Montana Notice Requirements

Notice of Right to Claim a Mechanic Lien — 20-Day Requirement

Montana requires most claimants to give a Notice of Right to Claim a Mechanic Lien to the contracting owner no later than 20 days after the date services or materials are first furnished. See §71-3-531(2) and (3), MCA.

Giving the notice and filing it are two separate steps on two separate clocks. The notice must be sent to the contracting owner by certified mail, or delivered personally with written acknowledgment, and a copy must then be filed with the county clerk and recorder within 5 business days after the notice is given. See §71-3-531(5) and (6), MCA.

If the notice is not given within the 20-day period, a mechanic lien is enforceable only for the services or materials furnished within the 20-day period before the date on which notice is given. Late notice does not eliminate mechanic lien rights entirely, but it significantly limits the amount that can be recovered.

Exemptions from the Notice Requirement

Section 71-3-531(1), MCA, exempts four categories from the Notice of Right to Claim a Mechanic Lien requirement: (a) an original contractor who furnishes services or materials directly to the owner at the owner's request; (b) a wage earner or laborer who performs personal labor services for a person furnishing under a real estate improvement contract; (c) a person furnishing under a contract that relates to a dwelling for five or more families; and (d) a person furnishing under a contract that relates to an improvement that is partly or wholly commercial in character.

Exemptions (c) and (d) matter most on larger projects. A subcontractor or material supplier on a commercial job, or on an apartment building housing five or more families, is generally not required to send the notice at all — even though it has no direct contract with the owner. The Montana Supreme Court applied the commercial-character exemption to subdivision road and utility work in JTL Group, Inc. v. New Outlook, LLP, 2010 MT 1.

For claimants outside all four exemptions — typically subcontractors and material suppliers on smaller residential projects — the Notice of Right to Claim a Mechanic Lien is a critical prerequisite to preserving full mechanic lien rights.

Regulated Lender Projects — 45-Day Notice

Where payment for the improvement is made by or on behalf of the contracting owner from funds provided by a regulated lender and secured by an interest, lien, mortgage, or encumbrance for the purpose of paying the particular improvement being liened, the notice deadline becomes 45 days after first furnishing instead of the standard 20 days. See §71-3-531(4), MCA.

Two limits are easy to miss. This provision does not apply to a contract on an owner-occupied residence, which stays on the 20-day clock. And where it does apply, the late-notice lookback period becomes 45 days as well, matching the longer deadline.

Continuation Notice — Contracts Exceeding One Year

The Notice of Right to Claim a Mechanic Lien is effective for one year from the date of filing. If the construction contract extends beyond one year, a Continuation Notice must be filed to maintain mechanic lien rights. Failure to file a Continuation Notice before the one-year expiration could result in the loss of mechanic lien rights for work performed after the original notice expires.

Notice of Completion (§71-3-535)

The contracting owner may file a Notice of Completion after the work or improvement is completed. Under §71-3-535, MCA, the 90-day lien filing deadline may run either from the claimant's final furnishing of services or materials or from the owner's filing of a Notice of Completion, so the filing can shorten the window a claimant was counting on. Monitor the county records rather than waiting to be told.

Public Works — 30-Day Bond Claim Notice

This is a bond rule, not a mechanic lien rule. Public property cannot be liened, so the notice below protects a claim against the payment bond rather than lien rights, and none of the §71-3-531 deadlines or exemptions above apply to it.

Under §18-2-206, MCA, in certain supplier-to-subcontractor situations on Montana public works projects, suppliers, providers, and materialmen must give written notice delivered personally or by certified mail to the prime contractor not later than 30 days after first delivery of materials or supplies to the subcontractor. The notice must state the right of action on the bond, that delivery of materials and supplies has commenced, the name of the subcontractor that placed the order, to whom the materials and supplies were shipped, and that the prime contractor and its bond will be held responsible for the amount unpaid.