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Statute of limitations for a mechanics lien in Illinois
Anonymous3 views1 answers
Hello. My question is concerning Mechanics liens in Illinois. I am a flooring installer. A local flooring store hired me to install heated subflooring in a new contruction residential house. I did not install any finished flooring (ie: tile, wood, carpet, etc.). Anyway, since I am not the general or the store (being the sub). Other than paying my laborers($1800.00), I have very little exspenses involved in this (approx $100). However, we agreed to a price of $2.00 a foot for 1900 square feet. So, I am owed $3800.00. I completed the job in the middle of March (2008). Am I still elgible to put a lien on the property? The owners just moved into the house this past month and there is still other contractors performing work on the house. I am afraid I may never get paid. Can I still put the lien on the house? If not is there anything I can do?
Your question deals with the time limits affecting a contractor in Illinois. Based on what you wrote you were not hired by the owners of the house where you installed the flooring, but rather by a flooring store. For all intents and purposes that means you were a subcontractor from the owners' point of view; you have no real connection to the owner except that you can claim a lien for your unpaid work. Contractors generally have up to 2 years to file and foreclose on a lien. Subcontractors have the same - but to preserve their lien they must give the owner(s) and any interested parties, such as a mortgagee bank, notice of the lien within 90 days of the completion of work. If you followed these rules you can foreclose your lien and sue the flooring store that hired you. Otherwise your sole recourse will be to sue the flooring store: the owners will not be liable to you in any way if you did not preserve your lien.
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