What Is a Preliminary Notice?
Preliminary notices — also known as pre-liens, preliminary liens, right to lien notices, prelims, and notice to owner (NTO) — are the first step for reducing your risk of slow pay, short pay, and no pay situations. At the start of a new construction project, subcontractors, material suppliers, and equipment rental companies are legally required to send a preliminary notice to all property owners, the general contractor, and the construction lender.
Pre-liens exist to notify the property owners and project stakeholders that you have a right to file a mechanics lien if you don’t receive full payment.
The Complexities of Filing Preliminary Notices
Preparing and sending preliminary notices is a complicated but crucial step in protecting your payment rights. Every notice must adhere to the state’s mailing requirements and be sent to the property owner(s), general contractor, and financial lenders. Even minor errors, such as a misspelled address or incorrect jobsite location, can render your preliminary notice invalid, jeopardizing your mechanics lien protection.
How CNS Streamlines the Preliminary Notice Process
CNS simplifies the process by taking care of the research, preparation, and state-mandated mailing requirements for all preliminary notices. We verify each notice by confirming the job address, property owner, direct contractor, and financial lender, ensuring your lien rights are protected and payment risks minimized.
CNS For Your Pre-Liens
For over four decades, our preliminary notice service has been crafted to safeguard your payment rights. CNS simplifies and streamlines the pre lien process by thoroughly researching and validating information before mailing your notices. This includes verifying details like the property owner, general contractor, and financial lender. For public works projects, we extend our research to include the bonding company. Should any inconsistencies arise during this process, your dedicated customer service representative will promptly inform you.
The combination of our research team’s phone calls and the preliminary notice itself ensures that you get paid first and helps preserve your right to file a mechanics lien.
Contact Us
CNS has been helping contractors, subcontractors, material suppliers, and equipment rental companies get paid since 1984! Our experience and resources, unparalleled attention to the customer, and easy-to-use online system provide ultimate peace of mind. Our team works hard to handle your prelims accurately and timely, and our database protects the security of your information. Contact us today to get a prelim started and take the first step toward reducing risk and increasing cash flow.
