Mississippi Mechanics Lien: Notice, Sale, and Owner Defenses

A Mississippi mechanic’s lien on a vehicle is a legal right that lets a repair shop or towing company hold your car until the bill is paid, and, if it stays unpaid, sell it to recover what’s owed. Two separate statutes govern the process. Section 85-7-107 covers repair work for labor and materials.¹ Section 85-7-251 covers towing and storage.² The timelines, the notice rules, and the way the vehicle gets sold are different under each one, and treating them as the same statute is where most problems start.

How the Repair Lien Arises

Under Section 85-7-107, anyone who performs labor or furnishes materials to construct, manufacture, or repair a motor vehicle has a lien on that vehicle for the value of the work.¹ It’s a possessory lien, so the shop’s leverage comes from keeping the car. As long as the shop holds it, the owner cannot reclaim it without paying.

No paperwork creates the lien. It exists the moment work is performed on a vehicle the shop is holding. There’s nothing to file with the county, and nothing to record on the title. The paperwork comes later, when the owner refuses to pay and the shop wants to sell.

Notice and the Redemption Period

If 30 days pass after the work is finished and the bill is still unpaid, a shop that wants to enforce the lien has to send a certified-mail notice to the vehicle’s legal owner and to any recorded lienholder. The notice must state the amount owed and give the owner a chance to redeem the vehicle by paying.¹

After the letter goes out, the owner has five days to pay in full. If that window passes with no payment, the shop can file suit in any court with jurisdiction.¹ Skip the certified letter, or file too early, and the whole claim can be thrown out.

Notice must reach every party with a recorded interest in the vehicle, not just the person who dropped it off. If a bank holds the auto loan, the bank gets notice too. Missing a recorded lienholder creates liability for the shop and clouds any later sale.

Court Enforcement and Sale

Mississippi repair liens are not self-help. After the five-day redemption period expires, the shop files suit and has to prove two things: the value of the labor and materials provided, and that the work was reasonably necessary to prevent deterioration, permit operation, or preserve the vehicle.¹

If the court agrees, the shop gets a judgment for the amount owed plus costs, along with a special order authorizing sale of the vehicle. Sale proceeds go to the judgment. If the sale doesn’t cover the full debt, the balance can be collected through standard execution, like any other civil judgment.¹

Towing and Storage Liens Work Differently

Section 85-7-251 gives towing companies a lien for reasonable towing and storage charges when a vehicle is towed at the owner’s request, at the direction of law enforcement, or from private property where it was left without permission.²

If charges go unpaid for 30 days from the initial tow, the towing company must send certified-mail notice to any legal owner and any lienholder shown on the title records, informing them of the pending sale. If the vehicle isn’t redeemed within 10 days after that letter is mailed, the towing company may sell it at public auction.²

That’s the critical difference. Towing companies can run a public auction without ever going to court. Repair shops cannot. A business that both repairs and tows needs to know which hat it was wearing on a given job, because using the auction process for a repair bill will invalidate the sale.

What Happens to the Sale Proceeds

Under the towing statute, proceeds first cover the towing charges, reasonable storage fees, and the cost of following the notice and sale procedures. Any surplus has to be held by the towing company for six months. If the former owner doesn’t claim the money within that period, it goes to the chancery clerk of the county where the sale took place and is deposited into the county general fund. Recorded lienholders keep their rights to any surplus.²

For court-ordered sales under the repair lien statute, the court’s order controls distribution. The shop takes the judgment amount plus costs, any remainder goes back to the owner, and recorded security interests get addressed as part of the proceeding.

Getting a New Title After a Lien Sale

A buyer at a lien sale doesn’t walk away with a clean title automatically. Mississippi’s Department of Revenue requires an Affidavit of Abandonment and Motor Vehicle Sold (Form 78-009), signed by both seller and buyer and notarized. The form asks for the VIN, year, and make, an itemized breakdown of charges (storage, wrecker service, labor, parts), the sale price, and an odometer disclosure.³

The buyer sends the completed affidavit to Mississippi Motor Vehicle Services in Jackson along with the standard title application. Any surplus that wasn’t claimed by the owner has to be paid over to the chancery clerk, and the affidavit documents that transfer. Processing takes several weeks. Confirm the VIN on the vehicle matches the paperwork before paying at any lien sale.

Releasing the Vehicle Before Payment

Handing the car back before the bill is paid is the worst move a shop can make, but it doesn’t always kill the lien. Under Section 85-7-105, a mechanic who parts with possession keeps the lien as long as the vehicle stays with the owner or someone who took it from the owner with notice that the repair bill was unpaid.⁴

Enforcing a lien without possession is much harder. The physical leverage is gone, and if the vehicle gets sold to someone who had no idea about the bill, the lien may not follow it. Holding the car from the start beats trying to chase it later.

Defenses for Vehicle Owners

Owners facing a mechanic’s lien have real options, and most successful defenses target procedure rather than merits.

Missing or late certified-mail notice. If the shop didn’t send the certified letter to the legal owner and every recorded lienholder, enforcement fails. This is the most common procedural defect.
Unauthorized or unnecessary work. The shop has to prove in court that the labor and materials were reasonably necessary to prevent deterioration, permit operation, and preserve the property. Work the owner never approved, or repairs that weren’t needed, can be challenged on this basis.
Inflated charges. The court evaluates the value of what was provided. An owner who can show the bill exceeds fair market rates has an argument for reducing the lien.
Premature legal action. Suit filed before the 30-day payment period ran, or before the five-day redemption window closed, may make the whole proceeding defective.

The shop carries the burden on every step and on the amount claimed. Detailed work orders, parts receipts, time logs, and certified-mail receipts protect the shop. On the other side, text messages, emails, and written estimates protect the owner.

Treble Damages for a False Lien

Mississippi penalizes anyone who files a lien claim falsely and knowingly without just cause. Under Section 85-7-429, the person who filed the false lien is liable for three times the full amount claimed, and the injured party has to sue within 180 days of the filing.⁵

Treble damages should give any shop pause before inflating a bill or claiming for work it didn’t perform. For owners who suspect a fraudulent lien, the 180-day clock runs from the filing date, not from the day you found out, so moving quickly matters.

What a Customer’s Bankruptcy Does to the Lien

When the vehicle owner files bankruptcy, an automatic stay freezes most collection activity, including enforcement of a mechanic’s lien. The stay stops a court action for a forced sale and stops a towing company’s public auction.⁶

A perfected lien doesn’t disappear, though. Under 11 U.S.C. § 506, a claim backed by a lien on specific property is a secured claim up to the value of the property. If the vehicle is worth more than the bill, the shop’s claim is fully secured and ranks above unsecured creditors. If the vehicle is worth less, the claim is secured only to the extent of the vehicle’s value, with the rest treated as unsecured.⁷

A shop that needs to move forward anyway can file a motion for relief from the automatic stay in the bankruptcy court. Relief is available for cause, including a lack of adequate protection of the shop’s interest, or where the debtor has no equity in the vehicle and the vehicle isn’t necessary for the debtor’s reorganization.⁶ Acting on the vehicle without court permission, even by accident, can expose the shop to sanctions and damages payable to the debtor.

1
Justia. Mississippi Code 85-7-107 – Lien on Motor Vehicle for Labor and Materials Used in Constructing, Manufacturing or Repairing Vehicle
2
Justia. Mississippi Code 85-7-251 – Sale of Motor Vehicle for Towing and Storage Cost; Notice Requirement
3
MS.GOV. Affidavit of Abandonment and Motor Vehicle Sold
4
Justia. Mississippi Code 85-7-105 – Remedy Where Lienholder Loses Possession to Owner
5
Justia. Mississippi Code 85-7-429 – Liability for Falsely and Knowingly Filing Claim of Lien Without Just Cause
6
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 362 – Automatic Stay
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 USC 506 – Determination of Secured Status