A.R.S. 33-993: How a Mechanics Lien Gets Recorded in Arizona

A mechanics lien is not real until it is recorded. A.R.S. 33-993 is the section that turns a payment dispute into a recorded claim against your title. It gives an unpaid contractor or supplier a hard deadline, 120 days after the job is completed, to record a notice and claim of lien with the county recorder and serve you a copy. Knowing this clock matters: a lien recorded a day late is void, and a lien recorded on time can cloud your title until it is resolved.

The deadline and where it is recorded

The claimant has to record the lien within a set window tied to completion of the work:

The lien claimant shall make a written notice and claim of lien... and shall record the notice and claim of lien in the office of the county recorder of the county in which the property or some part of the property is located not later than one hundred twenty days after completion... or sixty days after... a notice of completion.

Two timelines, then. If no formal notice of completion is recorded, the claimant gets 120 days from when the project is completed. If you (the owner) record a notice of completion, you shorten the window: the claimant then has only 60 days from that recording. Recording a notice of completion is one way owners speed up the lien clock and clear title faster.

What the lien must contain and how you get served

The recorded lien is not a one-line note. It has to spell out the claim so it can be tested later. The statute requires a legal description of the property, the name of the owner and of whoever hired the claimant, the contract terms or amount, the balance demanded after credits, the completion date, and proof that the twenty day preliminary notice was given. The claimant must also serve a copy on you, the owner, if you can be found in the county.

For example, on a Scottsdale build that wraps up on March 1, a flooring sub the contractor never paid has until about June 29 to record its lien, assuming no notice of completion was filed. If the sub records on July 5, the lien is too late and unenforceable. If you had recorded a notice of completion on March 5, the sub's deadline would have moved up to early May instead. The completion date is the hinge for everything, which is why disputes often fight over exactly when the project reached substantial completion .

How this connects to the lien timeline

Recording the lien is the middle step. The claimant first had to preserve the right with a twenty day notice under A.R.S. 33-992.01, and the underlying lien right comes from A.R.S. 33-981 . After recording, the claimant has a separate, shorter deadline to actually sue under A.R.S. 33-998 ; miss that and the lien dies. If your home qualifies, the owner-occupied dwelling exemption in A.R.S. 33-1002 can block the lien outright. Because "completion" starts the recording clock, the same milestones from your punch list and final walkthrough often decide whether a lien was timely.

Full text and source

Read the full recording and service requirements on the legislature's site: View A.R.S. 33-993 on azleg.gov .

If a lien shows up on your title, check the recorded date against the completion date and the proof of twenty day notice first, since a defect in any of those is often the fastest way to get the lien removed.