Indiana Mechanics Lien Statute: Deadlines, Notice, and Foreclosure

The Indiana mechanic’s lien statute (Indiana Code 32-28-3) lets contractors, subcontractors, laborers, material suppliers, and equipment lessors place a legal claim against real estate they helped improve when they haven’t been paid. You record a sworn statement with the county recorder within 60 days (for one- and two-family residences) or 90 days (for everything else) of your last work, and you have one year from that recording to file a foreclosure lawsuit or the lien dies.

Who Can File

The statute covers a broad group: contractors, subcontractors, mechanics, journeymen, laborers, material suppliers, equipment lessors, and anyone else who performs labor or furnishes materials or machinery for a covered improvement.¹ Covered improvements include buildings, bridges, reservoirs, waterworks, sidewalks, wells, drains, sewers, cisterns, and earth-moving operations.

The requirement that matters most in disputes is the connection between what you supplied and the physical property. Your labor must have been performed on the real estate, and your materials must have been incorporated into it. Lumber that was delivered but returned unused, for example, carries no lien right.

The Pre-Work Notice That Can Wipe Out Your Rights

Before anything else, check whether the project is original construction of a single- or two-family home the owner intends to live in. If it is, you must file a written notice of intention to hold a lien with the county recorder before you start work or deliver materials.¹ Skip that step and begin work, and you’ve lost the right to file a lien on that property entirely.

The rule applies only to original construction of owner-occupied one- or two-family residences. Renovations, commercial projects, and non-owner-occupied properties don’t require the pre-work notice.

Filing Deadlines: 60 Days or 90 Days

Which deadline applies depends on the structure’s class under Indiana’s building code.

A Class 2 structure is a building containing one or two dwelling units, including related outbuildings like detached garages, barns, and swimming pools.² If any part of the building is regularly used as a Class 1 structure, the Class 2 designation is lost.

A Class 1 structure covers everything else: buildings open to the public, buildings with three or more tenants, buildings where employees work inside, and condo buildings with three or more units that aren’t separated by unimproved space.³ Commercial buildings, apartment complexes, offices, and industrial facilities all fall here.

Class 2 (residential): file within 60 days after you last performed labor or furnished materials.⁴
All other structures: file within 90 days after last work or delivery.⁴

Miss by a day, and the lien right is gone.

When the Clock Actually Starts

The deadline runs from the last date you performed substantive labor or delivered materials for the original contract. Punch-list touch-ups, warranty callbacks, and minor corrective visits generally do not restart it. Work added by a genuine change order that expands the scope of the original contract can extend the deadline, but trivial return visits won’t. The safe assumption is that the clock started on the last day of your original scope.

What Goes in the Sworn Statement

The document is called a “sworn statement and notice of intention to hold a lien.” You file it in duplicate with the recorder in the county where the property sits, and it must contain:⁴

The specific dollar amount claimed.
The claimant’s name and address.
The owner’s name and latest address as shown on the county property tax records.
The legal description and street address of the property.

The owner’s name and legal description are sufficient if they substantially match the latest entry in the county auditor’s transfer books. The statement must be signed under oath before a notary, so false information carries perjury consequences. An attorney registered with the Indiana Supreme Court can verify and file on your behalf.

Who Notifies the Owner

Once you’ve recorded, the recorder, not you, is responsible for sending notice to the owner. The statute requires the recorder to mail a copy of the filed notice by first-class mail within three business days of recordation, using the owner address from your sworn statement.⁴ You still bear responsibility for giving the recorder the correct address.

Priority and the Relation-Back Rule

A recorded Indiana mechanic’s lien doesn’t take priority only from its filing date. It relates back to the date you first performed labor or furnished materials on the project.⁵ That can push your priority date well before anyone sees your lien on record.

A few rules shape how competing claims rank:

No mechanic or material supplier’s lien has priority over another’s; they share equal standing.⁵
On Class 1 structures, a lender’s mortgage recorded before the mechanic’s lien takes priority over the lien, but only to the extent of funds actually owed for the specific project the lien relates to.
On Class 2 structures and their auxiliary improvements, that lender-mortgage priority rule does not apply. Through relation-back, a residential mechanic’s lien can outrank an existing mortgage, an unusually strong position for the claimant.

Foreclosing the Lien

Recording a lien creates a cloud on title that blocks most sales and refinances, but it doesn’t force payment on its own. To actually collect, you must file a foreclosure complaint in the circuit or superior court of the county where the property is located within one year after the lien was recorded.⁶ Miss that one-year window and the lien is void.

One exception extends the clock. If the parties sign a written agreement to extend credit, signed by both the lienholder and all owners of record, and that agreement is recorded with the county recorder within one year of the original lien filing, the deadline to sue stretches to one year after the credit period expires.⁶ A verbal promise to pay later doesn’t qualify. When the court orders foreclosure, the property is sold under the same procedures as execution sales, and you’re paid from the proceeds by priority.

Owners Can Force the Suit Early

An owner doesn’t have to sit with the lien on title for the full year. Under IC 32-28-3-10, the owner can send a written notice demanding that the lienholder file a foreclosure action. Once that notice is received, the lienholder faces a compressed deadline to sue or lose the lien.

Attorney’s Fees

If you file a foreclosure action and win a judgment for any amount, the court must award reasonable attorney’s fees as part of the judgment.⁷ That shifts a lot of litigation cost risk onto owners and general contractors who refuse to pay valid claims.

The important exception: fees are not available against an owner who already paid the contract amount for the improvement. A homeowner who paid the general contractor in full doesn’t owe attorney’s fees to a subcontractor whose lien exists because the general didn’t pass the money through. The subcontractor can still foreclose; it just can’t add fees to the judgment against that owner.⁷

Bonding the Lien Off Title

An owner who needs to close a sale or refinance quickly doesn’t have to wait for the foreclosure case. The owner, or any person with an interest in the property including a mortgagee, can file a surety bond with the court to release the property from the lien.⁸ The bond must guarantee payment of any judgment, including costs and attorney’s fees, if the court finds the claim was a valid lien when the action was filed. Once the court approves the bond, the property is released, and the claimant’s recovery shifts from the real estate to the bond.

No-Lien Clauses Are Unenforceable

Any contract provision requiring a person who furnishes labor, materials, or machinery to waive lien rights or payment bond claims before being paid is void.⁹ A separate provision in which parties agree not to file a notice of intention to hold a lien is also void. Even if you signed a contract with a no-lien clause, you still have the right. After payment, you can voluntarily execute a lien waiver, which is a standard part of the construction payment process.

Public Projects and Tenant Work

Two situations fall outside the ordinary lien process and are worth flagging.

Mechanic’s liens cannot be filed against government-owned property. If you worked on a state, county, or municipal project and weren’t paid, your remedy is a claim against the project’s payment bond or the contract funds the public entity owes the general contractor. For local public works estimated at more than $200,000, the general contractor must post a payment bond. To claim against it, file a signed statement of the amount due with the public body and deliver a copy to the general contractor within 60 days of your last work on the project, wait at least 30 days, and then file suit no later than 60 days after final completion and acceptance of the work.¹⁰ These deadlines are tighter than private-project lien deadlines.

When work is performed at a tenant’s request on leased property, whether your lien reaches the landlord’s fee interest or only the tenant’s leasehold depends on whether the owner consented to or was aware of the work. Without owner involvement, your lien may be limited to the leasehold, which is often far less valuable because the lease can terminate or restrict foreclosure. Confirm the owner’s awareness in writing before you start.

1
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 32-28-3-1 – Mechanic’s Liens; Persons to Whom Available; Effect of Contract Provisions; Credit Transactions; Restrictions
2
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 22-12-1-5 – Class 2 Structure
3
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 22-12-1-4 – Class 1 Structure
4
Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 32-28-3-3 – Notice of Intention to Hold Lien; Filing
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Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code Title 32 Property 32-28-3-5
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Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 32-28-3-6 – Enforcement of Lien
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Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 32-28-3-14 – Attorney’s Fees
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Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 32-28-3-11 – Undertaking to Pay Judgment and Cost
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Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code 32-28-3-16 – Waiver of Right to a Lien Voiding Contract
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Indiana General Assembly. Indiana Code Title 36 Local Government 36-1-12-13.1