Maryland mechanics’ lien and bond deadlines
Work on Private Property
Maryland lien deadline
Based on the general 180-day period from last furnishing. Exceptions apply — treat this as a planning estimate, not legal advice.
Filing deadline
Maryland uses a court-petition system, not a recorded lien. A Petition to Establish Mechanic's Lien (with supporting affidavit and contract/invoice exhibits) must be filed in circuit court in the county where the land lies within 180 days (not 6 months) after the claimant's last work or material furnishing. The court issues a show-cause order, holds a hearing within 45 days, and may enter a final or interlocutory (probable-cause) lien order; no lien exists until the court establishes it.
Notice prerequisites
No pre-work notice exists. Subcontractors (anyone who did not contract with the owner or the owner's agent) must send the owner a written Notice of Intention to Claim a Lien within 120 days (day-count, not 4 months) after finishing their work or deliveries. On a single-family home built for the owner to live in, send it as early as possible: if the owner has already paid the general contractor in full when the notice arrives, there is no lien, and the lien can never exceed what the owner still owes the general contractor when the notice is given (Md. Code, Real Prop. § 9-104(a)(2), (f)(3)). The notice must track the statutory form (property description, work/materials, dates, customer). Mailing by certified/registered mail within 120 days suffices, but the claimant bears the burden of proving receipt; posting on the building is allowed only when mail and personal delivery are impossible. GCs contracting directly with the owner need no notice.
Service on the owner
All property owners must be named as defendants in the petition; the court's show-cause order is what brings them in. The only claimant-side service duty is the subcontractor's 120-day notice to the owner (certified/registered mail with return receipt, personal delivery, or posting as a last resort), which necessarily precedes the petition.
Enforcement
A Petition to Enforce must be filed within 1 year of the date the Petition to Establish was filed (not of the lien order). Best practice is a combined Petition to Establish and Enforce in one pleading, since a final lien order may not issue within the year. After enforcement, the court's decree orders sale within up to 30 days if unpaid.
Md. Code Ann., Real Prop. Title 9 (esp. 9-102, 9-104, 9-105, 9-106, 9-113, 9-114, 9-201 to 9-204); Md. Rules 12-302 to 12-307
Md. Code, Real Property, Title 9, Subtitle 1 — published by the Maryland General Assembly.
Work on Public Property
No mechanics lien attaches to public property in any state. On a government job the remedy is the prime contractor’s payment bond, and it runs on its own act with its own deadlines — not the lien deadlines above.
- Who — THE CONTRACTOR ONLY. Not the surety, not the public body, not the sub above you.
- When — 90 days from YOUR own last supply. § 17-108(b).
- How — Certified mail to the contractor. § 17-108(b)(2)(ii).
- If late — The whole claim, for a supplier out of privity.
- Sue by — 1 year after final acceptance — note it runs from a different event than the notice.
Is there a bond at all?
Sec. 17-103(a)(1): 'Before a public body awards a construction contract exceeding the small procurement amount specified in Sec. 13-109 of this article for construction, the contractor shall provide payment security and performance security that meet the requirements of Sec. 17-104 of this subtitle.' Sec. 17-103(a)(2): the security shall be '(i) for performance security, in an amount that the public body considers adequate for its protection; and (ii) for payment security, AT LEAST 50% of the total amount payable under the contract' - fifty percent, not one hundred. The imported threshold is NOT a single number: Sec. 13-109(a) defines 'small procurement' as one where '(1) a unit spends $100,000 or less;... (3) the Department of General Services or the Department of Transportation is seeking to award a procurement contract for a construction with a value that is $200,000 or less; (4) the Department of Natural Resources is seeking to award a procurement contract for capital projects or maintenance with a value that is $200,000 or less.' So the bond trigger is $100,000 generally but $200,000 for DGS, MDOT and DNR construction. Sec. 17-103(b) adds a discretionary band for non-State bodies: 'A public body, other than the State or a unit of the State government, may require payment security or performance security for a construction contract if: (1) the contract exceeds $100,000 but does not exceed the small procurement amount specified in Sec. 13-109 of this article; and (2) the amount of the security does not exceed 50% of the contract amount.'
Who can claim on it
Sec. 17-101(e): '(1) "Supplier" means a person who supplies labor or materials. (2) "Supplier" includes a lessor of equipment to the extent of the fair rental value of the equipment.' Sec. 17-108(a): 'a supplier may sue on payment security if the supplier: (1) supplied labor or materials in the prosecution of work provided for in a contract subject to this subtitle; and (2) has not been paid in full for the labor or materials within 90 days after the day that the person last supplied labor or materials for which the claim is made.' THE ANSWER TO THE SUB-SUBCONTRACTOR QUESTION IS YES, EXPRESSLY: Sec. 17-108(b)(1) reaches 'A supplier who has a direct contractual relationship with a subcontractor OR SUB-SUBCONTRACTOR of a contractor who has provided payment security but no contractual relationship with the contractor.' Maryland therefore protects one tier deeper than the federal Miller Act formula, which stops at those with a direct contract with a subcontractor. The words stop there: a supplier whose own customer is below a sub-subcontractor is outside them. 'Public body' is defined broadly at Sec. 17-101(d): 'the State; a county, municipal corporation, or other political subdivision; a public instrumentality; or any governmental unit authorized to award a contract.'
What notice you owe
ONLY THE CLAIMANT OUT OF PRIVITY WITH THE PRIME - but that class is defined to include the deeper tier. Sec. 17-108(b)(1): the notice is owed by 'A supplier who has a direct contractual relationship with a subcontractor or sub-subcontractor of a contractor who has provided payment security but no contractual relationship with the contractor.' A supplier in privity with the prime owes nothing and sues under Sec. 17-108(a) alone.
Who it goes to
THE CONTRACTOR ONLY - the prime who provided the payment security. Not the surety, not the public body, not the intermediate subcontractor.
By when
90 days from the CLAIMANT'S OWN last supply - 'within 90 days after the labor or materials for which the claim is made were last supplied in prosecution of work covered by the security.' Do not confuse this with the separate 90-day RIPENING rule in Sec. 17-108(a)(2), which bars suit until the supplier 'has not been paid in full for the labor or materials within 90 days after the day that the person last supplied labor or materials for which the claim is made.' Both are 90 days from the same event, so in practice the notice must go out during the same period in which the right to sue is maturing.
How it must be served
Sec. 17-108(b)(2)(ii): the notice 'shall be sent by certified mail to the contractor at the contractor's residence or a place where the contractor has an office or does business.' CERTIFIED MAIL ONLY - the statute does not offer registered mail, personal service, or any 'any manner authorized by law to serve summons' alternative. Three permissible addresses.
What it has to say
Sec. 17-108(b)(2)(i): the notice 'shall state with substantial accuracy the amount claimed and the person to whom the labor or material was supplied.' Two items; 'substantial accuracy' is the standard.
If the notice is late, or never given
THE WHOLE CLAIM for the out-of-privity supplier - the right to sue is conditioned on it: such a supplier 'may sue on the security IF the supplier gives written notice to the contractor within 90 days.' No saving clause, no prejudice test on the face of the statute.
When the suit clock starts
Sec. 17-109(b) - THE PUBLIC BODY'S FINAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE WORK. Not the claimant's last day, not the date of the notice, not the completion of the claimant's own subcontract, and not substantial completion. 'An action on a payment bond required by this subtitle shall be filed within 1 year after the public body finally accepts the work performed under the contract.'
How long you have to sue
ONE YEAR after final acceptance by the public body. Note the mismatch with the notice clock: the notice runs from the claimant's own last supply while the suit runs from a project-wide event the claimant may never be told about.
Where suit is brought
Sec. 17-109(a): 'An action on a payment bond required by this subtitle shall be filed in the appropriate court of the county where: (1) the contract was executed and performed; or (2) the contractor has its principal place of business.' Sec. 17-109(c): 'An obligee named in a bond or a trustee for any other security is not liable for any costs in connection with an action on a payment bond required by this subtitle.'
The trap
Maryland's one-year suit clock runs from the PUBLIC BODY'S FINAL ACCEPTANCE of the whole work, not from the claimant's last day or its notice, so a supplier who certified-mails a flawless 90-day notice and then counts twelve months from its own last delivery can be time-barred on a project that was accepted months earlier - and nothing in the subtitle requires anyone to tell the claimant that acceptance has happened.
The act itself
The Maryland Little Miller Act. The subtitle itself is headed 'Security for Construction Contracts' and is drafted in terms of 'payment security' rather than 'payment bond', which is deliberate and consequential - the security need not be a bond.
Where this comes from
Md. Code Ann., State Fin. & Proc. Sec. 17-101 to 17-110 - Sec. 17-101 (definitions), 17-102 (scope; Baltimore City program), 17-103 (security required; amounts), 17-104 (form of security), 17-107 (no mechanics' lien waiver required), 17-108 (suit on payment security; the 90-day notice), 17-109 (venue; limitation; costs), 17-110 (retainage). The dollar trigger is imported from Sec. 13-109 of the same article.
Md. Code, Real Property, Title 9, Subtitle 1 — published by the Maryland General Assembly.
Statutory summary as of 29 July 2026. Not legal advice; confirm with a lawyer licensed in Maryland.