Idaho Code 45-507: Mechanic’s Lien Deadline, Elements, and Recording

To file a mechanic’s lien in Idaho, you must record a verified claim with the recorder in the county where the property sits within 90 days after your last day of labor or your final materials delivery, and the claim must contain the five elements set out in Idaho Code 45-507. Miss the deadline or leave out an element and your lien rights are gone. The Idaho mechanics lien filing requirements are strict on both counts, and no court will revive a claim that fails them.

The 90-Day Deadline

The claim must be recorded within 90 days after you complete your labor or services or finish delivering materials.¹ This window is absolute. There is no grace period and no cure.

Pinpointing day one is where people stumble. The clock starts on the date of your last substantial contribution to the project, not the date of the contract or the date of your first invoice. A callback to handle a minor punch-list item generally does not reset the clock, so you cannot rely on a small return trip to buy more time. If you supplied materials in multiple shipments, the 90 days runs from the last delivery. Write the date down the day it happens. Memory gets hazy, and 90 days passes faster than most contractors expect.

The Five Required Elements

Section 45-507 requires every claim of lien to contain five pieces of information. A claim missing any one of them is vulnerable to challenge and may be invalidated entirely.

The amount demanded. State what you are owed after deducting every credit, payment, and offset. Claim only the net balance.
The owner. Name the owner or reputed owner of the property, if known.
Who hired you. Name the person who employed you or to whom you furnished the materials.
A description of the property. The description must be sufficient for identification. A legal description taken from the deed is safest; a clear street address and parcel number generally work in practice.
Proof of residential disclosure, where required. For work or materials subject to Idaho Code 45-525, the claim must include proof that the required disclosure was given to the homeowner and that the homeowner acknowledged receipt.

The amount element deserves care. Padding a lien with disputed charges or amounts already paid gives a court grounds to invalidate the entire claim rather than reduce it, and filing a lien you know is false or inflated can bring fines and jail time under Idaho law.² Claim what you can prove you are owed, net of everything already received.

Verification Under Oath

The claim must be verified under oath. The claimant, an agent, or an attorney has to swear that they believe the claim is just.¹ In practice, that means the document gets notarized before it goes to the recorder. A lien without the sworn verification is defective on its face, so do not skip the notary step to save a trip.

Residential Disclosure Proof Under Idaho Code 45-525

If the project is residential and the contract exceeds $2,000, the fifth element of the lien claim pulls in a separate set of obligations that a general contractor has to have satisfied before the work even started. Section 45-507(3)(e) requires proof of those disclosures to be part of the lien filing itself, which means a contractor who ignored them earlier cannot cure the problem at recording time.

Before entering the contract, the general contractor must give the homeowner a written disclosure covering four rights:

The right to require the contractor to obtain lien waivers from subcontractors, at the homeowner’s reasonable expense.
The right to demand proof the contractor carries general liability and workers’ compensation coverage.
The option to buy an extended title insurance policy covering unfiled or unrecorded liens.
The right to require the contractor to post a surety bond up to the value of the project, at the homeowner’s expense.

The contractor needs a signed receipt showing the homeowner got the disclosure. A second disclosure is required before final payment or closing: a written list naming every subcontractor, material supplier, and equipment provider holding a direct contract worth more than $500, with addresses and phone numbers.³

A general contractor who skipped either disclosure forfeits lien rights on that residential property. There is no cure. This is where residential contractors most often lose claims they would otherwise have won.

Where and How to Record

File the verified claim with the recorder in the county where the property is located. Recording fees vary by county, so call the recorder’s office for the current schedule before you go. Notary fees in Idaho typically run a few dollars per signature. Both costs are small relative to what the lien protects.

Bring the signed, notarized original. Keep a stamped copy for your records; you will need the recording information to compute your enforcement deadline and to notify the property owner.

Who Qualifies to File

Idaho Code 45-501 reaches broadly. Anyone who performs labor on, or furnishes materials used in, the construction, alteration, or repair of an improvement to real property can claim a lien. That covers general contractors, subcontractors, material suppliers, laborers, equipment providers, engineers, and surveyors. There is no separate “materialmen’s lien” in Idaho; suppliers of lumber, concrete, fixtures, and rental equipment all file under the same chapter and follow the same 45-507 rules.

Idaho does not require a preliminary notice before filing on a private project. You do not have to notify the owner of your involvement as a condition of preserving lien rights. Sending an early identification letter is still worth doing, because it costs nothing and sometimes heads off the payment dispute that leads to a lien in the first place.

What You Have to Do After Filing

Recording the claim is only the first step, and the file is not closed once the recorder stamps it. Under Idaho Code 45-510, the lien automatically expires unless the claimant files a lawsuit to enforce it within six months of recording.⁴ The enforcement action is a foreclosure lawsuit, and preparing one takes time, so most claimants engage an attorney well before the six months runs out.

One narrow extension exists. If the property owner makes a partial payment or grants an extension of credit, and the claimant endorses the payment or credit terms (including the expiration date) on the recorded lien, the six-month clock restarts from the date of that payment or the credit’s expiration.⁴ Without that endorsement on the record itself, the extension does not count.

On the other end, once the debt is paid you need to record a release to clear the title. A claimant who refuses to release a satisfied lien can be liable for damages the property owner suffers because the lien stayed on record.

A Short Pre-Filing Check

Before you hand the claim to the recorder, confirm each of the following:

Your last day of work or final delivery was within the past 90 days.
The amount claimed is the net balance owed, with every payment and credit deducted.
The owner or reputed owner is named, along with whoever hired you or received the materials.
The property description identifies the parcel without ambiguity.
If the project is residential and over $2,000, the Section 45-525 disclosures were given and acknowledged, and proof is attached.
The claim is signed and notarized, with a sworn statement that the claimant believes it is just.
You know the county recorder’s filing fee and have planned to record in the county where the property sits.
You have a calendar entry for the six-month enforcement deadline that will run from the recording date.

1
Idaho State Legislature. Idaho Code Section 45-507 – Claim of Lien
2
Idaho Secretary of State. Fraudulent Lien Filing is Illegal
3
DOPL. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
4
Idaho State Legislature. Idaho Code Section 45-510 – Duration of Lien