Failure of a lien claimant to commence a lien action to collect the amount of his or her claim within 365 days from the date of filing the lien, or failure of the lien claimant to file the statutory notice of commencement of lien action in the county where the property is located, renders the claim of lien unenforceable. A claim of lien may be disregarded if no notice of commencement of lien action was filed within 395 days from the date the claim of lien was filed. Any lien filed after March 31, 2009, shall include on the face of the lien the following statement in at least 12 point bold font: "This claim of lien expires and is void 395 days from the date of filing of the claim of lien if no notice of commencement of lien action is filed in that time period." Failure to include such language shall invalidate the lien and prevent it from being filed. No release or voiding of such liens shall be required. A lien shall expire sooner and be disregarded once it is determined that no notice of commencement was timely filed in response to a notice of contest pursuant to Code Section 44-14-368.
(Code 1981, §44-14-367, enacted by Ga. L. 1998, p. 860, § 2; Ga. L. 2000, p. 1589, § 3; Ga. L. 2008, p. 1063, § 6/SB 374.)
The 2000 amendment, effective July 1, 2000, substituted "certified mail or statutory overnight delivery" for "certified mail" in the third and sixth sentences of subsection (a).
The 2008 amendment, effective March 31, 2009, rewrote this Code section.
Editor's notes.- Ga. L. 1998, p. 860, § 3, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that this Act is applicable to liens created on or after July 1, 1998.
Ga. L. 2000, p. 1589, § 16, not codified by the General Assembly, provides that this Act is applicable with respect to notices delivered on or after July 1, 2000.