Construction work in Wayne County moves fast and the paperwork moves faster than the money. If you are framing a build-out in Dearborn, doing electrical on a commercial project off Telegraph, or supplying materials to a residential rehab in Detroit, your strongest tool for getting paid is Michigan’s Construction Lien Act. It also has the strictest deadlines of any commercial remedy in the state. Miss the 90-day window and the lien is gone. No extension, no good-faith exception, no late filing.

The statute, in one paragraph

Michigan’s Construction Lien Act is codified at MCL 570.1101 et seq. It gives contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, and laborers the right to a lien against the improved real property if they aren’t paid for work or materials. The lien attaches to the building and the land it sits on, and it can be foreclosed in circuit court the same way a mortgage can. The right is powerful. The procedure is unforgiving.

The four documents that drive the timeline

Every Michigan construction lien runs through some combination of four documents. Knowing which ones apply to you depends on where you sit in the chain.

1. Notice of Commencement

The property owner (or the general contractor on the owner’s behalf) records a Notice of Commencement with the Register of Deeds before construction starts and posts a copy at the jobsite. It names the project, the owner, the general contractor, and a designee for receiving notices. You can pull a copy from the Wayne County Register of Deeds. If there isn’t one recorded, ask the GC. If they won’t provide it, that’s a problem worth flagging early.

2. Notice of Furnishing

If you are a sub or a supplier, meaning anyone without a direct contract with the owner, you have to serve a Notice of Furnishing on the designee within 20 days of first furnishing labor or material. Late notices only protect work done after the notice was served. The notice goes to the designee by certified mail or personal delivery.

Common mistake. Sending the Notice of Furnishing to the GC instead of the designee named on the Notice of Commencement. They aren’t always the same person, and the statute is specific. Pull the recorded NOC and serve who it tells you to serve.

3. Claim of Lien

If you haven’t been paid, you record a Claim of Lien with the Register of Deeds in the county where the property sits. For Dearborn, Detroit, Livonia, Westland, and the rest of Wayne County, that’s the Wayne County Register of Deeds at 2 Woodward Avenue in Detroit. The Claim of Lien has to be recorded within 90 days of the last date you furnished labor or material to the project. After recording, you serve a copy on the property owner by certified mail within 15 days.

4. Sworn Statement

Before the owner pays the GC, the GC has to provide a Sworn Statement listing every sub and supplier and the amount owed to each. If the owner pays the GC without one and the GC keeps the money, the owner can end up paying subs twice. That’s why Wayne County owners insist on Sworn Statements at every draw.

The 90-day rule, in practice

The 90-day clock is the single most important date on the project. It runs from the last day of substantive work or material delivery, not from your last visit to the site. Things that don’t restart the clock:

  • Punch-list items
  • Warranty callbacks
  • Picking up tools
  • A minor return trip months after substantial completion to fix one screw

If your project finished in mid-February and you went back in May to swap a fixture under warranty, the clock started in February. We see contractors lose lien rights every year because they thought the May visit reset the deadline. It didn’t.

Where to record in Wayne County

All construction liens on Wayne County property, whether in Dearborn, Dearborn Heights, Detroit, Hamtramck, Highland Park, or Livonia, are recorded with the Wayne County Register of Deeds in the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center at 2 Woodward Avenue, Detroit. The recording fee is $30 per document. Most title companies e-record through an approved submitter, but you can also walk a Claim of Lien in or send it by mail. Make sure the legal description matches the deed exactly. A bad legal description can void the lien.

Foreclosing the lien

A recorded lien is good for one year. If you have not been paid by the time the year is up, you have to file a foreclosure complaint in circuit court before the year expires, or the lien dies on its own. For property in Dearborn and the rest of Wayne County, that is Wayne County Circuit Court at the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center. The complaint names the owner, the GC if you are a sub, and any other lienholders or mortgagees of record. The case proceeds like a regular civil action, with answer, discovery, summary disposition or trial, and ends in a judgment of foreclosure and a sheriff’s sale if you win and the debt is not paid.

Most lien foreclosures don’t go that far. Once the lien is on the title, the property can’t be refinanced or sold without clearing it, which is usually enough to force a payment or a settlement. That’s the leverage the statute gives you.

Residential and public projects are different

Michigan treats residential homestead work under stricter rules. The contractor has to be a licensed residential builder, and most lien rights require a written contract with the homeowner. If you’re a sub on a Dearborn rehab and the GC isn’t licensed or the contract isn’t in writing, your lien rights may be limited or gone.

Public projects are different again. Liens do not attach to a Dearborn school, a Wayne County facility, or City of Detroit property. Your remedy is a payment bond claim under MCL 129.201 et seq. Subs have 30 days from completion to give notice and one year to sue. Different statute, same idea: get the notice out early.

What to do the day a payment goes past due

Don’t wait. The day a contractually due payment is late, pull the Notice of Commencement, confirm the Notice of Furnishing was served, and start preparing the Claim of Lien. Even if you expect to get paid, having the paperwork ready means you can file inside the 90-day window if the deal goes sideways. Our Construction Law team handles lien filings, bond claims, and payment disputes across Wayne County and Metro Detroit. Contact us, and on lien deadlines that call should happen sooner rather than later.