Filing deadline

Claimants WITHOUT a direct owner contract must record a sworn Notice of Lien in the registry of deeds of the county where the project lies within 90 days of their last furnishing (amount due, property description adequate to identify, owners' names if known); this step does not apply to those in owner privity. All claimants must then file the lien complaint in court within 120 days of last furnishing. Punch-list/warranty work generally does not extend the clock; the notice must be renewed every 120 days during ongoing work to hold off bona fide purchasers; willful overstatement invalidates, honest error does not.

Notice prerequisites

Nothing before work begins. But on residential projects (and commercial premises where the owner resides), a subcontractor/supplier without an owner contract should send a written Notice to Owner describing its work: without it, the sub's lien is capped at the unpaid balance the owner still owes the GC as of receipt, so the owner cannot be made to pay twice. Owners can also defeat liens preemptively by written notice of non-responsibility before furnishing.

Service on the owner

A copy of the Notice of Lien goes to the owner by ordinary mail (post office mailing certificate is conclusive proof of receipt); real estate licensees have an extra certified-mail notice to bona fide purchasers. In the court action, a non-privity claimant may not serve the complaint on the owner until 30 days after filing.

Enforcement

Lien suit in the Superior or District Court where the project lies within 120 days of last furnishing (in practice 90 days to record the notice, 30 more to sue), naming the debtor, owner, and other interest holders; within 60 days of filing the complaint a clerk's certificate, claimant/attorney affidavit, or attested complaint copy must be recorded in the registry of deeds - Maine's lis-pendens equivalent - or the lien is void against bona fide purchasers; successful suits end in public auction with pro rata sharing.

10 M.R.S.A. §§ 3251-3261, esp. §§ 3251, 3253, 3255, 3261; 14 M.R.S.A. § 871 (public bond law)