Pre-Lien Notice / Notice to Owner

ALASKA NOTICE OF RIGHT TO LIEN

AS 34.35.064

This is an optional pre-furnishing notice. Alaska does not impose a 15-day-from-first-furnishing deadline for this notice. The 15-day period in AS 34.35.068(b) arises only after an owner records a notice of completion.

Giving a compliant notice to the owner or owner's agent before furnishing shifts the burden in a later foreclosure action: the owner must prove lack of knowledge or consent; without the notice, the claimant must prove the owner's knowledge and consent.

1. Timing

Contract date: [__/__/____]

Expected first furnishing date: [__/__/____]

Notice-giving date: [__/__/____]

☐ Notice will be given to the owner or owner's agent before any labor, material, service, or equipment is furnished.

2. Notice

NOTICE OF RIGHT TO LIEN

To owner or owner's agent: [NAME AND ADDRESS]

Claimant: [NAME AND ADDRESS]

Person with whom claimant contracted: [NAME AND ADDRESS]

Real property — legal description sufficient for identification:

[____________________________________________________________]

[____________________________________________________________]

Labor, materials, services, or equipment provided or to be provided:

[____________________________________________________________]

[____________________________________________________________]

The claimant gives notice of a right to assert a lien against the above real property for labor, materials, services, or equipment furnished in connection with the project. The claimant may be entitled to record a claim of lien.

WARNING: Unless provision is made for payment of sums that may be due to the undersigned, your above property may be subject to foreclosure to satisfy those sums even though you may pay a prime contractor or other person for the labor, material, service, or equipment furnished by the undersigned.

The warning must appear in type no smaller than the type used for the other statutory information.

Claimant signature: ____________________________________

Printed name/title: [________________________________]

Date: [__/__/____]

3. Delivery Record

AS 34.35.064 requires the notice to be given to the owner or owner's agent but does not prescribe certified mail, personal service, or another exclusive delivery method. Use a method that produces reliable evidence of delivery.

4. Optional Recording and Notice-of-Completion Calendar

Recording is not part of the pre-furnishing burden-shift rule in AS 34.35.064(a), but recording a notice of right to lien matters if the owner records a notice of completion.

If no notice of completion is recorded, the claim of lien deadline is 120 days after the claimant completes the construction contract or ceases furnishing for the project.

If the owner records a notice of completion:

• a claimant who received advance notification of the recording date, or who had not given a notice of right to lien, must record a claim of lien or a notice of right to lien no later than 15 days after the notice of completion is recorded;
• a claimant who records a notice of right to lien before or within that 15-day period retains the 120-day claim-of-lien period; and
• a claimant who gave a notice of right to lien but did not receive the owner's advance notification also retains the 120-day period.

Recording district: [________________________________]

Notice of right to lien recorded: ☐ No ☐ Yes, on [__/__/____]

Instrument number: [________________________________]

Owner's notice of completion recorded: ☐ No ☐ Yes, on [__/__/____]

Advance notification received: ☐ No ☐ Yes, on [__/__/____]

15-day response deadline, if applicable: [__/__/____]

120-day claim-of-lien deadline, if applicable: [__/__/____]

5. Five-Day Accounting Response

If the owner, lender, or prime contractor requests information after this notice is given, AS 34.35.064(b) requires the claimant to disclose within five days:

• the most recent accounting of the amount due and unpaid under the contract; and
• a description of the labor, materials, services, or equipment the claimant reasonably anticipates furnishing.

Request received: [__/__/____]

Response due: [__/__/____]

Response sent: [__/__/____]

6. Claim and Enforcement Calendar

A claim of lien is governed by AS 34.35.068 and .070, not former or nonexistent § 34.35.065.

Claim of lien recorded: [__/__/____]

Under AS 34.35.080, the lien does not bind the property for more than six months after recording unless an enforcement action is commenced within that period or a qualifying extension notice is recorded in the same office within the original six months.

Six-month deadline: [__/__/____]

7. Final Check

☐ Notice given before first furnishing

☐ Owner or owner's agent correctly identified

☐ Legal description sufficient for identification included

☐ Claimant and contracting-party names and addresses included

☐ Work/material/service/equipment description included

☐ Statement of possible lien included

☐ Statutory warning reproduced at required type size

☐ Proof of delivery retained

☐ Notice-of-completion monitoring and recording decision calendared

Official Sources

• Alaska Statutes, Title 34 — AS 34.35.064, .068, .071, and .080
• Chapter 102, SLA 1986 — current pre-furnishing and burden-of-proof structure in AS 34.35.064(a)
• Chapter 51, SLA 2010 — 120-day amendment to AS 34.35.068(a)