Filing deadline

Remote contractors must serve on the owner and record with the county Register of Deeds a Notice of Lien and Sworn Statement within 90 days after completion of the improvement. Prime contractors need no formal lien notice against the owner (unless a Notice of Completion is recorded) but, to beat third-party purchasers/encumbrancers, must record the contract or a Notice of Lien and Sworn Statement within 90 days of completion or abandonment. Deadlines run from project completion/abandonment, not the claimant's own last work.

Notice prerequisites

Prime contractors must deliver a written Notice to Owner before starting work or signing the contract, but since 7/1/2020 only on owner-occupied residential projects; this notice creates a 1-year lien. Remote contractors must send a Notice of Nonpayment to the owner and the prime contractor with whom they contracted within 90 days after the end of each month in which unpaid labor/materials were furnished, repeated monthly while unpaid. Optional pre-work certified-mail notice to a mortgagee can win lien priority over the mortgage if the mortgagee consents or fails to object within 10 days.

Service on the owner

The Notice of Lien and Sworn Statement must be both served on the owner and filed with the Register of Deeds within the same 90-day window. Permitted service methods: registered/certified mail return receipt requested, hand delivery proven by notarized sworn statement, or a commercial delivery service giving written delivery confirmation.

Enforcement

Remote contractors must sue within 90 days of giving/filing the Notice of Lien and Sworn Statement; prime contractors within 1 year after completion or abandonment. Suit must include a Writ of Attachment, Fiat, and Attachment Bond (lesser of $1,000 or the lien amount); a timely-filed suit seeking attachment suffices even if the attachment issues later. The owner is a necessary party. Once suit is filed the lien persists until final decree.

T.C.A. 66-11-101 through 66-11-208; Prompt Pay Act T.C.A. 66-34-101 et seq.; public work bonds T.C.A. 12-4-201 et seq.