Georgia's lien deadlines are short: 30 days for the notice, 90 days for the lien

Georgia is one of the states where a supplier can do everything right at the end of a job and still lose the lien because of something that should have happened in the first month.

If you don't have a contract with the owner, you send a Notice to Contractor within 30 days of first delivering materials. That's the step people miss, usually because nobody expected a payment problem on a job that had just started. Then the claim of lien has to be recorded within 90 days of the last date you furnished materials, and you have one year from filing to start the action to enforce it.

A short checklist for Georgia accounts:

• Flag the first delivery date on new Georgia jobs, and put the 30-day notice on someone's calendar the same day.
• Send notices by registered or certified mail or an approved overnight service, and keep the proof of delivery with the job file.
• Count the 90 days from the last furnishing, not from the invoice or its due date.
• Once the lien is recorded, put the one-year enforcement date on the calendar right away.

The governing sections are O.C.G.A. § 44-14-360 and following, with the notice rules in § 44-14-361.1. LienDeadline's page on Georgia's 30-day notice and 90-day lien window lays out the schedule in one table. Check anything that matters with a Georgia construction attorney.

From the LienDeadline team. General information, not legal advice; have a qualified reviewer check the facts on any live job.