What Happens to a Mechanics Lien When the Property Is Sold? 50-State Rules
✓ Verified against state statutes · Reviewed October 2026 · By Michael Evan — Founder · 50 states · 799 rules
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What Happens to a Mechanics Lien When the Property Is Sold?
A mechanics lien is a security interest in real estate and attaches to the property, not to the person who owned it. When a lien is already recorded and the owner sells, the buyer takes title subject to it and the claimant can still foreclose against the property in the buyer's hands within the enforcement deadline. The buyer is not personally liable for the seller's debt, but the buyer's property is the collateral. In practice a buyer's title search finds the lien, and neither the lender nor the title insurer will close over it, so the seller pays it from proceeds, obtains a release, or posts a statutory release bond. The hard case is a sale that closes before the lien is recorded while the claimant is still inside its filing deadline.
How Does a Lien Bind a Buyer Before It Is Recorded?
Through relation back: most statutes date a timely lien to an earlier event such as the visible start of work, first furnishing, a recorded notice of commencement, or a preliminary notice. Binds later buyer, 11 states: Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah. Short buyer window, 4 states: Illinois, Iowa, North Dakota, Tennessee. Buyer who records first wins, 9 states: Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont. Depends on the job, 2 states: Florida (Notice of Commencement, Fla. Stat. section 713.07) and Pennsylvania (new construction relates back; alteration and repair liens date from filing, Act 497 section 508). Relates back but buyers not named, 17 states: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin. Silent or filing-date race, 7 states: Alaska, Georgia, Hawaii, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Virginia, Wyoming.
Does a Mechanics Lien Survive a Sale? The 50-State Table
Selected rules: Nevada NRS 108.225 makes every conveyance after commencement subordinate to the liens regardless of the date of recording. Michigan MCL 570.1119: the lien arises at the first actual physical improvement and outranks all interests recorded after. Oklahoma 42 O.S. section 141: the lien follows the property wherever found. Kentucky KRS 376.010(2): no precedence over a bona fide conveyance for value without notice unless the statement was filed before the deed was recorded. Vermont 9 V.S.A. section 1923: no precedence over a conveyance paid for in good faith before record of the lien. New York Lien Law sections 7 and 13(5): a buyer recorded before the lien takes clear title if the deed carries the trust covenant, which makes the sale proceeds a trust fund. Massachusetts c. 254 sections 2 and 4: the lien reaches only property the contracting party owns of record when the notice of contract is filed. Georgia O.C.G.A. section 44-14-361.1: liens rank by date filed. Release bonds to clear title range from 100 percent of the claim (Arkansas, Kansas, Massachusetts, Tennessee) to 200 percent (Hawaii, Iowa, Kentucky, Michigan, Texas, Virginia); Illinois is 175 percent, California 125 percent, New York and New Jersey 110 percent. Arkansas, Georgia, Mississippi, and Tennessee were read from an unofficial compilation.
What Are the Deadlines When the Owner Is Selling?
Illinois 770 ILCS 60/7(a): two years against the owner but four months after completion against any creditor, incumbrancer, or purchaser. Iowa Code section 572.18 protects a good-faith buyer against a lien posted more than 90 days after last furnishing; North Dakota section 35-27-14 and Tennessee section 66-11-112 also use 90 days. Maine 10 M.R.S. section 3255 allows a recorded notice that protects against buyers for 120 days and can be re-recorded. New Jersey's Notice of Unpaid Balance filed before the buyer's deed binds the buyer if the lien claim follows on time (N.J.S.A. 2A:44A-20). Missouri RSMo section 429.016: after an owner records a notice of intended residential sale, the claimant records a notice of rights at least five days before closing. North Carolina section 44A-11.2(l): Notice to Lien Agent within 15 days of first furnishing or before the buyer's deed. The rule for every state: record before the buyer's deed.
Who Is Most at Risk When a Property Is Sold?
Subcontractors and suppliers on spec homes and flips. Indiana section 32-28-3-1(j) cuts off liens on new one- or two-family homes sold to an occupant-buyer unless recorded before the deed; Kansas section 60-1103b requires a notice of intent before the buyer's deed; Nebraska section 52-139 lets a protected-party buyer take title clear of liens not of record; Utah section 38-11-107 bars non-direct claimants when paid-in-full conditions are met and the buyer occupies within 180 days. Pennsylvania remodelers whose customer sells before filing. Claimants waiting on a promise of payment at closing. Design professionals under California Civil Code section 8316 and Texas Property Code section 53.124(e).
What Happens If the Property Sells Before You Record?
In binds-later-buyer states, record within the ordinary deadline and serve the new owner of record. In window states, check whether you are inside the buyer window. In record-first states, look to New York's section 13(5) trust fund on sale proceeds, the contract claim and personal guarantees, any payment bond, trust-fund statutes, and closing affidavits such as Virginia section 43-13.2, under which a willful false statement is a Class 5 felony. Do not record a lien the statute has cut off.
What Happens to a Recorded Lien at Closing?
The title company requests a payoff, the seller pays from proceeds, and the release records with the deed; disputed amounts are escrowed or bonded. Texas Property Code section 53.174(b) says a buyer, title insurer, or lender is absolutely protected once a bond is recorded. The enforcement clock keeps running against the bond; Connecticut section 49-37 voids the bond if suit is not brought within one year of recording the lien certificate.
The 5 Most Common Mistakes When the Property Is Sold
(1) Waiting for a promise of payment at closing. (2) Counting to the owner deadline instead of the buyer deadline. (3) Skipping the protective notice the statute offers: Maine, New Jersey, North Carolina, Missouri, Kansas. (4) Naming the wrong owner after the sale. (5) Letting the clock run after a release bond is posted.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens to a mechanics lien when the property is sold?
A recorded mechanics lien stays on the property after a sale. It runs with the land, so the buyer takes title subject to it, and the claimant can still foreclose against the property in the buyer's hands within the enforcement deadline. In practice most recorded liens are paid or bonded off at closing, because a title insurer will not insure clear title over them. The harder question is a sale that closes before the lien is recorded: 9 states let a good-faith buyer who records first take clear title, and 4 more protect a buyer if the lien is filed after a short window.
Can you file a mechanics lien after the owner sells the property?
Often, but not everywhere. In states where the lien relates back to the start of work, such as Michigan (MCL 570.1119), Nevada (NRS 108.225), and Montana (MCA 71-3-535), a lien filed within the normal deadline still reaches property the owner sold in the meantime. In Kentucky (KRS 376.010), Maine (10 M.R.S. 3255), Maryland (Real Prop. 9-102), New Jersey (N.J.S.A. 2A:44A-10), Rhode Island (34-28-25), and Vermont (9 V.S.A. 1923), a good-faith buyer who takes title before the lien or required notice is on record takes title clear of it. If you know a sale is coming, record before the deed does.
Is a buyer responsible for a mechanics lien the seller didn't pay?
The buyer is not personally liable for the seller's construction debt, but the buyer's property is. A valid lien that binds the buyer can be foreclosed, and the buyer must pay or bond it off to keep the property clear. That is why title companies search for recorded liens and demand releases or payoff before closing, and why in some states, such as Virginia under Va. Code 43-13.2, a builder selling a one- or two-family home must give the buyer an affidavit at closing that all labor and materials have been paid.
How long do you have to file a mechanics lien against a buyer in Illinois?
Four months. Under 770 ILCS 60/7(a), a contractor's lien cannot be enforced against or to the prejudice of any other creditor, incumbrancer, or purchaser unless the claim is filed, or suit is brought, within four months after completion. Against the owner the window is two years. If the owner is selling, the four-month date is the one that matters. Iowa, North Dakota, and Tennessee use a similar structure with a 90-day window.
Does a mechanics lien get paid at closing?
Usually, if it is recorded before closing. A title search will show the lien, and the buyer's title insurer and lender will normally require it to be paid from the seller's proceeds, released, or bonded off before they close. A lien release bond moves the claim from the property to the bond, which lets the sale close while the claim is resolved. Bond amounts are set by statute, such as 110 percent in New York and New Jersey, 125 percent in California, 150 percent in Arizona and Wyoming, 175 percent in Illinois, and twice the claim in Texas and Michigan.
What can you do if the property sold before you recorded your lien?
First check whether your state's lien still reaches the property: in the relation-back states a timely lien may bind the buyer anyway. If the sale cut the lien off, look at the other sources of payment: the contract claim against whoever hired you, a payment bond if one exists, New York's trust fund on the sale proceeds under Lien Law 13(5), a claim against the seller who received the sale money, and any personal guarantee. In Missouri, a notice of rights recorded at least 5 days before a noticed residential closing preserves the claim under RSMo 429.016.