Construction Lien filing
Filed on time or it's free
What is included
- Reviewing your contract, invoices and the date you last supplied services or materials
- Searching title to confirm the owner and legal description of the property
- Working out the lien deadlines that apply to your project
- Confirming, before any work starts, which steps a licensed paralegal is permitted to take and referring the rest to an Ontario lawyer
- Preparing the claim for lien and arranging its registration on title, only where a licensed paralegal is permitted to do so
- Explaining the next steps and their deadlines, including the court action needed to perfect the lien
What is not included
- Land registry fees and other disbursements
- Starting or running the court action to perfect or enforce the lien, which needs a lawyer
- Liens on projects outside Ontario, which need someone permitted to practise in that province
- Construction adjudication, holdback or trust claims
- Collecting the debt after the lien is registered
Who this service is for
- Contractors, subcontractors and suppliers unpaid on an Ontario construction project
- Trades who supplied services or materials to an improvement on land
- Owners or contractors who need a lien removed once it has been paid
Information to have ready
- 1Your contract or purchase orders, change orders and unpaid invoices
- 2The project address and the owner's name
- 3The date you last supplied services or materials, and any published certificate of substantial performance
- 4Who hired you, and who they were working for
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost?
The fee is quoted at your free consultation, once we know what is involved, and confirmed in a written retainer agreement before any work starts.
What happens when I check out?
You book a time for your intake call, then save a card on Stripe's secure page. Nothing is charged today: the card is only charged later, for an invoice for work already done, as your retainer agreement sets out. A licensed paralegal confirms the details, checks for conflicts of interest and, if we can act for you, sends the retainer agreement. Fees paid before the work is done are held in our trust account.
What does it mean to preserve and perfect a lien?
Preserving usually means registering a claim for lien on title. Perfecting usually means starting a court action and registering a certificate of action. A lien that is not perfected in time expires.
Can a licensed paralegal handle my lien?
Only some steps. The court action that perfects and enforces a lien is in the Superior Court of Justice, which is lawyer work, and registering the lien itself may also need a lawyer. We confirm which steps we may take before any work starts and refer the rest.
What happens once I am paid?
The lien should be discharged from title so the property is clear. That is a separate step.
General information only, not legal advice. NEO Legal Services Professional Corporation is a licensed paralegal firm regulated by the Law Society of Ontario.
Important limitations
- Missing a lien deadline usually means losing the lien, though other claims for payment may remain
- No outcome or payment can be guaranteed
- The service is limited to Ontario and to what a licensed paralegal is permitted to do
- Registering a construction lien, and the court action that perfects and enforces it, may be work only a lawyer may do; before any work starts we confirm which steps a licensed paralegal is permitted to take on your Ontario lien, and refer the rest, and any lien outside Ontario, to a lawyer or someone permitted to practise there.
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