Texas: Mechanic's Lien Deadlines & Notice Requirements

The short answer

Texas measures its deadlines in months, not days. An original (general)
contractor must file its lien affidavit by the 15th day of the fourth month
after the month its work was completed, terminated, or abandoned — or the
third month on a residential project. A subcontractor or supplier follows
the same calendar-month formula but also has an ongoing obligation: a
monthly notice of unpaid claim to both the owner and the original
contractor for every month it goes unpaid. Once a lien affidavit is on file,
it must be served on the owner within days, and a foreclosure suit follows
within a year. A lien against a homestead carries extra formality on top of
all of that.

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Texas's statutory mechanic's lien lives in Property Code Chapter 53, which
the legislature substantially rewrote in 2021 (H.B. 2237, effective January
1, 2022). That rewrite applies only to an original contract entered into on
or after the effective date; an older contract is still governed by the
prior version of the chapter. Separately, the Texas Constitution itself
grants a lien: "Mechanics, artisans and material men, of every class, shall
have a lien upon the buildings and articles made or repaired by them for
the value of their labor done thereon, or material furnished therefor"
(Tex. Const. art. XVI, § 37). This constitutional lien is self-executing —
it doesn't depend on Chapter 53's filing deadlines — but it only protects
someone in direct privity with the owner, which is why most claimants still
rely on, and this survey focuses on, the statutory Chapter 53 procedure.

Who can claim

Property Code § 53.021 gives a lien to anyone who "labors or furnishes
labor or materials for construction or repair of an improvement," to
someone who "specially fabricates material, even if the material is not
delivered," to a "licensed architect, engineer, or surveyor providing
services to prepare a design, drawing, plat, survey, or specification," to
a landscaper who supplies "labor, plant material, or other supplies for the
installation of landscaping," and to someone who performs or supplies
"the demolition of an improvement on real property." The 2021 rewrite
specifically dropped an older requirement that a design professional
contract directly with the owner to have lien rights.

Preliminary notice

Texas doesn't use a single notice sent at the start of a job the way some
states do. Instead, § 53.056 requires a subcontractor or supplier (anyone
other than the original contractor) to send a recurring "notice of claim
for unpaid labor or materials" to both the owner and the original
contractor for each month it isn't paid: "not later than the 15th day of
the third month" after the month the work was done on a commercial project,
or "the 15th day of the second month" on a residential one. This is an
ongoing monthly obligation throughout the job, not a one-time filing.

Deadline to file the lien

Section 53.052 sets the filing deadline by the same month-and-day formula.
An original contractor must file "not later than the 15th day of the fourth
month after the month in which the original contractor's work was
completed, terminated, or abandoned" on a commercial project, or "the 15th
day of the third month" on a residential one. A subcontractor or supplier
files by "the 15th day of the fourth month after the later of" the month it
last provided labor or materials, or the month undelivered specially
fabricated materials would normally have been delivered.

Notice of completion effect

Unlike some states, Texas's main filing deadline doesn't shift because the
owner recorded something. Section 53.052's clock runs from the claimant's
own last work or from when the original contract was completed, terminated,
or abandoned — there's no owner notice that shortens it. An owner may
separately file an optional "affidavit of completion" under § 53.106, but
its only effect is evidentiary and narrower: it "is prima facie evidence of
the date the work under the original contract is completed," and if filed
late, it fixes the completion date used for a different, subsidiary
retainage-fund lien deadline. It does not cut off the general § 53.052
filing window the way an owner's notice can in some other states.

Serving the lien on the owner

After filing, § 53.055(a) requires the claimant to "send a copy of the
affidavit to the owner or reputed owner at the owner's last known business
or residence address not later than the fifth day after the date the
affidavit is filed with the county clerk." This is a short, hard deadline
measured from the filing date itself.

Deadline to sue to foreclose

Section 53.158(a) gives "the first anniversary of the last day a claimant
may file the lien affidavit under Section 53.052" as the foreclosure
deadline — one year from the filing deadline, not from the actual filing
date. That period can be extended to a second anniversary, but only "if...
the claimant enters into a written agreement with the then-current record
owner of the property to extend the limitations period," recorded with the
county clerk.

Homestead/residential extras

A lien against a homestead carries formality the general lien doesn't.
Property Code § 53.254 requires a written contract for the work, executed
and filed as that section specifies, and § 53.160(b)(6) makes the lien
affidavit invalid on this ground alone if "no contract was executed or
filed as required by Section 53.254," or if the affidavit or claim notice
omits content § 53.254 requires. That statutory contract requirement
implements a constitutional one: the Texas Constitution allows a lien on a
homestead for new construction or repair only if "the work and material are
contracted for in writing, with the consent of both spouses, in the case of
a family homestead, given in the same manner as is required in making a
sale and conveyance of the homestead" (Tex. Const. art. XVI, § 50(a)(5)(A)).

What trips people up

The 2021 rewrite only applies to contracts signed on or after January 1,
2022 — a project under an older contract is still governed by the prior
version of Chapter 53, which used different notice deadlines and required
a second, separate notice to the general contractor that the current law
eliminated. Checking the original contract's date, not just today's date,
is the first step in figuring out which deadlines apply. Separately, the
month-based deadlines are easy to miscalculate: "the 15th day of the fourth
month after the month completed" is not the same as "120 days," and getting
the month arithmetic wrong by even one is common enough that it's worth
double-checking against a calendar rather than counting days.

Common questions

Do I still need to send a monthly notice if I have a written contract
directly with the owner?
No — § 53.056's monthly notice requirement applies to "a claimant other
than an original contractor." An original contractor (one who contracted
directly with the owner) doesn't send it.

What if my original contract was signed before 2022?
The 2021 rewrite "applies only to an original contract entered into on or
after" its effective date; an older contract is still governed by the prior
version of Chapter 53, which had different deadlines and notice rules.

Is the homestead spousal-consent rule just a formality, or can it
actually void a lien?
It's a real, independent ground to invalidate the lien: § 53.160(b)(6)
lets an owner challenge a homestead lien specifically because the § 53.254
contract wasn't executed or filed, separate from any argument about the
underlying debt.

Statutes and sources

• Tex. Const. art. XVI, § 37 (constitutional lien) —
  https://tlc.texas.gov/docs/legref/TxConst.pdf (accessed 2026-07-04)
• Tex. Const. art. XVI, § 50(a)(5)(A) (homestead written-contract/spousal-consent
  requirement) — https://tlc.texas.gov/docs/legref/TxConst.pdf (accessed 2026-07-04)
• Tex. Prop. Code § 53.021 (persons entitled to lien), as amended by H.B. 2237
  (87R, 2021) — https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/87R/billtext/html/HB02237F.HTM
  (accessed 2026-07-04)
• Tex. Prop. Code § 53.056(a), (a-1) (derivative claimant's monthly notice) —
  https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/87R/billtext/html/HB02237F.HTM (accessed
  2026-07-04)
• Tex. Prop. Code § 53.052(a), (b) (lien affidavit filing deadline) —
  https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/87R/billtext/html/HB02237F.HTM (accessed
  2026-07-04)
• Tex. Prop. Code § 53.106(d) (affidavit of completion, evidentiary effect) —
  https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/87R/billtext/html/HB02237F.HTM (accessed
  2026-07-04)
• Tex. Prop. Code § 53.055(a) (service of filed affidavit on owner) —
  https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/87R/billtext/html/HB02237F.HTM (accessed
  2026-07-04)
• Tex. Prop. Code § 53.158(a), (a-2) (deadline to foreclose) —
  https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/87R/billtext/html/HB02237F.HTM (accessed
  2026-07-04)
• Tex. Prop. Code § 53.160(b)(6) (homestead contract as ground to invalidate) —
  https://capitol.texas.gov/tlodocs/87R/billtext/html/HB02237F.HTM (accessed
  2026-07-04)