A General Contractor contacted our TRADITION NOTICE SERVICES lien service division regarding a project where they completed water damage repair on a vacation home in Virginia Beach, VA. They had not received the balanced owed on the job, and the homeowner is not returning the contractor’s calls.

While there are dozens of counties in Virginia, the City of Virginia Beach is its own public entity – they are not in any of the counties. Virigina construction liens are recorded by the City of Virginia Beach Clerk of the Circuit Court.

In Virginia, a construction lien is called a “Memorandum for Mechanic’s Lien”. The Virginia Beach Clerk’s Office usually records the lien claims the same day they are received. In addition to the street address of the property, the Clerk’s Office requires the “GPIN” (GIS Parcel Identification Number) which is the same as the property’s Tax ID Number. Once recorded, the original copy of the lien claim is usually returned the next business day, so there is no need for a Conformed Copy of the recorded lien.

Recording fees are a flat $21.00 for any number of pages. It does not matter whether the pages are Letter size (8-1/2” x 11”) or Legal size (8-1/2” x 14”).

Recorded liens can be viewed on their City Of Virginia Beach Clerk of the Circuit Court website through a paid subscription to their website.

Same day Electronic Filing of construction liens in Virginia Beach is available through TRADITION NOTICE SERVICES.

Recording Liens in Loudon County, Virginia:

Loudoun County is part of the Washington metropolitan area. According to Wikipedia, as of 2007, Loudoun County has the highest median household income of any county in the United States ($107,207), beating neighboring Fairfax County, Virginia ($105,241). The two counties have been trading places as the highest-income county in the United States in recent years.

If you are sending regular First Class mail, you would use their P.O. Box (P.O. Box 550, Leesburg, VA 20178). However USPS Express or Priority Mail should go directly to their street address (18 East Market Street, Leesburg, VA 20176 – Attn: Recording Division). Notices usually are recorded the same day received. TRADITION NOTICE SERVICES filed a Lodoun County lien electronically late afternoon pacific time. The lien was recored by the time we we arrived at work the next morning.

Fees are as follows: $21.00 for 1-10 pages. The only margin requirement is for at least 1 inch at the top of the first page.

Requirements for the “legal property description” – must include street address along with the lot and block numbers.

Conformed copies are sent out next day at no additional charge if you include a copy and a self addressed stamped envelope. Even if you are recording in person, bring a copy to be conformed as the original will not be returned for 3-4 weeks.

Only subscribers to their county website can view recorded documents online.

The VIRGINIA Memorandum For Mechanic’s Lien Claim (GC, Sub, Sub-Sub) notice was improved today. A good suggestion from a power user in PA gave us the idea to create separate data entry values for the Property Type and Legal Property Description. This update is included in V. 12.12.01 R.04.1911, available for download from the Software Downloads link of our website.

General/Prime Contractors (Private Projects): VIRGINIA Code Annotated § 43-5 mandates that a notarized Memorandum For Mechanic’s Lien Claim must be recorded by General/Prime Contractors no later than ninety (90) consecutive calendar days of last providing labor, services, equipment or materials at a project. It is recorded at the Clerk’s office of the Circuit Court in the city or county where a project you provided labor, services, equipment or materials is located.

Subcontractors (Private Projects): VIRGINIA Code Annotated § 43-8 mandates that a notarized Memorandum For Mechanic’s Lien Claim must be recorded by General/Prime Contractors no later than ninety (90) consecutive calendar days of last providing labor, services, equipment or materials at a project. It is recorded at the Clerk’s office of the Circuit Court in the city or county where a project you provided labor, services, equipment or materials is located.

Sub-Subcontractors (Private Projects): VIRGINIA Code Annotated § 43-10 mandates that a notarized Memorandum For Mechanic’s Lien Claim must be recorded by General/Prime Contractors no later than ninety (90) consecutive calendar days of last providing labor, services, equipment or materials at a project. It is recorded at the Clerk’s office of the Circuit Court in the city or county where a project you provided labor, services, equipment or materials is located.