Construction Payment Blog and levelset’s Mechanics Lien resources are stuffed with information about the mechanics lien laws as they vary from state-to-state, but we rarely analyze these laws at the county level. Yesterday, however, we broke the mold and published a fantastic guide to filing a mechanics lien in Cook County, Illinois. That guide is above.
What You Need To Know About Filing A Mechanics Lien In Cook County That Is Different From Illinois Generally
Most mechanics lien information we publish regards the state’s general law and not any rule specific to a county. There’s good reason for this practice as these laws are creatures of the state legislature and vary by state, not by county.
There is practical information you need to know about each county to get your mechanics lien actually filed. Nevertheless, there is practical information you need to know about each county to get your mechanics lien actually filed. This practical information is sometimes understandable (i.e. the county recorder’s margin requirements), but is oftentimes just plain frustrating (like a county recorder that interjects a rule they are not authorized to require).
The above presentation provides you with some practical tips about filing a mechanics lien in Cook County, Illinois. We consider this to be pretty high-level information about getting a mechanics lien recorded in that county, and it is the by-product of years of experience in recording lien claims for clients in Cook County.
Here is some example information disclosed in the presentation. Again, some of this may or may not apply to other counties in Illinois, but it definitely applies in Cook County:
- Make sure you send your mechanics lien by fed ex, in-person delivery or courier or by electronically recording. Mailed liens do not get filed immediately upon receipt, and may be subject to a long back log.
- You should use letter sized paper for your mechanics lien, and not legal or other sizes in Cook County
- If you want to get a copy back, you aught to deliver an extra copy with your filing and provide the county with a self-addressed stamped envelope for return to you.