Texas notice of claim for unpaid labor or materials, free and on the statutory wording

The deadline, and the one word that moves it a month

Section 53.056(a-1) sets the date off the month the work was done rather than the month the invoice went unpaid. For projects other than residential construction projects, the notice must be sent not later than the 15th day of the third month after the month during which the labor or materials were provided. For residential construction projects it is the 15th day of the second month.

Every month of work is its own deadline. A subcontractor on the job from March to June has four dates, not one, because the clock runs from each month the labor or materials were provided. A single notice sent in July covers what July's deadline covers and nothing earlier.

Specially fabricated materials that were never delivered run off a different month: the month the claimant would normally have been required to deliver the last of them. That is subparagraph (B) in both tiers.

Section 53.003(e) gives back the only free day in the chapter. If the deadline falls on a Saturday, a Sunday or a legal holiday, the period is extended to the next day that is not one of those.

Who has to send it, and who does not

Section 53.056(a) puts it on a claimant other than an original contractor, and it says the notice is what the lien depends on: a claimant other than an original contractor must give the notice prescribed by Subsections (a-1) and (a-2) for the lien to be valid. Subcontractors, sub-subcontractors and suppliers are all in that group.

An original contractor does not send this notice. Section 53.001(7) defines one as a person contracting with an owner either directly or through the owner's agent, so the question is who your contract is with and not how big your scope is. A mechanical subcontractor with half the job is not an original contractor. A painter hired by the owner for one room is.

The form asks for the original contractor's name and, on the next line, for the party you actually contracted with if that is somebody else. A supplier to a subcontractor fills in both, and they are two different names. Leaving the second blank on a job where it applies is telling the owner you were hired by a company that never hired you.

What the notice does to the owner's money

Section 53.081(b) is the reason this piece of paper works. If notice is sent under 53.056, the owner may withhold the funds immediately on receipt of the notice, in an amount necessary to pay the claim. The money stops moving toward the original contractor the day the notice lands.

Section 53.082 then says how long it stops for. Unless the claim is settled, discharged, indemnified against or found invalid by a final judgment, the owner retains the withheld funds until the time for filing the lien affidavit has passed, or, if an affidavit has been filed, until the claim is satisfied or released.

Section 53.084 is the consequence. Except for the amount the owner fails to reserve under Subchapter E, the owner is not liable for anything paid to the original contractor before the owner was authorized to withhold, which is to say before your notice arrived. Money paid out after that point, once the lien is secured and the claim has been reduced to final judgment, is money the owner can be made to pay twice.

How it has to be delivered

Section 53.003(b) allows three methods and no others: in person to the party entitled to the notice or to that party's agent, by certified mail, or by any other form of traceable, private delivery or mailing service that can confirm proof of receipt. That third option was added by the 2022 rewrite, and it is the one older checklists leave out.

Certified mail gets a rule of its own. Under 53.003(c), depositing the notice in the United States mail in the form required is compliance with the notice requirement, so a notice mailed on the deadline is on time even if it is delivered afterwards. Keep the receipt: the date of mailing is the date that matters.

Section 53.003(d) covers the other direction. If the person entitled to the notice actually received it, the method used is immaterial. That is a defense to a delivery argument, not a plan.

The lien affidavit you may file later has to name these dates. Section 53.054(a)(8) asks a claimant other than an original contractor for a statement identifying the date each notice of the claim was sent to the owner and the method by which it was sent, so write both down when you send this.

Page two, and when to leave it off

Section 53.254(g) says that for the lien on a homestead to be valid, the notice required to be given to the owner under Subchapter C must include or have attached the statement it then prints. Attached is the statute's own word, which is why it is page two of this download rather than a separate form.

That statement is written to the owner, not to you. It tells them their property may be subject to a lien if, after receiving notice of the unpaid claim, they fail to withhold enough from the contractor to cover it, or if during construction and for 30 days after completion they fail to reserve 10 percent of the contract price or 10 percent of the value of the work. It then tells them that if they did both of those things, a claim by somebody who did not contract with them directly will not be a valid lien.

On a job that is not a homestead the statement is not required and page two can be left off. On a house, sending the notice without it is how a claimant loses a lien that was otherwise perfect.

A homestead lien has other conditions that have nothing to do with this notice. Section 53.254(a) to (e) requires a written contract executed before any material is furnished or labor performed, signed by both spouses if the owner is married, and filed with the county clerk. Sending a flawless notice on a job where that contract was never signed does not create a lien.

What comes after the notice

The notice keeps the lien alive; the affidavit is the lien. Under 53.052(b), a claimant other than an original contractor files the affidavit with the county clerk not later than the 15th day of the fourth month after the later of the month the claimant last provided labor or materials, or the month the undelivered specially fabricated materials would normally have been delivered. On a residential construction project 53.052(c) makes it the third month.

Section 53.055 adds a step people miss. A person who files an affidavit must send a copy to the owner or reputed owner not later than the fifth day after the date it is filed, and if the person is not an original contractor, a copy goes to the original contractor within the same period.

Section 53.056(a-3) allows an invoice or billing statement to be included with the notice, and (a-4) allows a separate written notice of a past-due invoice to the original contractor, which is expressly not required for the validity of the lien. Sending it can settle a claim without a filing; not sending it costs nothing.

Questions people ask

Once the job is running and you are getting paid on it, the paperwork that comes next is the waiver: see the Texas statutory lien waiver forms, and conditional vs unconditional lien waiver for which of the two to sign.