Vermont Mechanic's Lien — 9 V.S.A. § 1921 / § 1923 / § 1924 Memorandum & Attachment Guide (2026)
✓ Verified against Vermont statutes · Reviewed August 2026 · By Michael Evan — Founder · 50 states · 799 rules
Vermont mechanics lien deadlines at a glance
Preliminary Notice
None — N/A
Mechanics Lien
180 days — From last date of furnishing
Enforcement
180 days — From filing
Manage your Vermont deadlines and projects — start free → · All Vermont deadlines & forms
What Is the Vermont Lien Framework and How Does the Lien Workflow Operate?
Vermont's lien framework is Title 9, Chapter 51 of the Vermont Statutes (§ 1921 et seq.), and it is built around a recorded memorandum that must be backed by a lawsuit. The workflow is: (1) if the claimant is a subcontractor or supplier not in privity with the owner, give the owner written § 1921(b) notice — before the owner settles with the contractor — that it will claim a lien for labor or material; (2) record the memorandum of lien under § 1923 with the town clerk of the town where the property sits, within 180 days of when payment became due (§ 1921(c)); and (3) commence a civil action and cause the real estate to be attached by a recorded writ of attachment within the § 1924 180-day window. The attachment continues the lien; the recorded memorandum alone does not. Vermont is distinctive in three respects out-of-state contractors misjudge: the judicial attachment requirement (in most states a recorded claim of lien sits and ripens until a separate foreclosure suit is filed, but in Vermont you must sue and attach the property within 180 days or the lien lapses); town-clerk recording (land records are kept by town, not county, so there is no county recorder and recording in the wrong office defeats the lien); and the 180-day clock keyed to when payment became due rather than to last furnishing, so the maturity-of-payment date controls both the recording and the suit-and-attachment deadlines.
Who Must Give Notice — and Whose Lien Reaches How Much
Vermont sorts claimants by whether they contracted directly with the owner, because only a non-privity claimant must give the § 1921(b) notice, and that notice controls how much the lien is worth. An original (general) contractor in direct contract with the owner does not have to give the § 1921(b) notice — the owner already knows of its claim through the contract — and it records the memorandum with the town clerk within 180 days of when payment became due, then must commence a civil action and attach the property within the § 1924 window; the lien charges the property as of the visible commencement of work. Vermont imposes no general-contractor license requirement, though a residential contractor on work of $10,000 or more must register with the Vermont Office of Professional Regulation (26 V.S.A. ch. 105). A claimant without a direct contract with the owner — a subcontractor, a lower-tier sub, a laborer, or a material supplier — should give the owner the § 1921(b) written notice early, before the owner settles with the contractor, because without it the lien reaches only the contract price the owner still owes the contractor when the notice is received; it then records the memorandum with the correct town clerk within the 180-day window and must sue and attach within the § 1924 window like every other claimant.
The Memorandum, the Town Clerk & the Writ of Attachment — Vermont's Two-Step Perfection
Perfecting a Vermont mechanic's lien takes two steps, and the second trips up out-of-state claimants. First, the memorandum of lien under § 1923: a writing, signed by the claimant, that asserts the claim, recorded in the office of the town clerk where the real estate is situated. The recorded memorandum charges the real estate with the lien as of the visible commencement of work or delivery of material, so priority dates from when work first became visible on the site, not from the recording date; Vermont's land records are municipal, so the memorandum goes to the specific town or city clerk, not a county office. Second, the civil action and writ of attachment under § 1924: recording the memorandum does not keep the lien alive on its own. Within 180 days from the filing of the memorandum (if payment was due at the time of filing) or within 180 days from when payment becomes due (if not yet due at filing), the claimant must commence a civil action for the debt and cause the real estate to be attached on that action — a court-ordered writ of attachment recorded against the property. The attachment is the mechanism that continues the lien; let the 180 days pass without suing and attaching, and the lien lapses even though the memorandum was properly recorded.
§ 1923 Memorandum, the § 1921(c) Recording Window, and the § 1924 Suit-and-Attachment Deadline
The memorandum of lien is recorded with the town clerk where the property lies under § 1923, within 180 days of when payment became due (§ 1921(c)). The civil action and writ of attachment must follow within the § 1924 180-day window measured from the filing of the memorandum (if payment was due at filing) or from when payment becomes due (if not). The memorandum should identify the claimant, the amount claimed, the property (with a description adequate to tie it to the correct parcel in the town land records), and the owner, and be properly signed; a non-privity claimant should separately have given the owner the § 1921(b) notice. Both 180-day clocks are keyed to when payment became due — not the invoice date, a warranty call-back, or overall project completion — so fixing the correct payment-due date for the specific claimant is essential. An omitted § 1921(b) notice, a memorandum recorded with the wrong town clerk, or a missed suit-and-attachment deadline exposes the claimant to losing the lien or being capped at the unpaid balance.
The Unpaid-Balance Limitation, the Owner's Exposure, and Lien Waivers
Vermont's unpaid-balance limitation is the central economic feature of its lien law for subcontractors and suppliers. Under § 1921(b), a claimant not in privity with the owner that gives written notice gets a lien that reaches the contract price the owner still owes the contractor when the notice is received — so a sub or supplier that gives notice early, before the owner has paid the contractor, protects the full value of its claim, while one that gives no notice (or gives it late, after the owner has settled) may hold a lien worth little or nothing. Getting the owner's name and property description right on the § 1923 memorandum — verified against the correct town's land records — is equally decisive, because the memorandum is indexed against the named owner and parcel. On the owner's side, once a non-privity claimant gives the § 1921(b) notice, the owner is on notice that the unpaid contract balance is exposed to that claimant's lien. On the waiver side, a Vermont contractor or subcontractor may give ordinary conditional and unconditional lien waivers in exchange for progress and final payments and should never sign an unconditional waiver before the corresponding payment has cleared; because Vermont protects an unpaid claimant primarily through the § 1921(b) notice and the suit-and-attachment mechanism, the timing of waivers and the order of notices should be checked before anything is signed or recorded.
Filing Fees and Where to File
The Vermont memorandum of lien is recorded with the town clerk of the town or city where the property is located — one of Vermont's roughly 246 municipalities, not one of its 14 counties. Because the lien is preserved by recording the memorandum, the principal recording cost is the town clerk's per-page land-records recording fee (a modest charge that varies by town), plus the cost of serving the § 1921(b) notice on the owner. The larger cost is built into Vermont's structure: unlike most states, continuing the lien requires a lawsuit. Within the § 1924 180-day window the claimant must commence a civil action and obtain a writ of attachment, which adds a civil filing fee, service costs, and attorney time, and a contested attachment or a priority fight with a lender can run several thousand dollars. The recording step is inexpensive; the expense lives in the suit-and-attachment step that Vermont uniquely requires to keep the lien alive. Confirming the correct town clerk before recording, that any non-privity claimant served the § 1921(b) notice early, that the memorandum names the correct owner and is recorded within 180 days of when payment became due, and that the § 1924 civil action and writ of attachment are calendared from the same maturity date is the most important intake step.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you file a mechanic's lien in Vermont under 9 V.S.A. § 1923?
Under 9 V.S.A. § 1923, a Vermont mechanic's lien is recorded by filing a written memorandum of lien — signed by the claimant and asserting the claim — in the office of the TOWN CLERK where the real estate is situated. Vermont keeps its land records by town, not by county, so the memorandum goes to the clerk of the specific town or city where the project sits, not to a county recorder of deeds. The recorded memorandum charges the real estate with the lien as of the visible commencement of work or the delivery of material, which is when priority dates from. Recording the memorandum is only the first of two perfection steps in Vermont: under § 1921(c) the lien does not continue in force more than 180 days from when payment became due unless the memorandum is recorded, and under § 1924 the claimant must then commence a civil action and cause the property to be judicially attached within 180 days to keep the lien alive. A claimant not in privity with the owner must also have given the owner written notice that it will claim a lien under § 1921(b). Filing in the wrong town, or recording the memorandum and then doing nothing, are the two most common ways Vermont claimants lose an otherwise valid lien.
Why does a Vermont mechanic's lien require a writ of attachment under 9 V.S.A. § 1924?
Vermont is one of the very few states in which recording the lien is not enough to keep it alive — the claimant must go to court. Under 9 V.S.A. § 1924, within 180 days from the filing of the memorandum (if payment was due at the time of filing) or within 180 days from when payment becomes due (if it was not yet due at filing), the claimant must commence a civil action for the debt and cause the real estate to be ATTACHED on that action by a court-ordered writ of attachment, which is recorded against the property. The attachment is what continues the lien; without it, the recorded memorandum lapses. This is fundamentally different from the typical state, where a recorded claim of lien sits and ripens for months until a separate foreclosure suit is filed. In Vermont the suit-plus-attachment is the mechanism that preserves the lien, so a claimant who records the memorandum and waits for the owner to pay — without filing suit and attaching within the 180-day window — finds the lien gone. Because obtaining and recording a writ of attachment is a judicial step, most Vermont lien claimants engage a Vermont construction attorney once the memorandum is recorded and the 180-day attachment clock is running.
What is the deadline for a Vermont mechanic's lien?
Vermont runs on a 180-day clock measured from when payment became due — not from last furnishing, which is the trigger most other states use. Under 9 V.S.A. § 1921(c), a mechanic's lien does not continue in force for more than 180 days from the time payment became due unless the memorandum of lien is recorded with the town clerk within that period. Under 9 V.S.A. § 1924, the claimant then has 180 days from the filing of the memorandum (if payment was due at the time of filing) or 180 days from when payment becomes due (if not due at filing) to commence a civil action and cause the real estate to be attached. The practical effect is that both perfection steps — recording the memorandum and obtaining the writ of attachment through a lawsuit — must happen inside the 180-day window keyed to the maturity of the debt. Because the trigger is when payment became due rather than the last day of work, fixing the correct payment-due date for the specific claimant is essential; counting from last furnishing, the invoice date, or overall project completion can cause a claimant to miss the window.
Do Vermont subcontractors and suppliers have to give notice to the owner?
Yes. Under 9 V.S.A. § 1921(b), a person who furnishes labor or material to a contractor or subcontractor — rather than directly to the owner — secures and enlarges its lien by giving written notice to the owner (or the owner's agent having charge of the property) that it will claim a lien for the labor or material. Without the written notice, the lien extends only to the portion of the contract price that remains unpaid from the owner to the contractor at the time the notice is received — so a subcontractor or supplier on a project where the owner has already paid the contractor in full may have a lien worth nothing. Giving the § 1921(b) notice early, before the owner settles with the contractor, is therefore the way a non-privity claimant protects the value of its lien. The original contractor in direct contract with the owner does not need the § 1921(b) notice because the owner already knows of that contractor's claim through the contract.
Where is a Vermont mechanic's lien recorded — county or town?
A Vermont mechanic's lien memorandum is recorded with the TOWN CLERK of the town or city where the real estate is located, not with a county office. Vermont is unusual in that its land records are kept at the municipal level: although the state has 14 counties, it has roughly 246 towns and cities, and each town clerk maintains the land records for property within that town. There is no county recorder of deeds to file a mechanic's lien with in Vermont. A memorandum recorded with the wrong town clerk — or indexed against the wrong owner, or describing the property inadequately — does not perfect the lien. Confirming the correct town, the current record owner, and an adequate property description against that town clerk's land records before recording is a basic Vermont intake step.
What must a Vermont memorandum of mechanic's lien contain?
Under 9 V.S.A. § 1923, the memorandum of lien must be a writing, signed by the claimant, that asserts the claim and is recorded in the town clerk's office where the real estate is situated; the recorded memorandum charges the real estate with the lien as of the visible commencement of work or delivery of material. In practice the memorandum should identify the claimant, the amount claimed, the property subject to the lien (with a description adequate to identify it and tie it to the correct parcel in the town's land records), and the owner, and it should be properly signed so it is recordable. A non-privity claimant should separately have given the owner the § 1921(b) written notice that it will claim a lien, which protects the amount of the lien. Because the memorandum is indexed in the town land records against the named owner and parcel, getting the owner's name and the property description right matters. The recorded memorandum then has to be backed by a civil action and a recorded writ of attachment within the § 1924 180-day window to continue the lien.
How does Vermont handle public projects and federal projects?
No mechanic's lien attaches to public property in Vermont. On state, municipal, school-district, and public-authority construction, an unpaid subcontractor or supplier pursues the prime contractor's payment bond required on public work under Vermont's public-works bonding statute (29 V.S.A. § 561 et seq. for state building projects, with comparable bonding on transportation and municipal work), which gives an unpaid claimant a bond claim subject to its own notice and suit deadlines — generally a claim within about 90 days of last furnishing and suit within one year. On federal projects — and Vermont's federal footprint includes Camp Ethan Allen Training Site at Jericho/Underhill, the Vermont Air National Guard Base at Burlington International Airport, and the White River Junction VA Medical Center — the federal Miller Act at 40 U.S.C. § 3131 et seq. governs, requiring payment bonds on federal construction contracts over $100,000 and giving unpaid subcontractors and suppliers a bond claim on their own 90-day notice and one-year suit timing. A claimant on a public or federal job should pursue the bond, not a void lien against public land.