A Georgia based manufacturer of modular offices, pre-fabricated buildings and steel mezzanines asked our TRADITION LIEN SERVICE division to record a SOUTH CAROLINA Notice of Mechanics Lien on a auto parts manufacturer who retrofitted an existing industrial facility in North Charleston, SC within Charleston County. According to Wikipedia, North Charleston is the 3rd largest city in the state of SOUTH CAROLINA.

Fees to record with the Register Mesne Conveyance Office for the county are as follows: $10.00 for the first four (4) pages, $1.00 each additional page of 8-1/2″ x 11″ or 8-1/2″ x 14″ paper. There is no charge for file stamped copies. Make checks payable to CHARLESTON COUNTY RMC and they will accept out-of-state business checks.

Actual recording occurs on the same day a lien or release is received. You can view the entire lien document on their website one (1) business day after being recorded. It takes 7-10 days after recording for the original document to be mailed back: Send self-addressed stamped envelope or pay $.50 cents extra for return of recorded notice. For a conformed copy to be returned, include self-addressed stamped envelope or pay $0.50 extra. Put a note on copy to be stamped on the day of recording.

The summer of 1987 I was at Advanced Radio/Teletype training for the US Army at Fort Gordon, GA. On weekends my fellow trainees scampered as quickly as they could to Myrtle Beach, SC.  While I would have enjoyed going there for the golf and scenery, I did not know a single classmate who played golf to go with. So I got instead a one-hour drive through SOUTH CAROLINA courtesy of the Greyhound bus I rode back to my hometown of Chicago after graduation.  I will return to the state with a bit more money in my pocket than in 1987, sooner than later.

I completed recently the rewriting of thirty-two (32) SOUTH CAROLINA templates for PreLien2Lien. Both General Contractors and Subcontractors have 1st notices that must be posted or sent at the start of a construction project.  SOUTH CAROLINA Code Annotated § 29-5-23 mandates that a Location Notice and Notice Of Project Commencement be posted at a jobsite by the General Contractor.  SOUTH CAROLINA Code Annotated § 29-5-23 also mandates that General/Prime Contractors must record a Notice Of Project Commencement with the clerk of court or register of deeds in the county where the improvment is located.

SOUTH CAROLINA Code Annotated § 29-5-40 mandates that when a General/ Prime Contractor has filed a Notice Of Project Commencement, in order for a Subcontractor to ensure the full amount owed can be collected on a lien for a private project, a Subcontractor must deliver by Certified Mail or personal delivery a Notice Of Furnishing Labor Or Materials to the legal parties (Customer, Owner, General/Prime Contractor, Lender) on the project.

General/Prime/Sub Contractors (Private Projects): SOUTH CAROLINA Code Annotated §29-5-90 mandates that a Notice Of Mechanic’s Lien (General/Prime Contractor) should be filed by a General/Prime/Sub Contractor no later than ninety (90) days after the completion of furnishing equipment, labor, materials or services for an improvement.  It should be recorded with the register of deeds or the clerk in the county where the improved property is located.