Lien Demand Letter Definition
Lien Demand Letters are a great motivator for getting your invoices paid. A Lien Demand Letter or Notice of Intent to Lien is a formal demand for payment. A lien demand letter puts a debtor on notice of your intent to lien the job site property by a specific date deadline. Increase your odds of getting paid with a lien demand letter.
A Lien Demand Letter, in layman terms, is a demand letter that outlines your intent to lien in the event payment is not received. If you have not been paid for work you've done and want to put your customer on notice, send a demand letter.
A Demand Letter is a tool you can use to establish a sense of urgency and set a specific deadline for payment. Demand letters are best used when you first realize you are having difficulty collecting payment or there is a delay in payment from your customer.
How a Lien Demand Letter works
Before you send a lien demand letter, be sure you are aware of when your lien deadline expires. In most cases, lien demand letters request payment to be remitted within 14 days of the date of your letter. For example: If you completed work in Alberta, you have 45 days to file a lien. Given that the lien letter specifies a payment period of 14 days, the letter must be sent by day 30. This would ensure that you are still eligible to file a lien 14 days after the notice is sent. However, we do not recommend waiting until day 30 to send a lien demand letter. This makes your lien filing deadline very tight, which can be stressful in the event you need to file a lien. You can establish your lien filing deadline with our handy date calculator for filing a lien.
NOTE:
Before actually filing a lien, you can send a letter to demand payment and let your customer know that if payment is not received, they are on notice you intend to lien. In some cases, the possibility of a lien being filed is enough for your client to release payment. Let your customers know you are serious about receiving payment and are in the habit of taking additional steps to secure your interest in a job site. There are a variety of reasons for sending a lien demand letter:.
- You have not been paid and putting your customer on notice of a possible lien being placed, may motivate your customer to pay now
- You are hesitant to file a lien and do not want to seem like the bad guy, so you want to send a lien demand letter putting them on notice
- You simply want to put your client on notice prior to filing the lien to minimize the shock once the lien is filed
Timing depends on when the lien deadline expires
Give plenty of notice, to avoid the lien deadline crunch period when sending a lien demand letter. Lien demand letters are sent to the property owner and your customer specifying your payment date deadline. This letter helps establish a sense of urgency and puts all parties on notice. In the event that payment is not received by the deadline date, you can move forward with placing a Builders' Lien, Construction Lien or Mechanic's Lien.
If you have any question give us a toll free call, or schedule a free consultation on sending a Lien Demand Letter.
