Filing deadline

All claimants record a statutory-form Notice of Mechanic's Lien with the Clerk of the County Commission where the property lies within 100 days of the trigger: contract completion (contractors), subcontract completion (subs), last delivery (materialmen), or last labor (laborers/mechanics). Statutory forms per claimant class should be tracked closely even though substantial compliance is the standard.

Notice prerequisites

No mandatory pre-work notice; the lien arises automatically. Claimants without an owner contract may send an Optional Notice under 38-2-20 before starting, telling the owner they will look to it for payment - this excuses the usual owner-notice filing unless the owner demands an itemized account in writing within 60 days of last furnishing.

Service on the owner

Claimants not in privity with the owner must ALSO serve the notice on the owner or its authorized agent within the same 100-day window, using the method for serving legal process/summons; failure to serve the owner timely is fatal to the lien. Owner-privity claimants only record.

Enforcement

Suit to enforce must be filed within 6 months of recording the notice; another lienholder's timely suit on the same property inures to all lienors, who may intervene. The court orders sale of only so much of the property as needed and may enter personal judgment against parties in privity.

W.Va. Code 38-2-1 through 38-2-37 (esp. 38-2-7 filing/service, 38-2-17/18 priority, 38-2-20 optional notice, 38-2-34 suit).