claim of Lien
9
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 713.22 – Duration of Lien
10
Florida Senate. Florida Code 55.204 – Duration and Continuation of Judgment Lien
11
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 679.515 – Duration and Effectiveness of Financing Statement
12
Online Sunshine. Florida Statutes 55.206 – Release of Judgment Lien
13
Florida Senate. Florida Statutes Chapter 713 – Liens, Generally