How to Fight a Contractor Lien Filed Against Your Orlando Home
It's July. You hired a roofing crew after that April storm chewed through the shingles on your Dr. Phillips house, or you brought in an AC company to replace the unit at your Waterford Lakes townho…
It’s July. You hired a roofing crew after that April storm chewed through the shingles on your Dr. Phillips house, or you brought in an AC company to replace the unit at your Waterford Lakes townhome after it failed during the heat surge in May. Work got done. Or partially got done. Or got done badly. A payment dispute followed, and now you’ve pulled up the Orange County property records and found a Claim of Lien recorded against your deed.
This is not a lawsuit. Not yet. But a legal cloud now sits on your title and will block you from selling, refinancing, or closing on a home equity line until it’s resolved. If you do nothing, the contractor has up to a year to turn that lien into a lawsuit and potentially foreclose their lien interest on your property.
July and August are when these disputes peak in Central Florida. Storm season drives a surge of roofing, AC, and mold remediation work — work that also attracts unlicensed operators, undercapitalized crews, and contractors who overbid, underdeliver, and then lien homeowners when payment is withheld. Almost everything written about mechanic’s liens in Florida is written for contractors. Guides on how to file one, how to protect payment rights, how to perfect a claim against a homeowner’s property. Almost nothing exists for the homeowner on the receiving end.
This guide is for you.
What a Mechanic’s Lien Actually Is Under Florida Law
Florida’s Construction Lien Law lives in Chapter 713 of the Florida Statutes. A mechanic’s lien — the statute calls it a Claim of Lien — is not a judgment. A contractor who files one has not won anything in court. What they’ve done is record a security interest against your real property, similar in concept to a mortgage lien, that attaches to your deed in the public record. Title companies call this a “cloud on title.”
If you try to sell, the buyer’s title search will find it. No title company will issue a clean policy — meaning no buyer can get a mortgage — until it’s resolved. Same problem if you try to refinance.
The lien does not expire quietly on its own. The contractor has up to one year from the recording date to file a lawsuit to enforce it under F.S. §713.22. If they don’t file within that window, the lien expires. But one year is a long time, and that timeline is not your friend if you want to sell or simply clear your title.
Here’s what to do, in order.
Search the Actual Lien Document Before You Do Anything Else
Go to myorangeclerk.com and use the Official Records search. It’s free. Search by your name or your property address and look for an instrument type labeled “Claim of Lien.”
Pull the document and read it. Check the recording date first. Florida law sets a deadline for how long after completing work a contractor may file a valid lien, and a lien filed outside that window is legally defective. Write down the recording date. If the gap between when work was last performed and when the lien was recorded looks long, flag it with a construction attorney before you do anything else — homeowners have beaten liens on exactly this basis.
Next, look at the lien amount. Does it match your contract, or does it look inflated? Write down the contractor’s name and license number if listed. You’ll need both in the next step.
Check for evidence that a Notice to Owner was served. Florida law requires subcontractors and suppliers who lack a direct contract with you to notify you of their presence on the job before they can assert lien rights. If you’re dealing with a subcontractor lien and you never received that notice, raise it with an attorney.
The recording date also sets the one-year enforcement clock the contractor is running against you under §713.22. Mark it on your calendar.
Check the Contractor’s License Before You Spend Money on a Lawyer
This step costs nothing and takes ten minutes. It can change your legal position entirely.
Go to myfloridalicense.com — the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation’s public portal — and run a license lookup on the contractor. The key question: was that contractor properly licensed when they signed your contract and when they did the work? Contractors in Florida must hold the appropriate license for the type of work they perform — certified roofing contractor, certified mechanical contractor for HVAC, and so on. Verify that the license type matches the work, and that it was active at the time.
Here’s the point almost no consumer-facing guide mentions: a contractor whose license was expired or invalid when they entered into the contract with you may have filed a defective lien. An unlicensed contractor who records a Claim of Lien has handed you a significant defense. Take a screenshot that captures the date.
While you’re in the portal, pull the complaint history. Prior disciplinary actions and sanctions are visible in the DBPR records. A contractor with a pattern of disputes is useful context for your situation and for any regulatory complaint you file later.
Orange County also requires contractors to hold a local business tax receipt, verifiable through the Orange County Comptroller at occompt.com. Bond and workers’ compensation status matters too — both affect the validity of the contractor’s lien rights and your exposure to other liability.
Your Single Most Powerful Move: File a Notice of Contest of Lien
This is the step most homeowners never find. It appears in almost no consumer-facing lien content, which is genuinely maddening given how useful it is.
Under F.S. §713.22(2), you can file a Notice of Contest of Lien in the Orange County Official Records. The effect is direct: it compresses the contractor’s one-year enforcement deadline down to 60 days from the date the Notice is served. If the contractor doesn’t file a lawsuit within those 60 days, the lien expires by operation of law — automatically — and cannot be enforced.
You’re not winning the dispute by filing this. You’re not claiming the work was defective. You’re forcing a deadline. A contractor who filed the lien as a pressure tactic, or who doesn’t have the money or confidence to sue, will often let those 60 days pass. When they do, the lien is gone.
Filing is straightforward. The Recording Division is at 425 N. Orange Ave., Orlando, FL 32801. You can also file through the online recording portal at myorangeclerk.com. The current fee is approximately $10 for the first page and $8.50 for each additional page — call the Clerk at (407) 836-2278 to confirm before you file.
The Notice must reference the recorded Claim of Lien by Official Records book and page number, or instrument number — the one you pulled in the first step. Once recorded, the Orange County Clerk serves the contractor by certified mail. You don’t serve anyone yourself. The 60-day clock starts when the Notice is served.
Florida doesn’t require a specific approved form, but the content requirements are set by statute and the enforceability of the notice turns on getting them right. Most construction attorneys recommend having one drafted or at least reviewed before filing. The Clerk records it and handles service; your job is to make sure the document is correct before it goes in.
If You Already Paid: The Subcontractor Trap
Here’s the scenario that sends panic through Central Florida homeowners every summer after storm season: you paid your general contractor in full. Every invoice, every draw. Weeks later, you get a Claim of Lien — not from the GC, but from the roofing subcontractor or materials supplier who says the GC never paid them.
This can happen. A lien is a claim of money owed; it’s not a ruling on who was right in the dispute between the GC and their subcontractor. If the GC took your money and didn’t pay the roofing crew, that crew may have valid lien rights against your property even though you did nothing wrong. I find this particular corner of Florida lien law genuinely unfair to homeowners, but it’s the system you’re working within.
Florida law provides a defense, though it comes with strict conditions. The “proper payments” defense — rooted in F.S. §713.06 and the Notice to Owner framework — holds that if you paid your GC in full before receiving a Notice to Owner from the subcontractor or supplier, you may have a valid defense against that sub’s lien. The Notice to Owner exists precisely to warn homeowners that a sub is on the job and has lien rights, so the homeowner can hold back enough of the GC’s payment to protect themselves. If you received a Notice to Owner before you made your final payment to the GC and paid anyway, without verifying the subs were paid, your defense weakens considerably.
This is one of the genuinely complex corners of Florida construction lien law, and it connects to broader patterns covered in our legal & finance coverage of how state rules create unexpected traps for homeowners. Don’t attempt a DIY response here. Get a construction attorney.
If a Sale or Refinance Is Pending
If you have a closing date on the calendar and a recorded lien is about to kill it, Florida law provides a specific mechanism: Transfer of Lien to Surety Bond under F.S. §713.24.
You can transfer the lien from the real property to a surety bond, which removes the cloud on title immediately. The lien claim attaches to the bond instead of your deed, and the sale or refinance can proceed while the underlying dispute continues.
The bond must cover the lien amount plus anticipated interest and legal costs — typically around 1.5 times the stated lien amount, though the exact figure is set by statute and your attorney and bonding company will determine it. Recording the Transfer in the Orange County Official Records is what actually clears the title. The process moves quickly enough to save a pending closing if you act early.
If you have a closing date within the next few weeks and a recorded lien on your property, contact a construction law attorney and a bonding company simultaneously. Today.
What You Should Have Required at Final Payment — and What to Do Now
If you’re still mid-project, Florida law is on your side. Under F.S. §713.06(3)(d), your contractor must deliver a Final Payment Affidavit at least five days before your final payment is due. This document identifies all subcontractors and suppliers on the job and certifies what’s been paid to each. Do not release your final check without it. If the contractor can’t or won’t provide it, that’s reason enough to hold payment until they do.
For projects paid in draws, each payment should come with a Partial Release of Lien from the contractor covering that phase. Requiring these consistently limits your exposure significantly. If you’ve ever been through a contentious renovation — and plenty of Orlando homeowners have after back-to-back storm seasons — you know how fast these paper trails become the whole ballgame.
If you’re past this point and negotiating a resolution, the document you need is a Satisfaction of Lien or Release of Lien, signed by the contractor and recorded in the Orange County Official Records. Once recorded, it clears the title. Florida has no single state-mandated form, but the content requirements are set by statute. Have a construction attorney verify any release document before you sign or pay. A defective release can leave the lien technically intact even after you pay — the kind of thing that surfaces three years later when you’re trying to sell.
If This Was Fraud, Not Just a Dispute
There’s a real difference between a contractor who filed a legitimate lien after a genuine payment dispute and one who abandoned the job after taking a deposit, performed work without a license, or filed a lien on work that was never done. Different situation, different remedies.
The Florida DBPR complaint portal at myfloridalicense.com handles licensed contractor misconduct — shoddy workmanship, contract abandonment, improper business practices. A substantiated complaint can trigger license suspension or revocation.
The State Attorney’s Office for the 9th Judicial Circuit covers Orange and Osceola counties and runs an Economic Crimes Unit that handles contractor fraud: unlicensed contracting, deposit theft, fraudulent lien filings. Call the SAO9 main line at (407) 836-2400 and ask specifically about contractor fraud reporting.
The Florida Attorney General’s complaint portal at myfloridalegal.com covers deceptive and unfair trade practices, which can include certain categories of contractor conduct.
Filing a criminal or regulatory complaint doesn’t make the lien disappear — you still have to address it through the legal mechanisms above. But a criminal referral or license action can change a contractor’s incentive to release a fraudulent lien fast, and it keeps the same operator from hitting the next homeowner down the street.
Where to Get Legal Help in Orange County
Construction lien law is technical. The specific facts — what was noticed, when, who paid whom, what licenses were held, what was recorded — determine which defenses are available to you. Most homeowners should have at least one consultation with a construction law attorney before filing a Notice of Contest of Lien, signing any release, or making any additional payment.
The Legal Aid Society of the Orange County Bar Association is at 100 E. Robinson St. in Orlando; call (407) 841-8310 or go to legalaidocba.org. It provides civil legal services to qualifying residents and may handle construction lien defense. Call first and ask whether your situation falls within what they currently staff — they’ll tell you on the phone, which saves a trip downtown.
Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida serves income-qualifying residents across Orange and surrounding counties: (407) 841-7777 or clsmf.org. Its housing unit handles a range of housing-related civil matters. Ask specifically whether a lien dispute falls within current intake.
If you don’t qualify for free legal aid but cost is a concern, the Florida Bar Lawyer Referral Service at (800) 342-8011 connects homeowners with a construction law attorney for a 30-minute consultation at roughly $25 to $35. Bring the lien document, your DBPR license search results, and a written timeline of the project. That 30 minutes goes fast.
Lien Filings in Orange County Right Now
The Orange County Official Records portal at myorangeclerk.com lets anyone search by instrument type. Filter for “Claim of Lien” filings in 2024 and 2025. Roofing contractors, HVAC companies, and general contractors appear as lienors across residential filings in Waterford Lakes, Dr. Phillips, Windermere, Baldwin Park, and throughout the county. Homeowner names, street addresses, lien amounts, contractor names, and recording dates are all in the public record. Anyone can run the search.
These are real disputes filed by real contractors against real homeowners — many of whom were just trying to fix storm damage on a tight timeline, with whoever showed up and said they could do the work. If you’re also sorting out what a roof replacement cost in Orlando in 2025 before or after a lien dispute, that context matters when evaluating whether a contractor’s claimed amount is reasonable. Run the search. The volume is not small.
Florida law gives homeowners real tools: the Notice of Contest of Lien, the surety bond transfer, the proper payments defense, the licensing defect challenge. The contractors who file these liens know the rules cold. Now you do too.
