An owner can shorten the time period for a lienor to file a lien foreclosure lawsuit after the lienor has recorded its Claim of Lien by filing a Notice of Contest of Lien with the Clerk of the Circuit Court in the county in which the real property is located. The Notice of Contest of Lien must be in substantially the form provided in Florida Statutes section 713.22(2). If a lienor who is served a Notice of Contest of Lien fails to institute a suit to foreclose on its Claim of Lien within sixty (60) days from the date of mailing of the Notice of Contest of Lien by the Clerk of the Circuit Court, the lienor’s lien shall be automatically extinguished. As a result of a 2003 amendment to the statutes, owners will be provided with information as to the use of the Notice of Contest as part of the Notice of Commencement forms used by the applicable building departments. Additionally, the building department is required to mail a copy of the form notice developed by the Department of Business and Professional Regulation, containing information about the use of a Notice of Contest, to every owner making improvements to residential dwellings of one to four units.

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DISCLAIMER AND CAUTION: THESE MATERIALS ARE PROVIDED FOR GENERAL INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND ARE NOT INTENDED NOR SHOULD THEY BE CONSTRUED AS LEGAL ADVICE AS TO ANY PARTICULAR SET OF FACTS OR CIRCUMSTANCES. DUE TO THE COMPLEXITY OF THE CONSTRUCTION LIEN LAW STATUTES AND THE CASES INTERPRETING AND APPLYING THE STATUTES, IT IS RECOMMENDED THAT COMPETENT LEGAL COUNSEL BE CONSULTED IN REGARD TO ANY QUESTIONS AS TO THE APPLICABILITY OF CONSTRUCTION LIEN LAW TO ANY SET OF PARTICULAR FACTS.