Florida law provides that a claimant may serve a notice to owner by:
- Hand delivery;
- Common carrier delivery service; or
- Registered, global express guaranteed or certified mail with postage prepaid.
To establish evidence of timely service, it is recommended that service be accomplished by certified mail, return receipt requested unless a United States postal service stamped mail log is used. If the situation arises in which a claimant is unable to identify all the parties upon whom the notice to owner must be served and/or a notice of commencement cannot be located and if none of the methods of service of the notice to owner referred to hereinabove can be accomplished, the lienor may post the notice to owner on the site of the improvement. The statute defines “posting” as placing the document on the site of the improvement in a conspicuous place at the front of the site in a manner that protects the document from the weather. If the notice to owner is posted, it is recommended that the claimant photograph it and execute an affidavit of “Hand Posting”.
The better alternative for serving a notice to owner is to contact a “notice to owner” service. The “notice to owner” services in Florida have access to the public records and are professionals at gathering the information required to prepare a valid notice to owner. The notice to owner services prepare and mail the notices to owner for a nominal fee. The value of this service is clear when it is time to file a foreclosure action on a construction lien to collect what is rightfully due to the claimant.
This information presents the general scheme of Florida’s Construction Lien Law as of March 2022. The Construction Lien Law is constantly being amended; therefore, this material should not be relied upon in place of experienced legal advice in specific situations. This material is copyrighted and cannot be reproduced without written permission from Barry Kalmanson, Esq.
