All Property Shield needs to file a lien on your behalf is the property address and a brief description of the work or materials you provided. From there, we handle the rest—conducting legal research, identifying the correct county for filing, determining who must be notified, and calculating all required processing and filing fees.

For your company records, Property Shield will mail you any original lien documents returned to us by the county recorder.

We eliminate the stress, time, and expense typically associated with mechanic's liens. Property Shield makes the process easy.

A Pre-Lien Notice in Minnesota is intended to alert the property owner that someone providing labor, services, or materials on their project may later file a mechanic’s lien if not paid. This notice helps protect property owners from unexpected liens, especially in cases where they’ve paid the general contractor, but the subcontractors or suppliers have not been paid.

General contractors must provide a pre-lien notice in their written contract with the owner for residential projects over $1,000. Subcontractors and material suppliers are required to serve a separate Pre-Lien Notice to the property owner within 45 days of first furnishing labor or materials on the job.

As a best practice, it’s recommended to issue a Pre-Lien Notice at the start of every project when entering into a job contract.

Note: The notice must be served (not filed) and proof of service should be retained to preserve lien rights.

A Mechanic’s Lien gives you-—the lienholder-—a legal security interest in the real estate where you provided labor, services, or materials. This ensures that the value you contributed to the property is protected.

Having a security interest is crucial because if the property owner or general contractor fails to pay, you retain a legal avenue to pursue compensation directly through the property.

In Minnesota, Mechanic’s Liens must be filed within 120 days of your last day of work or material contribution to the project in order to preserve your rights.

Two notarized copies of the Mechanic’s Lien are prepared. One copy is mailed to the property owner, and the other is sent to the County Recorder’s Office where the property is located. Both are delivered via U.S. Postal Service Priority Mail.

The copy sent to the property owner is mailed using Certified Mail with Signature Proof of Delivery to ensure legal compliance and receipt confirmation.

Once Property Shield receives confirmation from the county that the lien has been successfully recorded, we will mail you the original document for your records. A scanned copy will also be securely retained in our system for future reference.

In Minnesota, a Mechanic’s Lien remains effective for one year from the date it is filed with the county recorder. To preserve your lien rights beyond that period, you must initiate a lawsuit to enforce (foreclose) the lien within that one-year window. If no legal action is taken within the year, the lien automatically expires and becomes unenforceable.

If payment has not been received and you wish to pursue further action, the next step is to engage a licensed attorney to file a 'Foreclosure of Lien' in court. This legal process enforces your lien and may allow you to recover the unpaid amount through the property itself.

Please note: Property Shield does not currently offer foreclosure services or file lawsuits on your behalf. However, we can help you generate all lien-related documentation leading up to that step.

In many states, a successful lien foreclosure allows the lienholder to recover attorneys’ fees and court costs as part of the judgment.

By law, once your outstanding balance has been paid, you are required to submit a Lien Waiver, also known as a Satisfaction of Mechanic’s Lien. This document officially releases the lien from the property records.

Property Shield handles this process at no additional charge if the original Mechanic’s Lien was filed through our service. Simply log in and request the Lien Satisfaction—we’ll take care of the rest.

At Property Shield, we take the stress and guesswork out of the Mechanic’s Lien process. You don’t have to worry about where to send your lien, how much to pay in filing fees, or navigating complex legal procedures-—we handle it all for you. Filing a lien has never been easier.

We currently offer services for the following in Minnesota:

• Pre-Lien Notice (Preliminary Notice)
• Mechanic’s Lien Filing
• Satisfaction of Mechanic’s Lien

Let us handle the paperwork so you can focus on your work.