Montana mechanics’ lien and bond deadlines
Work on Private Property
Montana lien deadline
Based on the general 90-day period from last furnishing. Exceptions apply — treat this as a planning estimate, not legal advice.
Filing deadline
Construction Lien filed with the county clerk and recorder within 90 days after the claimant's final furnishing OR after the owner files (and publishes 3 weeks) a Notice of Completion, whichever applies; completion can be triggered by owner acceptance or a 30-day labor cessation. Filing too early is also fatal - a lien filed before the claimant has substantially furnished its services/materials is ineffective unless another's fault prevented completion. Contents: parties, property description, description of services/materials, unpaid amount (or good-faith estimate so designated), first and last furnishing dates, and a declaration about the pre-lien notice.
Notice prerequisites
Most claimants must give the contracting owner a written Notice of the Right to Claim a Lien within 20 days of first furnishing - stretched to 45 days when the job is financed by a regulated construction lender (never for owner-occupied residences) - by certified mail or personal delivery with written receipt, AND file a copy with the county clerk and recorder within 5 business days of giving it. The filed notice lapses after one year unless a Continuation is filed. Exempt: those dealing directly with the owner, wage laborers, and projects for 5+ family dwellings or wholly/partly commercial improvements. A late notice limits the lien to work done in the 20 (or 45) days before the notice. Failing to give the notice at all, failing to file the copy with the clerk and recorder, or letting the filed notice lapse without a continuation means no lien can be claimed (Mont. Code Ann. 71-3-531).
Service on the owner
A copy of the lien must be served on every owner of record, personally or by certified/registered mail RRR to the last known address, and the claimant must attach to the filed lien a certification of that service - so proof of service accompanies the filing itself.
Enforcement
Foreclosure action within 2 years of the lien filing date (generous by national standards); owner and usually the principal contractor are necessary parties. Prevailing claimant recovers filing fees and reasonable attorney fees; a prevailing owner recovers its fees. Bond claims carry the same limitations period. No lis pendens requirement is described.
Mont. Code Ann. sections 71-3-521 to 71-3-563 (esp. 71-3-522, 71-3-524 to 526, 71-3-531 to 535, 71-3-541, 71-3-542, 71-3-551 to 553, 71-3-561, 71-3-562); public bond: 18-2-201
Mont. Code Ann. Title 71, Ch. 3, Pt. 5 — Construction Liens — published by the Montana Legislative Services Division.
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 — Presented to and FILED with the public body that let the contract. § 18-2-204.
- When — 90 days after completion of the contract and acceptance of the work. § 18-2-204.
- How — No mail class prescribed — it is filed, and it must be signed. § 18-2-204(2).
- If late — Absolute — no right of action on the security without it.
- Sue by — Part 2 sets NO limitation period. Read below before assuming you have time.
Is there a bond at all?
18-2-201 requires security 'whenever any board, council, commission, trustees, or body acting for the state or any county, municipality, or public body contracts with a person or corporation to do work', with exemptions for 'building or construction projects ... that cost less than $150,000' and, for school districts, projects costing less than $7,500. AMOUNT, 18-2-203: 'The security mentioned in 18-2-201 must be in an amount equal to the full contract price agreed to be paid for the work or improvement', payable to the State of Montana except for cities and towns, which may fix the amount by ordinance but 'the amount may not be for less than 25% of the contract price of the improvement'.
Who can claim on it
18-2-204(1): 'All persons mentioned in 18-2-201 have a right of action in their own name or names on any security furnished under the terms of this part for work done by the laborers or mechanics and for food, materials, supplies, provisions, or goods supplied and furnished in the work or the making of the improvements.' 18-2-201 protects 'all laborers, mechanics, subcontractors, and material suppliers' and 'all persons who supply the person, corporation, or subcontractors with provisions, provender, material, or supplies'. 18-2-205 pushes the chain down expressly: 'A corporation or person performing services or furnishing provender, provisions, supplies, or material to a subcontractor has the same right under the provisions of the security as if the work, services, provender, provisions, supplies, or material was furnished to the original contractor.' 18-2-208 excludes lenders: 'The provisions of this part do not apply to money loaned or advanced to a contractor, subcontractor, or other person'.
What notice you owe
TWO separate notices, owed by different people, and the first one is owed by EVERYONE. (1) 18-2-204: every claimant - 'the laborer, mechanic or subcontractor, or material supplier or person claiming to have supplied food, materials, provisions, or goods' - must present and file a notice of claim with the public body. There is no privity exception; a first-tier subcontractor owes it too. (2) 18-2-206: additionally, 'A person, firm, or corporation furnishing provender, provisions, materials, or supplies' to a subcontractor or agent must notify the contractor within 30 days of first delivery.
Who it goes to
18-2-204 notice: 'presents to and files with the board, council, commission, trustees, or body acting for the state, county, or municipality or other public body, city, town, or district' - THE PUBLIC BODY, not the contractor and not the surety. 18-2-206 notice: the contractor - 'The notice must be delivered personally or sent by certified mail to the contractor.'
By when
18-2-204: 'within 90 days after the completion of the contract with an acceptance of the work by the affirmative action of the board, council, commission, trustees, officer, or body acting for the state, county, or municipality or other public body, city, town, or district'. The trigger is the public body's formal acceptance of the whole contract, NOT the claimant's last day of work - the clock may not start for months after the claimant leaves the site, and it does not start at all until the body acts affirmatively. 18-2-206: 'not later than 30 days after the date of the first delivery to a subcontractor or agent' - FIRST delivery.
How it must be served
18-2-204 prescribes no mail class; the notice is 'presented to and filed with' the public body and must be signed: '(2) The notice must be signed by the person or corporation making the claim or giving the notice. After being presented and filed, the notice is a public record open to inspection by any person.' 18-2-206: 'delivered personally or sent by certified mail to the contractor.'
What it has to say
18-2-204 supplies a statutory form (see "The form the statute prescribes"): the name of the public body, the name of the claimant, the sum claimed, the name of the principal and of the person providing the security, and a brief description of the work concerning which the security was taken, signed. 18-2-206 does not enumerate contents beyond identifying the furnishing.
The form the statute prescribes
TO (here insert the name of the state, county, or municipality or other public body, city, town, or district): NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the undersigned (here insert the name of the laborer, mechanic or subcontractor, or material supplier or person claiming to have furnished labor, materials, or provisions for the contract or work) has a claim in the sum of .... dollars (here insert the amount) against the security taken from .... (here insert the name of the principal and name of the person providing the security) for the work of .... (here insert a brief mention or description of the work concerning which the security was taken). (Here to be signed) ....
If the notice is late, or never given
Both are absolute. 18-2-204: 'The persons do not have any right of action on the security unless within 90 days ... presents to and files with [the public body] a notice in writing in substance as follows'. 18-2-206: 'A suit or action may not be maintained in any court against the contractor or the security to recover for the provender, provisions, materials, or supplies or any part thereof unless the provisions of this part have been complied with.'
How long you have to sue
Part 2 prescribes NO limitations period for suit on the security. Nothing in 18-2-201 through 18-2-208 sets a deadline to sue; the only deadlines in the part are the two notices. The applicable limitation is therefore the general civil one for an action on a written contract or on a bond; confirm the applicable period with a Montana lawyer.
Where suit is brought
Not prescribed in Part 2. 18-2-207 allows costs and attorney fees.
The trap
Montana's 90-day clock does not run from the claimant's last day of work - it runs from the public body's affirmative acceptance of the completed contract - and the notice is FILED WITH THE PUBLIC BODY rather than served on the contractor or surety, so a claimant that mails a Miller-Act-style notice to the general contractor and calendars 90 days from its own last delivery has both used the wrong recipient and, if it also supplied a subcontractor, already blown the separate 30-day-from-FIRST-delivery notice under 18-2-206.
The act itself
No popular name; Title 18, Chapter 2, Part 2 is captioned 'Performance, Labor, and Materials Bonds'. The statute speaks of 'security' rather than 'bond' throughout, which matters because a bond is only one of the permitted forms.
Where this comes from
Mont. Code Ann. ss. 18-2-201 through 18-2-208: 18-2-201 (security requirements), 18-2-202 (failure to require security - waiver), 18-2-203 (amount and terms of security), 18-2-204 (right of action on security - notice), 18-2-205 (effect of dealing with subcontractor), 18-2-206 (notice to contractor concerning subcontractor), 18-2-207 (costs - attorney fees), 18-2-208 (exceptions).
Mont. Code Ann. Title 71, Ch. 3, Pt. 5 — Construction Liens — published by the Montana Legislative Services Division.
Statutory summary as of 29 July 2026. Not legal advice; confirm with a lawyer licensed in Montana.