Kansas at a glance
| General contractor | Sub or supplier | |
|---|---|---|
| Notice during the job | None (spec homes: notice of intent to perform) | Owner-occupied 1-2 family home: mail the warning statement. Spec homes: notice of intent to perform |
| File the lien | 4 months after last work | 3 months after last work |
| Extension | Non-residential only: file a notice of extension inside the window to get 5 months | |
| Sue to foreclose | 1 year after filing | 1 year after filing |
If you're a subcontractor or supplier
- Home the owner lives in (or a new home being built for them to live in), 1 or 2 families: mail any one owner the statutory warning statement (the “Notice to owner” wording in the statute). The law doesn't set a deadline, but the owner is only on the hook for payments made after they receive it, so send it before you start or as soon as you can. Not needed if your total claim is $250 or less. When you file, attach an affidavit that you sent it. (K.S.A. 60-1103a)
- New home being built to sell: file a notice of intent to perform with the district court clerk before the deed to a buyer is recorded. Without it, your lien can't reach the home once a good-faith buyer owns it. The notice expires after 18 months unless you file a lien. (K.S.A. 60-1103b)
- File your lien statement with the clerk of the district court within 3 months after your last day of work, then serve or mail (restricted mail) a copy to an owner, anyone holding a recorded equitable interest, and whoever owes you. On non-residential jobs, filing a notice of extension inside the 3 months gives you 5. (K.S.A. 60-1103)
- Sue to foreclose within 1 year after you file. (K.S.A. 60-1105)
If you're the general contractor
- No early notice is required of you, except the notice of intent to perform on new homes built to sell. (K.S.A. 60-1103b)
- File your lien statement with the clerk of the district court within 4 months after your last day of work. On non-residential jobs, a notice of extension filed inside the 4 months gives you 5. (K.S.A. 60-1102)
- Sue to foreclose within 1 year after you file. (K.S.A. 60-1105)
Watch out for
- “Residential” means 1 or 2 families in Kansas, not 1 to 4 like most neighboring states. A triplex counts as non-residential for the extension.
- Who has lien rights: anyone with an agreement with the GC or with a subcontractor. A supplier to a supplier doesn't. (K.S.A. 60-1103(a))
- Get the lien statement notarized properly. Kansas courts read these rules strictly; an affidavit signed outside a notary's presence has sunk liens.
- Before foreclosing on a home, anyone with a recorded equitable interest must have been served with the lien statement. (K.S.A. 60-1103(c))
How we count: the helper uses the base deadline (3 or 4 months), not the 5-month extension. Kansas's lien law has no weekend rule, so recommended dates are 7 days early (30 for the lawsuit), moved earlier to a weekday.
The law
Kansas mechanics' lien rules are in K.S.A. 60-1101 to 60-1110. We read the official text from the Kansas Revisor of Statutes.