Notice of Intent to Lien: Free Template + State Guide

Most demand letters go straight into the trash. A notice of intent to lien is different, because it isn't a bluff. It's a dated, documented warning that a lien is coming if the money doesn't move, and everyone in construction knows what a lien does to a project. Owners hate surprises on their title. GCs hate owners calling them about surprises on their title. That is why this one-page letter gets invoices paid.

It also happens to be legally required in about ten states. Send it wrong there, or skip it, and your lien can be dead on arrival. This guide covers what the notice is, what goes in it, when and how to send it, which states require it, and what happens after you send it. The template below is free to use, and our free templates page has it as a download along with the rest of the payment paperwork.

What a notice of intent to lien actually is

A notice of intent to lien (NOI) is a written warning you send to the property owner, and usually the general contractor, saying: you owe me this much for this work, and if I am not paid by this date, I will file a mechanics lien against the property. That's it. It is not the lien itself. It does not get recorded with the county. It is the letter before the lien.

Two things people mix up:

• It is not a preliminary notice. A preliminary notice goes out at the start of a job to tell the owner you exist. An NOI goes out at the end, when money is already overdue, to tell the owner a lien is coming. Different documents, different timing, different purpose. Some states require both.
• It is not a lawsuit threat. You don't need a lawyer to send one, and the tone should be firm and businesslike, not legalistic. You're stating facts and a deadline, not making threats.

What goes in a good notice of intent

Keep it to one page. A good NOI has seven parts:

1. Who you are: your company name, address, phone, email.
2. Who hired you: the name of the GC or subcontractor you contracted with. This matters because the owner may have never heard of you.
3. The project: project name and the property address, plus a legal description if you have one.
4. What you did: a plain description of the labor or materials you furnished.
5. What you're owed: the exact dollar amount, with invoice numbers and dates if you have them.
6. The deadline: a specific date by which payment must be received, typically 10 to 30 days out.
7. What happens next: a clear statement that you will file a mechanics lien against the property if payment isn't received by the deadline.

The free template

Copy this, fill in the brackets, and send it. It is generic on purpose: in states that don't require an NOI, a clear businesslike letter is all you need. In states that do require one, check your state's content rules first, because a few states want specific language.

[YOUR COMPANY LETTERHEAD]
[Date]

VIA CERTIFIED MAIL, RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED

[Property Owner Name]
[Owner Address]

[General Contractor Name]
[GC Address]

Re: Notice of Intent to File a Mechanics Lien
Project: [Project name and property address]
Amount owed: $[AMOUNT]

Dear [Owner Name]:

This letter is to notify you that [Your Company Name] furnished [brief description of labor and/or materials] to the above project at the request of [name of the GC or subcontractor who hired you].

The amount of $[AMOUNT] for this work remains unpaid, as shown on the attached invoice(s) [invoice numbers and dates].

If full payment is not received by [DATE — 10 to 30 days from this letter], [Your Company Name] intends to file a mechanics lien against the property described above, as provided by the lien laws of [State].

Please direct payment or questions to:

[Your Name]
[Phone] · [Email]

Sincerely,

[Signature]
[Printed name and title]

Enclosures: [invoice copies, delivery tickets, etc.]
cc: [General Contractor Name]

Want this as a printable download, plus the preliminary notice and lien waiver templates? They're all on our free templates page, no signup, no email required.

When to send it

Timing matters more than wording. The sweet spot: after an invoice is clearly overdue, and before your lien filing deadline. That usually means somewhere between 10 and 30 days before you plan to file.

Three timing rules to burn into your brain:

• Don't send it too early. If the invoice is three days old, an NOI looks like a scare tactic and burns goodwill. Give normal payment terms a chance to fail first.
• Don't send it too late. The NOI does not extend your lien filing deadline. If your deadline is 60 days after your last day of work and you send the NOI on day 55 with a 30-day payment window, your deadline will blow right past you while you wait. If the deadline is close, file the lien and keep negotiating. You can always release a lien. You cannot un-miss a deadline.
• In required states, back it up from your filing date. If your state requires the NOI 10 days before filing and your filing deadline is June 30, the NOI has to be out by June 20 at the latest. Work backwards from the hard deadline, not forwards from today.

Our 50-state deadline hub has the filing deadlines you need to plan backwards from.

How to send it

Send it certified mail, return receipt requested, to the property owner and the general contractor. Keep the receipt and the green card when it comes back. That little green card is your proof the notice was delivered, and in a dispute it's worth more than the letter itself.

A few states accept other traceable delivery methods (overnight courier with tracking, for example), but certified mail is accepted everywhere and it's cheap. Email alone is not enough in most states. Send the certified letter, and then feel free to also email a copy as a courtesy so nobody can claim they didn't see it coming.

In some required-NOI states you also have to prove you sent it when you file the lien. Colorado, for example, expects an affidavit of service to go in with the lien filing. Keep a copy of everything: the letter, the certified mail receipt, the return receipt, and a note of the date you mailed it.

Which states require it (and everywhere else, send it anyway)

About ten states require some form of notice of intent before you can file a mechanics lien. The exact timing and who it applies to varies. This table reflects the states that show up consistently across lien-law sources; statutes change, so treat the citations as a starting point and verify against current law before you rely on them.

State	Required?	Typical timing	Statute
Arkansas	Yes	At least 10 days before filing	Ark. Code § 18-44-114
Colorado	Yes	At least 10 days before filing	C.R.S. § 38-22-109(3)
Connecticut	Yes	Within 90 days after ceasing work (subs/suppliers)	Conn. Gen. Stat. § 49-35
Illinois	Yes (reported)	Within 90 days after completion (subcontractors)	770 ILCS 60/24
Louisiana	Reported by some sources	Check your state	Check your state
Missouri	Yes	At least 10 days before filing (parties other than original contractor)	Mo. Rev. Stat. § 429.100
North Dakota	Yes	At least 10 days before recording	N.D. Cent. Code § 35-27-02
Pennsylvania	Yes	At least 30 days before filing	49 P.S. § 1501.1
Wisconsin	Yes	At least 30 days before filing	Wis. Stat. § 779.06
Wyoming	Yes	At least 20 days before filing	Check your state
Everywhere else	Not required	Strategic: 10–30 days before you plan to file	—

A note on the fuzzy ones: Illinois and Louisiana show up as "required" in some lien-law references and not in others, usually because the requirement is tied to a specific role or project type rather than a blanket rule. Wyoming's timing is widely cited as 20 days, but confirm the current statute section with a local source. The takeaway is the same either way: if there's any chance your state requires it, send it early and send it right. It costs a few dollars and it never hurts you.

Two useful references if you want to dig deeper: Levelset's notice of intent guide and this 2026 state-by-state NOI rundown.

What happens after you send it

Three things can happen, and all three are fine:

1. They pay. This is the most common good outcome. Often the owner didn't know you existed, or didn't know the GC hadn't paid you. The NOI lands on the owner's desk, the owner calls the GC, and your invoice suddenly becomes the GC's most urgent problem. A large share of payment disputes end right here, without any lien being filed.

2. They call to negotiate. The owner or GC wants to talk terms, dispute the amount, or set up a payment plan. Take the call. An NOI is a starting position, not a final answer. If you reach a deal, put it in writing and keep your lien deadline on the calendar anyway until the money actually clears.

3. Nothing happens. Then you file the lien. That's what the NOI was for: you warned them, you documented the warning, and now you follow through. File before your deadline, serve the filed lien the way your state requires, and keep every piece of paper. The 50-State Lien Deadline + Notice Pack walks through the filing step state by state, with the templates and a deadline worksheet.

One more scenario: they pay part of it. Great, take the money, and adjust your lien amount to what's still owed. A lien is only as good as its number is honest. Never file for money you already received.

Don't confuse it with a preliminary notice

This is the mix-up that causes the most damage. A preliminary notice (sometimes called a notice to owner, or a 20-day notice in California) goes out at the beginning of a job. Its job is to put the owner on notice that you're on the project, so your lien rights are preserved. Miss it in states like California or Florida and you may have no lien rights at all, no matter what you do later.

A notice of intent to lien goes out at the end, when payment is overdue. Its job is to warn before the lien lands. Some states require both documents. They are not substitutes for each other. If you're a subcontractor starting a new job, the preliminary notice is the urgent one; the NOI comes later, when the invoice goes stale.

And if you're in Texas, note that Texas doesn't really use the NOI concept the way other states do. Texas has its own monthly notice system for subs and suppliers, with a notice due every month you go unpaid. Our Texas filing guide walks through it. The instinct is the same everywhere, though: warn in writing, give a deadline, document everything.

No written contract with the person who owes you? That usually doesn't kill your lien rights. See can a subcontractor file a lien without a contract for the full picture. And for state-specific filing walkthroughs, see how to file in California.