Here are some of the most common questions asked by clients of Emalfarb Law and National Lien & Bond about Mechanics Lien requirements in Illinois. Please note that these are intended to provide general information about Illinois’s Mechanics Lien requirements and may not reflect recent changes to Illinois law.
For answers to your questions about a specific matter in Illinois, contact National Lien & Bond at 800.423.7799, or click here to schedule a free consultation with one of our experienced construction law attorneys.
Who Has a Right to File a Mechanics Lien in Illinois?
In Illinois, a contractor, subcontractor, sub-subcontractor, laborer, or materials supplier that supplies materials to the owner, contractor, subcontractor, or sub-subcontractor has the right to file a mechanics lien in connection with a private construction or improvement project.
Do I Need to Provide a Preliminary Notice to Protect My Mechanics Lien Rights in Illinois?
Sometimes. The project’s contractor is required to provide the owner with a “sworn statement” of “all parties furnishing labor, services, material,” and supplies for the project.
The notice must include “amounts due or to become due to each.” Subcontractors and materials suppliers are not, however, required to provide the owner with any notice that they are part of a project, unless the project is an “owner-occupied single-family residence.”
If the work is for a single-family, owner-occupied residence, then subcontractors and material suppliers must provide the owner with a separate type of notice.
When Must I Provide These Preliminary Notices?
If you must provide preliminary notice, the notice must be delivered before the owner will be required to make any payments due to the contractor for the project work or materials.
Notices from subcontractors are required in the case of a single-family, owner-occupied project and must be provided within 60 days of “first furnishing” labor or material for the project.
What Information Must the Preliminary Notices Contain?
A contractor must notify the owner of the names and addresses of subcontractors and material suppliers involved in the project and the “amounts due or to become due to each.”
The subcontractor notice for single-family, owner-occupied projects must identify the subcontractor or material supplier, the type of work the subcontractor is doing or materials to be supplied, and the name of the contractor that the subcontractor or material supplier is working for. In addition, the notice must contain specific language required by Illinois statute 770 ILCS 60/5(b).
Must I Provide Any Other Information?
A subcontractor or material supplier should notify the project property owner of any unpaid amounts due or to become due within 90 days of when the work is completed or the material delivered. The notice should be sent registered or certified mail, return receipt requested, and may follow the format suggested by Illinois statute 770 ILCS 60/24. While this notice is not necessary when the contractor has already identified the subcontractor or material supplier in the preliminary notice provided to the owner, there is no harm in providing this second notice when money is owed.
In addition, the property owner affected by your mechanics lien may demand that you bring a lawsuit to enforce it. In that case, you have 30 days from when the demand is served on you to do so.
When Can I File a Mechanics Lien if I’ve Not Been Paid for Work or Materials?
It depends on the situation. A mechanics lien against the original owner of the property where the project was located can be filed up to 2 years from work completion. If the property has been sold to a third-party purchaser who does not know about the outstanding debt, the lien must be filed within four months after the work is complete or materials are delivered. In either case, the mechanics lien may be filed earlier.
Where Must I File the Mechanics Lien?
Mechanics liens must be filed with the county clerk where the project is located.
What Information Must a Mechanics Lien Contain?
Illinois law provides for specific information that should be included in a mechanics lien. 770 ILCS 60/7 requires a mechanics lien to include “a brief statement of the claimant’s contract, the balance due after allowing all credits, and a sufficiently correct description of the lot, lots or tracts of land” to identify the property affected by the lien.
Are Things Different for Public Projects? If So, How?
Public projects in Illinois often have payment bonds in place. Subcontractors and material suppliers can look to these bonds for payment in cases where the public authority responsible for the project fails to pay in a timely or complete fashion. Specific steps are required under Illinois law to protect your ability to collect on a payment bond. Contact National Lien & Bond for more information about these kinds of situations.
In other situations, subcontractors and material suppliers may be able to file a lien against the public funds allocated to the project that have not yet been disbursed. Specific time limits and notice requirements apply in this type of situation; National Lien & Bond can help you collect what you’re owed in these cases as well.
What Happens After I File My Mechanics Lien?
When you properly file a mechanics lien with the local county clerk, it acts as a lien against the real property for the total reflected in the lien. Having outstanding liens against a property can make it harder to use the property as collateral for loans and may violate the terms of existing loans that the property owner has in place. While a mechanic’s lien doesn’t guarantee payment, having a lien in place provides you with significantly more security, and you will eventually be paid for your work or materials.
When it becomes necessary to file a lawsuit to collect what you’re owed, having a mechanics lien in place can help provide some comfort that there is an asset in place that secures the amount that’s due. In Illinois, a lawsuit to enforce a mechanics lien must generally be filed within two years after the work has been finished or the materials were delivered.
What if I Have Other Questions?
At National Lien & Bond, our network of more than 150 boutique Construction Law firms in the US and other countries is focused on helping clients get paid for the work or materials they provide for construction projects. We’re proud to have helped tens of thousands of clients collect more than $9 billion in construction claims over the years and are ready to help you with your questions and collection issues.
Call National Lien & Bond today at 800.432.7799 or schedule a free consultation with one of our experienced construction lawyers to learn more about how we can help.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Illinois require a preliminary notice before filing a mechanics lien?
On residential projects only. Under 770 ILCS 60/24, sub-tier claimants on owner-occupied residential property of 4 units or fewer must serve a 90-day Notice of Intent to Lien on the owner within 90 DAYS after last furnishing labor or materials. Commercial projects and large multi-family do not require the NOI. The NOI is a prerequisite to filing the Claim of Lien on residential property — failure to serve within 90 days permanently bars the lien on owner-occupied residences.
What is the deadline to file an Illinois mechanics lien?
Under 770 ILCS 60/7, the Illinois Claim of Lien must be recorded with the Recorder of Deeds in the county where the property is located within 4 MONTHS after the completion of the work of improvement. The 4-month deadline runs from completion of the entire work, not from individual material deliveries or labor days. After recording, the lien must be served on the owner within 10 DAYS under § 60/7. Missing the 4-month deadline permanently bars the lien.
What is the deadline to file an Illinois mechanics lien foreclosure suit?
Under 770 ILCS 60/9, the Illinois mechanics lien foreclosure action must be commenced in Circuit Court within 2 YEARS after the work was completed. The 2-year window is much longer than California's 90 days or Florida's 1 year, providing meaningful settlement runway. However, 2 years is still a strict statute of limitations that cannot be tolled. Most Illinois lien losses come from missed § 60/9 deadlines after extended settlement negotiations — disciplined deadline tracking is essential.
Who can file an Illinois mechanics lien?
Under 770 ILCS 60/1, mechanics lien rights belong to: (1) general contractors in privity with the owner; (2) subcontractors at every tier in privity with the GC; (3) sub-subcontractors and laborers; (4) material suppliers furnishing to the GC or subcontractors; (5) equipment lessors. Design professionals (architects, engineers) have separate lien rights under 770 ILCS 60/1 and 60/22. Each claimant type has slightly different notice and content requirements — verify before filing.
What contents are required on an Illinois Claim of Lien?
Under 770 ILCS 60/7, the Illinois Claim of Lien must be verified by affidavit and contain: (1) the name of the claimant; (2) the name of the owner; (3) a description of the property sufficient for identification; (4) a statement of the contract terms; (5) the amount due after credits; (6) the dates of first and last furnishing; (7) the name of the party who contracted with the claimant. Defective Claims of Lien missing required content are unenforceable under Illinois law.
Does Hal Emalfarb file Illinois mechanics liens directly?
Yes — Hal Emalfarb is admitted to practice in Illinois and his firm (Emalfarb Swan and Bain, Highland Park, IL) handles Illinois mechanics lien filings, foreclosure actions, and construction-payment recovery directly. Hal has 30+ years of Illinois construction-payment experience across all 102 Illinois counties. For Illinois projects, you work directly with Hal's firm — no referral network. For projects in other states, NLB connects you with vetted construction-payment counsel admitted in that jurisdiction.
How does National Lien & Bond help with Illinois mechanics liens?
National Lien & Bond, through Hal Emalfarb's Illinois-admitted firm at Emalfarb Swan and Bain, files Illinois mechanics liens for unpaid contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, and equipment lessors. NLB's deadline-tracking system enters every Illinois project's information into a unified calendar that monitors the 90-day NOI clock (residential), the 4-month Claim of Lien recording window, and the 2-year foreclosure suit deadline. The system fires escalating alerts before each deadline. Contact NLB for a free initial consultation.