Indiana Lien Release
The Lien You Are Releasing
Pull your stamped copy of the lien — everything on this page is on it. If the details here do not match the instrument on record, the release does not release it, and no one at the counter will catch that for you.
This instrument says the debt is paid.
Ind. Code §§ 32-28-6-1, 32-28-1-2 discharges the lien on satisfaction of the debt. Signing it while money is still owed puts a false statement on the public record and gives away the security you filed to protect. If you have been paid part of it, this is not the document you want — talk to a construction attorney about what is.
Where this gets filed: County Recorder. The recorder of the county in which the real estate is situated — the same office that took the sworn statement and notice of intention to hold lien.
Fifteen days after demand, under two overlapping provisions. § 32-28-6-1(a) requires release within fifteen days of the demand where the debt "has satisfied or paid" — the statute's own wording — and § 32-28-6-1(b) gives the owner the GREATER of actual damages or liquidated damages of $10 per day, running from the fifteenth day until release or expiration of the lien. § 32-28-1-2 — which names a mechanic's lien expressly — adds a forfeiture of up to $500 plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees, and § 32-28-1-2(c) makes that costs-and-fees award MANDATORY for a plaintiff who wins ("the court shall award"). But § 32-28-1-2 applies ONLY where the demand went by registered or certified mail with return receipt requested, and its fifteen days run from RECEIPT. Whether the two stack is unsettled. The court may also appoint a commissioner to release the lien and tax the cost against you (§ 32-28-1-2(d)). AND THE OWNER HAS A ROUTE THAT DOES NOT NEED YOU AT ALL: thirteen months after the lien was filed, § 32-28-6-1(c) lets any person who owns or has an interest in the real estate record an affidavit that no foreclosure suit is pending and no unsatisfied judgment has been rendered on the lien.