Filing deadline

The Notice of Mechanic's Lien is recorded with the clerk of the town where the project sits, within 180 days measured from the date payment became due for the last labor or materials - not from the last day of work itself.

Notice prerequisites

No pre-work notice. The only mandatory notice is the Notice of Mechanic's Lien itself, a written statement of intent to claim a lien given to the owner or the owner's agent; since 7/1/2004 it must state the payment due date if known.

Service on the owner

Written notice of the lien claim goes to the owner or its agent; the same notice is filed with the town clerk. The statute is a memorandum/notice system rather than a separate service-then-file sequence; the lien only reaches whatever the owner still owes on the prime contract when it receives the written notice.

Enforcement

Within 180 days of filing the notice (or of payment coming due, if later) the claimant must both file a foreclosure complaint AND actually obtain and record a court-approved prejudgment Writ of Attachment on the realty - filing suit alone is insufficient (Filter Equipment v. IBM). After judgment, a certified copy must be recorded with the town clerk within 5 months, after which the claimant forecloses like a defaulted mortgagee.

9 V.S.A. 1921-1925; V.R.C.P. 4.1 (attachment); 12 V.S.A. 3291.