The “Preliminary Notice” is the key to establishing lien rights for most of those who participate in providing materials, labor, or services to the construction or repair of real property. Researching and verifying the critical information that makes for a sound preliminary notice is the only way to make certain your preliminary notice will support your potential claim for a mechanics lien. Those who prepare preliminary notices should avoid the “cut and paste” mindset that can mislead one to believe they are protected.

Key Takeaways

Verification is Key: Research and verify all critical information for a preliminary notice to ensure it supports potential lien claims and avoids the risks of “cut and paste” inaccuracies.

State Compliance: Use current, state-compliant forms and adhere to requirements like document size and font to ensure notices are court-ready and valid.

Thorough Process: CRM’s comprehensive process includes research, verification, preparation, and serving of preliminary notices, providing clients with solid protection of lien rights.

Here are the steps we take to process Preliminary Notices:

1. Research: CRM will verify the information provided by the customer and research all the information required by State Statue to properly complete and serve your preliminary notice (or first required non recorded notice).
2. Verification: At CRM we don’t stop until we have been able to access at least two resources which confirm that all the information included in your notice is accurate. This may require us to use additional resources, title search, telephone, or email to the various entities named in the notice, to verify that the information obtained in the search process is valid.
3. Preparation: CRM will prepare your preliminary notices using the most current versions of the specified document. CRM maintains the highest standards for compliance with the most intricate of details. Concerns like: County Recorder’s Office minimum size requirements, margins for recorders use, font size, etc. In addition, CRM will use only notice forms that comply with state statutes. These meticulous behaviors allow CRM customers to have solid “Court Ready” notices to properly support any claims.
4. Serve: CRM will serve your preliminary notices within complete compliance of the respective state statute with regards to method, form, and time to serve. CRM offers options for enhanced serving methods such as “electronic return receipt”, FedEx, Courier, Sheriff, and Process Server, should you prefer methods over and above that which are standard required by state statute.

The value received by the “research and verification” process alone is worth the price to have your preliminary notice professionally prepared. If you’re ready to be confident that your preliminary notices will in fact properly establish and protect your lien rights, give CRM Lien Services, Inc. a call at 1-800-PRELIMS.