Mechanic's Lien Deadlines & Notice Requirements in Missouri

At a glance

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Missouri's mechanic's lien law is Title XXVII, Chapter 429 of the Revised Statutes of Missouri ("Statutory Liens Against Real Estate," §§ 429.010 to 429.360). It traces back to the 1939 revision and has been amended section-by-section ever since — most recently to add the residential owner-consent and notice-of-rights rules discussed below — rather than being rewritten wholesale like some states' lien codes. It is not built on any national uniform act.

Who can claim

RSMo § 429.010.1 gives lien rights to anyone who does "work or labor," furnishes materials, fixtures, or machinery, or rents machinery or equipment for a building or improvement under a contract with the owner or the owner's agent, trustee, contractor, or subcontractor. RSMo § 429.015.1 adds registered architects, professional engineers, land surveyors, and landscape architects to that list for their professional services. Equipment lessors get a narrower version of lien rights: § 429.010.2 allows a lien for rented machinery only when "the improvements are made on commercial property," "the amount of the claim exceeds five thousand dollars," and the lessor gave the owner written notice within 15 business days of starting to use the rented equipment. For owner-occupied residential property of four units or less, a subcontractor or supplier's lien right depends on the owner's written consent (see Homestead/residential extras below).

Preliminary notice

Missouri splits this requirement by claimant type rather than running one notice rule for everyone. RSMo § 429.012.1-.2 requires the original (general) contractor to hand the owner a disclosure notice — in "ten-point bold type" — warning that unpaid subcontractors or suppliers can file liens against the property, and to do this before taking any payment at all; § 429.012.2 makes that disclosure "a condition precedent to the creation, existence or validity of any mechanic's lien in favor of such original contractor." Everyone else — subcontractors, suppliers, laborers who choose to use this route — instead owes a different notice under § 429.100: "ten days' notice before the filing of the lien ... that he holds a claim against such building or improvement, setting forth the amount and from whom the same is due." This isn't an early warning sent when the job starts; it's a short window immediately before the lien itself gets filed.

Deadline to file the lien

Section 429.080 sets one filing deadline for nearly every claimant: "within six months after the indebtedness shall have accrued" — meaning six months after the claimant's own last day of furnishing labor or materials, not after the whole project wraps up. The one carve-out is for rented machinery or equipment: a lessor must file "within sixty days after the date the last of the rental equipment or machinery was last removed from the property."

Notice of completion effect

Missouri has no equivalent to the owner-recorded "notice of completion" or "notice of cessation" that shortens filing deadlines in some other states. Nothing in Chapter 429 lets an owner record a document that speeds up the clock. The 6-month (or 60-day, for equipment lessors) deadline in § 429.080 runs the same way regardless of anything the owner files.

Serving the lien on the owner

Once the lien is filed with the circuit clerk, Missouri does not require the claimant to separately serve a copy of it on the owner — there is no post-filing service step in Chapter 429. The claimant's only owner-facing notice duty is the 10-day pre-filing notice under § 429.100, described above. If that owner can't practically be served — because they live out of state, have no local agent, or have absconded or hidden themselves — § 429.110 lets the claimant record the notice with the county recorder of deeds instead, which "shall have like effect as if served upon such owner."

Deadline to sue to foreclose

Section 429.170 gives a claimant six months after filing the lien to sue to enforce it: "no lien shall continue to exist ... for more than six months after the lien shall be filed, unless within that time an action shall be instituted thereon." Chapter 429 doesn't offer any statutory way to extend that window by agreement between the parties.

Homestead/residential extras

Missouri layers two distinct residential rules on top of the base sequence, depending on the kind of project. First, for repair, remodeling, or an addition to an owner-occupied home of four units or less, RSMo § 429.013.2-.4 blocks any subcontractor or supplier's lien unless the owner signed a written "Consent of Owner" in the statute's specified bold-type language; without it, "full payment of the amount due under a contract to the contractor shall be a complete defense to all liens" filed by anyone else. Second, for newly built residential real property meant for sale, RSMo § 429.016.3, .6-.7, .11(1), .12 requires a claimant to record a "Notice of Rights" with the county recorder of deeds before the owner's sale closes — but only once the owner has recorded its own "Notice of Intended Sale" at least 45 days ahead of that closing. Failing to record the Notice of Rights in time "waive[s] and forfeit[s] any right to assert a mechanic's lien against such property," and recording it does not extend the underlying § 429.080 filing deadline.

What trips people up

The two residential overlays cover different situations and are easy to mix up: § 429.013's owner-consent rule applies to repair/remodel/addition work on an existing owner-occupied home, while § 429.016's notice-of-rights rule applies to newly built residential property headed for sale — a subcontractor working on brand-new construction doesn't get to rely on getting a signed Consent of Owner, because RSMo § 429.013.1 says that section doesn't apply to "the building, construction or erection of any improvements constituting the initial or original residential unit." Separately, because Missouri's 10-day notice under § 429.100 runs right up against the filing deadline rather than at the start of the job, a claimant who waits until close to the 6-month mark to act can find there isn't enough runway left to give 10 days' notice and still file in time.

Common questions

Do I have to send a preliminary notice as soon as I start the job, like in some other states? No. Missouri's § 429.100 notice is a short window right before you file the lien — ten days beforehand — not an early notice due when work begins.

Does the 6-month filing clock reset if the whole project keeps going after I'm done? No. It runs from your own last day of furnishing labor or materials on the job, not from when the entire project is finished.

What if I'm doing a repair job on someone's house and they never signed anything? If you're not the original (general) contractor, § 429.013 makes the owner's signed written Consent of Owner a precondition to your lien right on an owner-occupied home of four units or less — without it, the owner's full payment to the general contractor is a complete defense against your claim.

Statutes and sources

• RSMo § 429.010 (who may claim a lien; equipment-lessor conditions) — https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=429.010 (accessed 2026-08-23)
• RSMo § 429.015 (design-professional lien rights) — https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=429.015 (accessed 2026-08-23)
• RSMo § 429.012 (original contractor's disclosure notice) — https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=429.012 (accessed 2026-08-23)
• RSMo § 429.013 (residential subcontractor Consent of Owner) — https://revisor.mo.gov/main/PageSelect.aspx?section=429.013&bid=24010 (accessed 2026-08-23)
• RSMo § 429.080 (filing deadline) — https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=429.080 (accessed 2026-08-23)
• RSMo § 429.100 (10-day pre-filing notice) — https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=429.100 (accessed 2026-08-23)
• RSMo § 429.110 (alternate notice for nonresident/absent owner) — https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=429.110 (accessed 2026-08-23)
• RSMo § 429.170 (deadline to sue to foreclose) — https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=429.170 (accessed 2026-08-23)
• RSMo § 429.016 (residential Notice of Rights / Notice of Intended Sale) — https://revisor.mo.gov/main/OneSection.aspx?section=429.016 (accessed 2026-08-23)