Missouri Notice to Owner & Mechanics Lien — Mo. Rev. Stat. § 429.012 / § 429.080 / § 429.170 Filing Guide (2026)
What Is the Missouri Mechanics Lien Framework and How Does the Lien Workflow Operate?
Missouri's mechanics lien framework is Missouri Revised Statutes Chapter 429. The workflow runs in four steps: (1) the threshold notices — the original contractor's § 429.012 notice to owner, the lower-tier claimant's § 429.100 10-day notice of intent, and, on owner-occupied residential property, the § 429.013 Consent of Owner; (2) filing the § 429.080 lien statement with the clerk of the circuit court within six months of last work; (3) commencing the § 429.170 foreclosure action within six months after filing; and (4) determining priority under Missouri's relation-back rule, which dates every lien on the project to the commencement of the work. The notices are the threshold: a claimant who fails to give the applicable notice generally has no lien at all. Missouri is distinctive in three respects — the original contractor's mandatory § 429.012 notice (a condition precedent to the lien), the circuit-court filing (not the recorder of deeds), and the compressed six-month windows (six months to file from last work, six months to enforce from filing, 60 days for equipment lessors).
Who Must Give a Missouri Notice — § 429.012, § 429.100, and § 429.013
Missouri Chapter 429 imposes different notices on different claimants. The original contractor's notice to owner (§ 429.012): every original contractor in a direct contractual relationship with the owner must give the owner the statutory disclosure, in ten-point bold type, warning that suppliers and subcontractors may file liens if unpaid and recommending lien waivers, delivered prior to the contractor receiving any payment (at contract execution, first delivery, commencement, or with the first invoice), with a copy retained and furnished to subs and suppliers on request. The lower-tier claimant's 10-day notice of intent (§ 429.100): a subcontractor, material supplier, or laborer who did not contract directly with the owner must give the owner at least ten days' written notice of intent to file before the lien is filed, stating the claim, the amount, and the party against whom it is held. The consent of owner on residential work (§ 429.013): on owner-occupied residential property of four units or fewer, a subcontractor or supplier may file a lien only if the owner signed the statutory Consent of Owner, which must be attached to the lien. Compliance with § 429.012 is a condition precedent to the creation, existence, or validity of any mechanics lien.
Why the § 429.012 Notice Is a Condition Precedent — Not a Formality
Many states treat a contractor's disclosure notice as a consumer-protection nicety. Missouri does not. Section 429.012 states that compliance is a condition precedent to the creation, existence or validity of any mechanic's lien. If the original contractor never delivered the ten-point bold-type notice before taking payment, the lien does not exist — the defect cannot be cured after the fact, and the claimant is left to breach-of-contract and prompt-payment remedies that carry no lien security. The statute also carries criminal teeth: an original contractor who fails to give the notice with intent to defraud commits a class B misdemeanor, and a contractor who knowingly issues a fraudulent lien waiver or a false affidavit commits a class D felony. The safe practice is to build the § 429.012 notice into the owner contract and deliver it before any payment is taken, on every project.
§ 429.080: The Six-Month Filing Window and the § 429.170 Six-Month Enforcement Deadline
After notice, the lien is perfected by filing. Under § 429.080, the lien statement — a just and true account of the demand after all just credits, with a property description and the names of the owner and contractor, verified by the claimant's oath — must be filed within six (6) months after the last item of labor or material was furnished, with the clerk of the circuit court of the county where the property is located. The independent City of St. Louis files with its own circuit clerk. Equipment lessors have a shorter window: a rental-equipment lien must be filed within 60 days after the equipment is last used or removed. An action to enforce the lien must be commenced within six (6) months after the lien statement is filed under § 429.170, in the circuit court of the county where the property lies. The filing window runs from last work; the enforcement window runs from the filing date. Missouri has 114 counties plus the City of St. Louis; the largest markets are Jackson (Kansas City), St. Louis County, the City of St. Louis, St. Charles, Greene (Springfield), Boone (Columbia), Clay, Platte, Jefferson, Cole (Jefferson City), Buchanan (St. Joseph), and Cape Girardeau.
Missouri Priority: Relation Back to Commencement of the Work
Missouri's priority feature is the relation-back rule. All mechanics liens arising from the same improvement relate back to and take priority from the commencement of the work on the project — the first work or first delivery of materials to the improvement. Every lien claimant on the project shares equal priority among the mechanics liens, regardless of when each individual claimant started or finished. A mortgage or other encumbrance recorded after the commencement of work is subordinate to the mechanics liens, even if the lien statements are filed later, while a mortgage recorded before work began retains priority over the liens. This is why Missouri construction lenders inspect the site for any visible commencement of work and obtain lien waivers before recording a construction mortgage, and why the date work commenced is a frequently litigated fact in Missouri lien-priority disputes.
Filing Fees and Where to File
The § 429.080 mechanics lien statement is filed with the clerk of the circuit court of the county where the property is located — not the recorder of deeds — and the independent City of St. Louis files with its own circuit clerk. Missouri circuit clerk lien-filing fees are generally a modest per-document charge, and serving the § 429.012 notice to owner and the § 429.100 10-day notice of intent by certified mail typically runs under $15 per party. Missouri circuit court filing fees to commence a lien-foreclosure action run roughly $150–$350, with additional costs for service of process and recording a notice of lis pendens. Filing with the recorder of deeds instead of the circuit clerk is a common Missouri error that can invalidate the filing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Missouri notice to owner under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 429.012?
The Missouri notice to owner is a written disclosure that every original contractor — a contractor with a direct contractual relationship with the owner — must give the owner under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 429.012. Printed in ten-point bold type, it warns the owner that persons who supply labor or materials may file a mechanics lien against the property if they are not paid, and recommends that the owner obtain lien waivers before paying. The original contractor must deliver the notice prior to receiving any payment — at contract execution, when materials are first delivered, when work is commenced, or with the first invoice — and must keep a copy and furnish it to subcontractors and suppliers on request. Compliance with § 429.012 is a condition precedent to the creation, existence, or validity of any mechanics lien: an original contractor who fails to give the notice has no lien, and omitting it with intent to defraud is a class B misdemeanor.
What is the Missouri 10-day notice of intent under § 429.100?
Under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 429.100, every person other than the original contractor — a subcontractor, material supplier, or laborer who did not contract directly with the owner — must give the owner at least ten (10) days' written notice of intent to file a mechanics lien before the lien is filed. The notice must state that the claimant holds a claim against the building or improvement, the amount of the claim, and the name of the party against whom it is held. It is served on the owner, the owner's agent, or a person in charge of the property. The 10-day notice of intent is separate from the original contractor's § 429.012 notice to owner — it is the lower-tier claimant's own precondition, and filing before the full ten days elapses, or skipping the notice, is fatal to the subcontractor's or supplier's lien.
What is the deadline to file a Missouri mechanics lien?
Under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 429.080, a Missouri mechanics lien statement — a just and true account of the demand — must be filed within six (6) months after the last item of labor or material was furnished. It is filed with the clerk of the circuit court of the county where the property is located; the independent City of St. Louis files with its own circuit clerk. The six-month clock runs from the date of last work, not from when payment became due. Equipment lessors have a shorter window — a lien for rental equipment must be filed within sixty (60) days after the equipment is last used or removed from the site. The lien statement must contain a just and true account of the amount due after all just credits, a description of the property, the names of the owner and the contractor, and must be verified by the claimant's oath.
Where do you file a mechanics lien in Missouri, and what does it cost?
Unlike most states, Missouri files mechanics liens with the clerk of the circuit court of the county where the property is located — not the recorder of deeds — under § 429.080. The City of St. Louis files with its own circuit clerk. Missouri has 114 counties plus the City of St. Louis; the largest construction markets are Jackson (Kansas City), St. Louis County, the City of St. Louis, St. Charles, Greene (Springfield), Boone (Columbia), Clay, Platte, Jefferson, Cole (Jefferson City), Buchanan (St. Joseph), and Cape Girardeau. Circuit clerk lien-filing fees are generally a modest per-document charge, and serving the § 429.012 notice to owner and the § 429.100 10-day notice of intent by certified mail typically costs under $15 per party. Filing with the recorder of deeds instead of the circuit clerk is a common Missouri error that can invalidate the filing.
How long does a Missouri mechanics lien last and when must suit be filed?
Under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 429.170, an action to enforce (foreclose) a Missouri mechanics lien must be commenced within six (6) months after the lien statement is filed. This is one of the shortest enforcement windows in the country, and it runs from the FILING date of the lien, not from last work. A lien that is filed but not enforced by suit within those six months expires; the deadline is not extended by partial payments, negotiations, or a promise to pay. The foreclosure action is brought in the circuit court of the county where the property is located and typically joins all lien claimants and the relevant lienholders so the court can determine priority and order a sale. Because Missouri compresses both the filing window (six months from last work) and the enforcement window (six months from filing), a claimant who waits for settlement after filing can easily lose the lien by inaction.
What is the Missouri consent-of-owner requirement under § 429.013?
Mo. Rev. Stat. § 429.013 adds a special protection on owner-occupied residential property of four units or fewer. On those projects, a subcontractor, supplier, or other lower-tier claimant may file a mechanics lien ONLY if the owner signed the statutory 'Consent of Owner' — a separate document, in ten-point bold type, in which the owner acknowledges that the project may result in mechanics liens. The signed consent must be attached to the lien when it is filed. If the owner never signed a § 429.013 consent, a subcontractor or supplier on a covered owner-occupied residential project has no lien rights at all, no matter how perfect the § 429.100 10-day notice and the § 429.080 filing. The consent requirement does not apply to the original contractor, who relies on the § 429.012 notice instead, and it does not apply to commercial or larger residential projects.
How does Missouri handle public works and federal projects?
No mechanics lien attaches to public property in Missouri. On Missouri state, county, and municipal public works, an unpaid subcontractor or supplier pursues a claim against the prime contractor's payment bond required under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 107.170 — public entities must require a bond on public works contracts exceeding $50,000, and the bond precludes a mechanics lien on the public improvement. Bond claims are brought under Mo. Rev. Stat. § 522.300. On federal projects the federal Miller Act at 40 U.S.C. § 3131 et seq. preempts state lien rights — pursue the prime's federal Miller Act payment bond on its own 90-day notice and one-year claim timing. Missouri's federal construction includes Fort Leonard Wood, Whiteman Air Force Base, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA West) campus in St. Louis, the Gateway Arch, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers locks and dams on the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers, and the VA Medical Centers in St. Louis, Kansas City, Columbia (Truman), and Poplar Bluff. Prompt-payment remedies (private § 431.180 with 18% interest; public § 34.057) run in parallel.