Vermont: Mechanic's Lien Deadlines & Notice Requirements

The short answer

Vermont's mechanic's lien attaches automatically to anyone with a direct
contract with the property owner. Anyone working instead through an agent,
contractor, or subcontractor of the owner has no lien at all unless they
give the owner written notice claiming one, and even then the lien only
reaches whatever balance the owner still owes at the moment that notice
arrives. Either way, the lien only stays alive for 180 days from when
payment became due for the claimant's last work or materials, unless a
signed memorandum is recorded — with the TOWN clerk where the property
sits, since Vermont keeps its land records by town rather than by county.
Recording the memorandum isn't the finish line: within a separate 180-day
window, the claimant must also sue for the debt AND get the real estate
attached by the court, or the lien lapses. Vermont's homestead law doesn't
block any of this — the statute says its own rules "apply to property held
as a homestead."

Requirements one by one

Governing law

Vermont's mechanic's lien law is 9 V.S.A. Chapter 51, Subchapter 1,
"Contractors' Liens for Labor or Material," §§ 1921 to 1928. It's a short,
old-style chapter — eight sections total — last substantively amended in
1985 and 2003, rather than a modern comprehensive lien code.

Who can claim

Section 1921(a) gives an automatic lien to anyone proceeding under a
contract or agreement, written or oral, made directly with the property
owner, for erecting, repairing, moving, or altering improvements. Section
1921(b) extends a lien to anyone working under a contract with "an agent,
contractor, or subcontractor of the owner" — the statute places no cap on
how many contracts removed from the owner that person is — but only if that
person gives the owner written notice claiming the lien. Without a direct
contract with the owner, there simply is no lien until that notice is
given. Nothing in the chapter conditions lien rights on holding a
contractor's license, and the statute doesn't address whether a design
professional (an architect or engineer, as opposed to someone performing
labor or furnishing materials) can claim a lien at all.

Preliminary notice

Required only for claimants without a direct contract with the owner, and
for them it isn't optional — it's what creates the lien in the first place.
Without giving the owner written notice that a lien will be claimed
(§ 1921(b)), a non-privity claimant simply has no lien. The notice can be
given at any point, but timing matters: the lien it creates reaches only
"the portions of the contract price remaining unpaid... at the time such
notice is received," so earlier notice generally preserves a larger unpaid
balance to lien against. A claimant who contracted directly with the owner
needs no notice at all.

Deadline to file the lien

A signed memorandum asserting the lien must be filed for record with the
clerk of the TOWN where the real estate is located within 180 days from
when payment became due for the claimant's last labor or materials, or the
lien "shall not continue in force" past that point (§ 1921(c)). Vermont's
land records are kept by town, not by county — filing in the wrong office
defeats the lien. Once recorded, the memorandum relates back and charges
the property with the lien "as of the visible commencement of work or
delivery of material," not from the recording date itself (§ 1923).

Notice of completion effect

None. Chapter 51 gives owners no way to record a notice of completion,
substantial completion, or termination that would shorten anyone's filing
deadline. The clock runs only from when payment became due for the
claimant's own last work or materials.

Serving the lien on the owner

Nothing in the chapter requires serving a copy of the recorded memorandum
on the owner. The only owner-facing communication the chapter requires at
all is the pre-recording notice under § 1921(b) — and that applies only to
claimants without a direct contract with the owner, as the mechanism that
creates their lien, not as a step that follows recording.

Deadline to sue to foreclose

Within 180 days from the memorandum's filing date (if payment was already
due when it was filed) or within 180 days from when payment later becomes
due (if it wasn't yet due at filing), the claimant must both commence a
lawsuit for the debt AND get the real estate attached in that action
(§ 1924). Recording the memorandum alone doesn't keep the lien alive — the
lawsuit and the attachment both have to happen. If the claimant wins, they
then have 5 months from the date of judgment to record a certified copy
with the town clerk; doing so converts the judgment into a lien enforceable
like a mortgage, retroactive to the visible commencement of work, letting
the claimant foreclose the owner's equity of redemption (§ 1925).

Homestead/residential extras

No extra formality, and no protection either. Section 1927 states plainly
that "the provisions of this subchapter shall apply to property held as a
homestead" — Vermont's mechanic's lien reaches a homestead the same as any
other property. A separate, still-on-the-books provision, § 1928, allows a
mechanic's lien to attach to "the real estate of a married woman" only
"when she assents to the contract" — an old coverture-era rule that remains
in the chapter's current text even though it addresses a situation that
predates modern married women's property law.

What trips people up

The two separate 180-day clocks are easy to confuse: one runs from when
payment became due to the recording deadline (§ 1921(c)), and a second,
distinct 180-day window governs when suit must be filed and the property
attached (§ 1924) — recording alone doesn't preserve the lien past that
second deadline. Second, a claimant without a direct contract with the
owner doesn't just risk a smaller lien by delaying notice — without any
notice at all, that claimant has no lien whatsoever. Third, Vermont records
land documents by TOWN, not by county; a commercial lien-form template
circulating for Vermont asks claimants to fill in a "County" field, which
doesn't match how the recording system actually works. Fourth, an old
married-woman's-property provision (§ 1928) is still part of the chapter's
text, a reminder that this law hasn't been comprehensively modernized like
some states' lien codes.

Common questions

Do I need to send a notice before I start work in Vermont?
Only if you don't have a direct contract with the property owner. If you're
working under a contract with the owner's agent, contractor, or
subcontractor instead, you must give the owner written notice claiming a
lien, or you have no lien rights at all.

How long do I have to record my lien?
180 days from when payment became due for your last labor or materials,
filed with the clerk of the TOWN — not the county — where the property is
located.

Is recording my lien enough to protect it?
No. You also have to sue for the debt and get the real estate attached by
the court within a separate 180-day window, or the lien lapses even though
it was properly recorded.

Can a lien reach someone's home in Vermont?
Yes. The statute expressly applies its lien rules to property held as a
homestead.

Statutes and sources

• 9 V.S.A. § 1921 (extent of lien; notice) —
  https://law.justia.com/codes/vermont/title-9/chapter-51/section-1921/
  (accessed 2026-07-05)
• 9 V.S.A. § 1923 (recording notice of lien) —
  https://law.justia.com/codes/vermont/title-9/chapter-51/section-1923/
  (accessed 2026-07-05)
• 9 V.S.A. § 1924 (action to enforce lien) —
  https://law.justia.com/codes/vermont/title-9/chapter-51/section-1924/
  (accessed 2026-07-05)
• 9 V.S.A. § 1925 (foreclosure) —
  https://law.justia.com/codes/vermont/title-9/chapter-51/section-1925/
  (accessed 2026-07-05)
• 9 V.S.A. § 1927 (application to homestead) —
  https://law.justia.com/codes/vermont/title-9/chapter-51/section-1927/
  (accessed 2026-07-05)
• 9 V.S.A. § 1928 (married woman's property) —
  https://law.justia.com/codes/vermont/title-9/chapter-51/section-1928/
  (accessed 2026-07-05)