No date helper for Texas yet. Texas needs a notice for each unpaid month, and homestead rules depend on paperwork signed before the job started, so a single-date calculator would mislead you. Use the rules below and put each month's notice date on your calendar.
Which timeline applies to you
Texas has a shorter residential timeline for a house, duplex, triplex, fourplex or condo unit that an owner lives in or will live in. Everything else, including a rental home with no owner living there, uses the longer timeline. (§ 53.001(8), (10))
| Owner-occupied home | Everything else | |
|---|---|---|
| Sub/supplier notice for each unpaid month | 15th of the 2nd month after | 15th of the 3rd month after |
| File lien affidavit | 15th of the 3rd month after last work | 15th of the 4th month after last work |
| Mail copy of filed affidavit | Within 5 days of filing | |
| Sue to foreclose | 1 year after the last day you could have filed | |
Example: you worked on an owner-occupied remodel in March and weren't paid. Your notice for March is due by May 15. If March was also your last month, your lien affidavit is due by June 15.
If you're a subcontractor or supplier
- Each unpaid month, send a notice of claim to the owner and the general contractor by the 15th of the 2nd month after that month (owner-occupied home) or the 3rd month after (any other job). Use the form in the statute; you can attach your invoice. Deliver it in person, by certified mail, or by a tracked service. (§ 53.056)
- Retainage: if your contract holds back retainage that your monthly notices didn't cover, send a separate retainage notice within 30 days after your part of the job is completed, terminated or abandoned. (§ 53.057)
- File your lien affidavit with the county clerk by the 15th of the 3rd month (owner-occupied home) or 4th month (other jobs) after the month you last worked. (§ 53.052)
- Mail a copy of the filed affidavit to the owner and the GC within 5 days after filing. (§ 53.055)
- Sue to foreclose within 1 year after the last day you could have filed (not the day you filed). A written agreement with the owner, recorded with the county, can extend this to 2 years after filing. (§ 53.158)
If you're the general contractor
- No monthly notices are required of you. (§ 53.056(a))
- File your lien affidavit by the 15th of the 3rd month (owner-occupied home) or 4th month (other jobs) after the month your work was completed, terminated or abandoned. (§ 53.052(a))
- Mail a copy within 5 days and sue within 1 year after the last day you could have filed, same as subs. (§§ 53.055, 53.158)
Watch out for
- Homestead: on the owner's homestead there's no lien at all unless a written contract was signed before any work started (by both spouses, if married) and filed with the county clerk. A GC's contract covers its subs. Notices to a homestead owner must include the statutory warning, and the affidavit needs the bold “NOTICE: THIS IS NOT A LIEN. THIS IS ONLY AN AFFIDAVIT CLAIMING A LIEN.” header. (§ 53.254)
- Weekends and holidays: a deadline on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday moves to the next business day, but don't plan on it. (§ 53.003(e))
- Owner-occupied homes come with extra disclosure, subcontractor list and bills-paid affidavit rules for the GC. (§§ 53.255–53.259)
- Older contracts: jobs whose original contract was signed before January 1, 2022 follow the old rules, which this page doesn't cover.
The law
Texas mechanic's lien rules are in Chapter 53 of the Property Code, largely rewritten by HB 2237 (effective January 1, 2022) and amended by SB 929 (2025).