Michigan Notice of Furnishing & Construction Lien — Register of Deeds Filing Guide (MCL §§ 570.1109 / 570.1111 / 570.1117, 2026)
✓ Verified against Michigan statutes · Reviewed August 2026 · By Michael Evan — Founder · 50 states · 799 rules
Michigan mechanics lien deadlines at a glance
Preliminary Notice
20 days — Notice of Furnishing
Mechanics Lien
90 days — From last date of furnishing
Enforcement
1 year — From filing
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What Is the Michigan Notice of Furnishing and Who Owes It?
The Michigan Notice of Furnishing is the preliminary notice a subcontractor or supplier serves to preserve construction lien rights under the Construction Lien Act, MCL 570.1101 et seq. Two documents anchor the Michigan system and they run in opposite directions. The Michigan Notice of Commencement is recorded by the OWNER or lessee (or, on residential work, the contractor) under MCL § 570.1108, enters the register of deeds records, and names a DESIGNEE to receive notices. The Notice of Furnishing is served by the CLAIMANT under MCL § 570.1109, is never recorded, and tells the designee and general contractor that this particular claimant is furnishing labor or material to the job. Section 570.1109 reaches a subcontractor or supplier that contracts to provide an improvement to real property, and requires that party to provide the notice within 20 days after furnishing the first labor or material. The single express exemption is the direct-contract exemption: a contractor is not required to provide a notice of furnishing to preserve lien rights arising from its contract directly with an owner or lessee. Everyone below that direct contractual line — subcontractors at every tier and material suppliers furnishing to the contractor or to a subcontractor — carries the full obligation. Laborers are handled separately, and their penalty is total: a laborer provides notice within 30 days after wages were contractually due but not paid, and by the fifth day of the second month following the month in which fringe benefits or withholdings were contractually due but not paid, and a laborer who fails to provide that notice defeats the lien for those wages entirely.
The Post-Service Rule — Why a Late Michigan Notice Costs More Than a Late Ohio Notice
Michigan and Ohio both preserve some lien rights after a late notice of furnishing, and claimants who work across the two states routinely assume the rules are interchangeable. They are not. Section 570.1109 provides that the failure to provide a notice within the time specified 'does not defeat the lien claimant's right to a construction lien for work performed or materials furnished by the lien claimant after the service of the notice of furnishing.' Everything protected is furnished AFTER service. There is no lookback. Compare the arithmetic. In Ohio, a notice served on July 10 reaches back roughly to June 19 — twenty-one days — and protects that window plus everything after. In Michigan, a notice served on July 10 protects nothing before July 10; the lien covers only what the claimant furnishes on and after that date. A supplier that furnished continuously from March and served in July preserves, in Ohio, the three weeks before service plus all future work, and in Michigan, only the future work. The earlier furnishing is gone from the lien in both states, but the forfeited slice is larger in Michigan. Because Michigan gives no lookback for the days before service, every day the notice goes unserved is a day of furnishing permanently outside the lien. Serve the notice the day the gap is discovered and keep furnishing under the protected window. Laborers face a harsher rule still: a late laborer notice defeats the lien for those wages outright.
The Residential Double-Payment Defense — MCL § 570.1203
The most commercially important feature of Michigan lien law for anyone working on homes is a rule that has nothing to do with the notice deadline itself and everything to do with what the notice is worth. Under MCL § 570.1203, the sum of all construction liens on a residential structure cannot exceed the amount the owner or lessee still owes the contractor at the time the notice of furnishing is provided — as long as the owner paid the contractor in good faith, obtained the sworn statement under MCL § 570.1110, and collected lien waivers. This is the mirror image of Texas fund trapping. In Texas, a properly noticed subcontractor can force the owner to withhold from the general contractor and can hold the owner personally liable for paying in disregard of the notice — the owner can be made to pay twice. In Michigan, a homeowner who pays the general contractor in full, gets the sworn statement listing the subcontractors and suppliers, and collects their waivers is PROTECTED: subcontractor and supplier liens cannot exceed whatever the owner still owed the contractor when each notice of furnishing arrived. For the unpaid subcontractor or supplier, the practical lesson is that timing sets the size of the residential lien. Serve the notice of furnishing EARLY, before the owner has paid the general contractor out, and the ceiling is high. Wait until the account is delinquent and the ceiling may be zero even though the notice beat the 20-day clock. On non-residential and commercial projects, § 570.1203 does not apply.
When the Notice of Furnishing and Claim of Lien Are Due
The notice of furnishing is due within 20 days after the claimant furnishes its first labor or material. The clock runs from the claimant's own first furnishing — not from the recording of the notice of commencement, not from contract execution, and emphatically not from the first unpaid invoice. That last point is where most Michigan claims are damaged: during the 20 days that matter, the claimant is usually being paid on schedule and has no reason to think about lien rights. By the time an account goes delinquent at day sixty or ninety, the earliest work has already fallen outside the protected window, and Michigan supplies no lookback to recover it. The claim of lien runs on its own track under § 570.1111, recorded with the register of deeds in the county where the improved property is located, measured from the date the claimant LAST furnished labor or material. The 90 days run from the claimant's own last furnishing, not from completion of the entire project, so a subcontractor that finished its scope in month two cannot ride the general contractor's later completion. Michigan measures from last furnishing, and warranty callbacks, punch-list corrections, and remedial visits generally do not restart the clock. After recording, § 570.1114 requires the claimant to serve a copy of the recorded claim of lien on the owner, lessee, or designee within 15 days. Late service reduces the lien only to the extent the owner is prejudiced. And the one-year § 570.1117 foreclosure clock starts the day the claim of lien is recorded.
Required Information and Service of the Michigan Notice of Furnishing
MCL § 570.1109 prescribes the substance of the notice and Michigan supplies a statutory form for it. The notice identifies the designee and general contractor being served, describes the real property being improved, gives the claimant's name and address, names the party the claimant contracted with, and states that the claimant is furnishing or has furnished labor or material. Two of those elements create a hard dependency on the recorded notice of commencement: the claimant must know who the designee is and where that designee is served, and both facts come from the recorded instrument or from the copy the owner or contractor must furnish on request under § 570.1108. The notice is served by personal service or by certified mail, return receipt requested, on the designee and the general contractor named in the notice of commencement — both are required where both exist. Where the notice of commencement names no designee or the designee has died, service goes to the owner or lessee. Serving the general contractor alone is the most common defect, because the GC is the party the claimant actually deals with day to day. Serving an owner entity found in the county records, rather than the designee the notice of commencement names for service, is the second most common. Keep the return receipt for the file — proof of service is what defeats a later challenge.
Recording, the One-Year Clock, and Where to File in Michigan
The claim of lien is recorded with the register of deeds in the county where the improved property is located, and enters the real property records. Michigan has 83 counties and no statewide construction lien registry, so both the notice-of-commencement search and the claim-of-lien recording happen county by county — and a project spanning a county line requires recording in each. The highest-volume Michigan register of deeds offices for construction lien filings are Wayne County (Detroit), Oakland County (Pontiac), Macomb County (Mount Clemens), Kent County (Grand Rapids), Genesee County (Flint), Washtenaw County (Ann Arbor), Ingham County (Lansing/Mason), Ottawa County (Grand Haven), Kalamazoo County, Saginaw County, Livingston County (Howell), Muskegon County, St. Clair County (Port Huron), Jackson County, Berrien County (St. Joseph), Monroe County, Bay County, Calhoun County (Battle Creek), Lenawee County (Adrian), and Eaton County (Charlotte). Recording fees are set by statute at a flat $30 per document for most Michigan registers of deeds. Michigan's enforcement window is short and unforgiving. Under § 570.1117, proceedings to enforce a construction lien through foreclosure must be commenced within one year after the claim of lien is recorded. Unlike Ohio, Michigan has no notice-to-commence-suit mechanism and no six-year cushion — the one-year clock is automatic, runs from the recording date, and does not depend on anything the owner does. Because the 90-day recording deadline and the one-year enforcement deadline stack, the two periods should be calendared together the day the claim of lien is recorded. Settlement discussions do not toll the one-year clock.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who must serve a Michigan Notice of Furnishing and when is it due?
Under MCL § 570.1109, a subcontractor or supplier that contracts to provide an improvement must provide the notice to the designee and the general contractor named in the notice of commencement within 20 days after furnishing the first labor or material. Where no designee is named or the designee has died, service goes to the owner or lessee. A contractor in direct contract with the owner is exempt. Laborers serve on a separate track — within 30 days after wages were contractually due but not paid, and by the fifth of the second month for unpaid fringe benefits or withholdings. The 20-day clock runs from the claimant's own first furnishing, not from recording, contract signing, or the first unpaid invoice.
What happens if a Michigan Notice of Furnishing is served late?
For subcontractors and suppliers, a late notice does not defeat the lien for work performed or materials furnished after the notice is actually served — but it preserves only that post-service work. Michigan gives no lookback for the days before service the way Ohio does, so the earlier furnishing is lost entirely. A supplier furnishing from March that serves in July keeps only what it furnishes from July forward. Serve the day the gap is discovered, because every additional day adds to the forfeited early portion. Laborers face a harsher rule: failure to provide the laborer notice defeats the lien for those wages outright.
Does a Michigan homeowner who already paid the contractor still owe a subcontractor's lien?
Generally no. Under MCL § 570.1203, the total of all construction liens on a residential structure cannot exceed the amount the owner still owes the contractor at the time the notice of furnishing is provided, provided the owner paid in good faith with a sworn statement under § 570.1110 and lien waivers. Michigan is the opposite of a fund-trapping state like Texas — a homeowner who pays the general contractor in full and collects waivers is protected against subcontractor liens even if the contractor never paid down the chain. For the subcontractor, serving the notice early, before the owner has paid the contractor out, is what sets a meaningful lien ceiling. On commercial projects, § 570.1203 does not apply.
On whom is a Michigan Notice of Furnishing served and how?
MCL § 570.1109 directs service on the designee and the general contractor named in the recorded notice of commencement, by personal service or certified mail, return receipt requested. Both are required where both exist. Where no designee is named or the designee has died, the claimant serves the owner or lessee. Because the designee's identity and service address come from the notice of commencement, the claimant must obtain that document from the register of deeds or from the owner or contractor on request under § 570.1108 before serving. Serving only the general contractor, or an owner entity rather than the named designee, are the two most common service defects.
When must a Michigan claim of lien be recorded?
Under MCL § 570.1111, the claim of lien is recorded with the register of deeds in the county where the property is located within 90 days after the claimant last furnished labor or material — measured from the claimant's own last furnishing, not from project completion. Warranty callbacks, punch-list corrections, and remedial visits generally do not restart the clock. After recording, § 570.1114 requires service of a copy of the recorded claim on the owner, lessee, or designee within 15 days; late service reduces the lien to the extent of prejudice. The 90-day recording deadline is jurisdictional and should be calendared at intake alongside the one-year foreclosure deadline.
How long does a Michigan construction lien last and how is it enforced?
Under MCL § 570.1117, a foreclosure action must be commenced within one year after the claim of lien is recorded, or the lien is extinguished. Michigan has no notice-to-commence-suit mechanism as Ohio does — the one-year clock is automatic and runs from the recording date regardless of what the owner does. The action is filed in the circuit court for the county where the property sits. Because the 90-day recording deadline and the one-year enforcement deadline stack, a claimant that last furnished in January and recorded near its April deadline can lose the entire remedy the following April. Settlement talks do not toll the clock, so file suit before the anniversary if the matter is unresolved.