Mechanic's Liens: What Unpaid Work Means for Your Home
If a contractor doesn't get paid, they can put a legal claim on your property — even if you paid your contractor in full. Here's how it works.
A client called me last spring — let's call her Maria. She'd found her dream home in Sierra Vista, we'd gone under contract, and then the title search came back with a surprise: a mechanic's lien from a roofing company for $8,400. The seller had no idea. The roofer had done the work, the general contractor had pocketed the money without paying his subcontractor, and now that debt was sitting on the property like a lead weight.
We nearly lost the deal. It's a situation I see more than people expect, especially in areas with active new construction and renovation. So let me break this down for you.
What Is a Mechanic's Lien?
A mechanic's lien is a legal claim filed against a property by someone who did work on it — or supplied materials for it — and didn't get paid. The name is a little old-fashioned. We're not talking about your car mechanic. We're talking about contractors, subcontractors, electricians, plumbers, roofers, suppliers, even architects.
Here's the part that surprises most people: you can have a lien on your home even if you paid your contractor every dollar you owed. If your contractor hired a subcontractor and then stiffed them, that sub can come after your property. The lien attaches to the real estate itself, not just to the person who did the hiring.
Think of it like this. If you own the land and the building, and unpaid work went into that land and building, the law says the people who did that work have a right to get paid — one way or another.
How It Affects a Real Estate Transaction
A mechanic's lien can stop a sale cold. Title companies won't issue a clean title policy on a property with an unresolved lien, and most buyers can't get a mortgage without that policy. Even cash buyers should care — buy a property with a lien attached and you inherit the problem.
A few scenarios I've seen locally:
- New construction in Hereford: A buyer's custom home was nearly finished when the lumber supplier filed a lien because the builder had fallen behind on payments. Closing was delayed six weeks while it got sorted out.
- Renovation flip in Bisbee: An investor bought a fixer-upper, hired a GC, and didn't know the GC had unpaid subs from a previous job — and those subs had filed liens on multiple properties. Took legal help to untangle.
- Fort Huachuca-area rental property: A landlord had HVAC work done, paid in full, but the equipment supplier hadn't been paid by the HVAC company. Lien showed up when the landlord tried to refinance.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Assuming your payment protects you. It doesn't always. Arizona has specific laws about who can file a lien and when, but paying your contractor doesn't automatically protect you from his unpaid subs or suppliers.
Skipping the preliminary notice step. In Arizona, contractors and subs are generally required to send a preliminary 20-day notice before they can file a lien. A lot of homeowners toss these in the junk mail pile without realizing it's a legal heads-up that someone has lien rights on their property.
Ignoring liens hoping they'll go away. They won't. A lien has to be formally released. That usually means the debt gets paid, negotiated down, or disputed in court.
Not using a title company or real estate attorney on big renovation projects. Some owners doing major work hire a construction escrow service to make sure subs and suppliers get paid directly. Worth considering on a big project.
What You Can Do Right Now
If you're buying, make sure your title search is thorough. A good title company will catch recorded liens — but timing matters, because liens can be filed right up until closing.
If you're planning a renovation, ask your contractor for a list of all subs and suppliers they plan to use. You can also request lien waivers as you make progress payments — these are signed documents where the contractor or sub confirms they've been paid and waive their lien rights to that point.
And if you're selling and have had work done recently, do yourself a favor: run a quick title check before you list. Finding a lien on your own timeline is a lot less painful than finding it when a buyer's attorney does.
Questions about how this might affect a deal you're working on? Give me a call. This is exactly the kind of thing I like to sort out early — before it derails something you've worked hard for.