Dallas Mechanics Lien Attorney

The Dallas mechanics lien attorneys at Roquemore Skierski PLLC perfect, enforce, and remove liens for construction businesses and property owners across Dallas, Collin, Denton, and Tarrant Counties as part of our construction litigation practice. In construction, the work gets performed long before the money arrives, and every contractor, subcontractor, and supplier carries the gap on its own balance sheet. When an owner or general contractor does not pay, Texas law provides a remedy stronger than an invoice and a phone call: the mechanic’s lien, a claim that attaches to the improved property and can ultimately force its sale. The remedy is powerful precisely because it is technical. Texas lien law imposes strict notice and filing requirements, and claimants who miss them lose the lien no matter how legitimate the debt.

How Texas Mechanics Lien Rights Work

Texas mechanic’s and materialman’s liens arise under Chapter 53 of the Texas Property Code, with a separate constitutional lien available to those who contract directly with the property owner under Article XVI, Section 37 of the Texas Constitution. For contracts entered on or after January 1, 2022, the statutory framework conditions the lien on a sequence of steps measured from when labor or materials were furnished:

• Pre-lien notice: a claimant who did not contract directly with the owner must send notice of unpaid work, which for a non-residential project is due by the fifteenth day of the third month after each month of unpaid work under Section 53.056 of the Texas Property Code
• Lien affidavit: a sworn affidavit filed with the county clerk where the property sits, due for a non-residential project by the fifteenth day of the fourth month, and for a residential project by the fifteenth day of the third month, after the work is completed, terminated, or abandoned under Section 53.052 of the Texas Property Code
• Delivery: notices and affidavits must be delivered in the manner Section 53.003 of the Texas Property Code prescribes

Residential and homestead projects add contractual and constitutional requirements that defeat more liens than any other feature of Texas lien law. The point that matters commercially is that lien rights are preserved by calendar discipline, and the time to involve counsel is when the invoice ages, not after a deadline has passed.

Perfecting and Enforcing a Mechanics Lien

For unpaid contractors, subcontractors, and suppliers, we handle the sequence end to end: evaluating lien rights and deadlines on the specific project; preparing and serving compliant notices; drafting and filing the lien affidavit; and pairing the lien with a payment demand that invokes the other leverage Texas law provides, including prompt payment claims under Chapter 28 of the Texas Property Code and construction trust fund claims under Chapter 162 of the Texas Property Code. A properly perfected lien changes the negotiation because it clouds the owner’s title, complicates financing and sales, and carries the ultimate remedy of foreclosure, which must be pursued by suit within the period set by Section 53.158 of the Texas Property Code.

When payment still does not come, our mechanics lien attorneys file suit to foreclose the lien and to recover on the underlying contract, litigating in the district courts of Dallas, Collin, Denton, and Tarrant Counties, where we have practiced for decades.

Removing an Invalid Mechanics Lien

We also represent owners, developers, and general contractors on the other side of the affidavit. An invalid or inflated lien clouds title, threatens closings and construction financing, and sometimes arrives as pure negotiating pressure. Texas law provides mechanisms to challenge defective liens, including the summary motion to remove an invalid lien under Sections 53.160 and 53.161 of the Texas Property Code, and liability for a fraudulent lien under Section 12.002 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code. Because we perfect liens for claimants, we know where they fail, and we use that knowledge to clear title efficiently.

Mechanics Lien Disputes Inside Larger Construction Fights

Payment disputes are rarely the only problem on a troubled project. Lien claims typically arrive alongside breach of contract, defect allegations, delay and disruption claims, and bond claims on projects where liens do not attach. We handle the lien as part of our broader construction and real estate litigation practice, so the payment claim, the defect defense, and the contract fight are managed as one strategy rather than three separate cases.

Why Construction Businesses Choose Roquemore Skierski PLLC

Lien practice rewards procedural precision. Our firm brings decades of Texas practice, knows the courts and clerks of North Texas, and litigates construction disputes for privately held contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, developers, and owners. We handle the matter from the first notice letter through foreclosure or removal without referring it out.