Minnesota Statutes

Minn. Stat. § 514.011 (2026)

Notice

✓ current as of May 2026

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Subdivision 1.Contractors.

Every person who enters into a contract with the owner for the improvement of real property and who has contracted or will contract with any subcontractors or material suppliers to provide labor, skill or materials for the improvement shall include in any written contract with the owner the notice required in this subdivision and shall provide the owner with a copy of the written contract. If no written contract for the improvement is entered into, the notice must be prepared separately and delivered personally or by certified mail to the owner or the owner's authorized agent within ten days after the work of improvement is agreed upon. The notice, whether included in a written contract or separately given, must be in at least 10-point bold type, if printed, or in capital letters, if typewritten and must state as follows:

"(a) Any person or company supplying labor or materials for this improvement to your property may file a lien against your property if that person or company is not paid for the contributions.

(b) Under Minnesota law, you have the right to pay persons who supplied labor or materials for this improvement directly and deduct this amount from our contract price, or withhold the amounts due them from us until 120 days after completion of the improvement unless we give you a lien waiver signed by persons who supplied any labor or material for the improvement and who gave you timely notice."

A person who fails to provide the notice shall not have the lien and remedy provided by this chapter.

The notice required by this subdivision is not required of any person who is an owner of the improved real estate, to any corporate contractor of which the owner of the improved real estate is an officer or controlling shareholder, to any contractor who is an officer or controlling shareholder of a corporation which is the owner of the improved real estate, or to any corporate contractor managed or controlled by substantially the same persons who manage or control a corporation which is the owner of the improved real estate.

Subd. 2.Subcontractor to give notice.

(a) Every person who contributes to the improvement of real property so as to be entitled to a lien pursuant to section 514.01, except a party under direct contract with the owner must, as a necessary prerequisite to the validity of any claim or lien, cause to be given to the owner or the owner's authorized agent, either by personal delivery or by certified mail, not later than 45 days after the lien claimant has first furnished labor, skill or materials for the improvement, a written notice in at least 10-point bold type, if printed, or in capital letters, if typewritten, which shall state:

"This notice is to advise you of your rights under Minnesota law in connection with the improvement to your property.

Any person or company supplying labor or materials for this improvement may file a lien against your property if that person or company is not paid for the contributions.

We .
	(name and address of subcontractor)
have been hired by your contractor .
	(name of your contractor)
to provide . or		. for
	(type of service)	(material)
this improvement.
To the best of our knowledge, we estimate our charges will be .
		(value of service or material)

If we are not paid by your contractor, we can file a claim against your property for the price of our services.

You have the right to pay us directly and deduct this amount from the contract price, or withhold the amount due us from your contractor until 120 days after completion of the improvement unless your contractor gives you a lien waiver signed by me (us).

We may not file a lien if you paid your contractor in full before receiving this notice."

(b) A person entitled to a lien does not lose the right to the lien for failure to strictly comply with this subdivision if a good faith effort is made to comply, unless the owner or another lien claimant proves damage as a direct result of the failure to comply.

Subd. 3.Material suppliers, may request information.

A contractor who contracts with any subcontractors or material suppliers to provide labor, skill or materials for the improvement shall upon request provide the subcontractor or material supplier with the name and address of the owner within 10 days of the initial request. Any contractor who fails to supply the information requested pursuant to this subdivision, is liable for any actual damages sustained or expenses incurred by the subcontractor or material supplier because of the contractor's failure to provide the information, plus reasonable attorney fees and costs.

Subd. 4.

MS 1980 [Repealed, 1981 c 213 s 4]

Subd. 4a.Exceptions; same ownership.

The notice required by this section shall not be required to be given where the contractor is managed or controlled by substantially the same persons who manage or control the owner of the improved real estate.

Subd. 4b.Exceptions; multiple dwelling.

The notice required by this section shall not be required to be given in connection with an improvement to real property consisting of or providing more than four family units when the improvement is wholly residential in character.

Subd. 4c.Exceptions; nonagricultural and nonresidential real estate.

The notice required by this section shall not be required to be given in connection with an improvement to real property which is not in agricultural use and which is wholly or partially nonresidential in use if the work or improvement:

(a) is to provide or add more than 5,000 total usable square feet of floor space; or

(b) is an improvement to real property where the existing property contains more than 5,000 total usable square feet of floor space; or

(c) is an improvement to real property which contains more than 5,000 square feet and does not involve the construction of a new building or an addition to or the improvement of an existing building.

For the purposes of this subdivision, "agricultural use" shall have the meaning given to it in section 473H.02, subdivision 3.

For the purposes of clause (c), improvements include, but are not limited to, clearing, excavating, grading, filling in, landscaping, well digging, drilling or repairing, paving, surfacing or striping parking lots, digging or repairing a ditch, drain, or reservoir.

Subd. 5.Owner defined.

For the purposes of this section, "owner" means the owner of any legal or equitable interest in real property whose interest in the property (1) is known to one who contributes to the improvement of the real property, or (2) has been recorded or filed for record if registered land, and who enters into a contract for the improvement of the real property.

Subd. 6.

MS 1989 [Repealed, 1989 c 160 s 4]

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 52 cases (3 in the last 5 years), 1977–2024 · leading case: Ryan Contracting Co. v. O'Neill & Murphy, LLP, 883 N.W.2d 236 (Minn. 2016).

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Ryan Contracting Co. v. O'Neill & Murphy, LLP, 883 N.W.2d 236 (Minn. 2016). · cites it 36× “other things, that Ryan’s error in not filing the pre-lien notice required by Minn.Stat. § 514.011 (2014) rendered all of the-liens void; and that the mechanic’s liens were not perfected, not because of MG’s conduct, but because Ryan was unable to.”

Dolder v. Griffin, 323 N.W.2d 773 (Minn. 1982). · cites it 26× “After discovery, the Griffins and the bank moved for summary judgment dismissing the causes of action of the lien claimants on the ground that the lien claimants had failed to give the Griffins statutory prelien notice as required by Minn.Stat. § 514.011, subd. 2 (1980). Various…”

S.M. Hentges & Sons, Inc. v. Mensing, 777 N.W.2d 228 (Minn. 2010). · cites it 21× “The court concluded that SEH was not exempt from filing pre-lien notice under Minn.Stat. § 514.011, subd. 4b, for improvements made to single-family lots.”

Eclipse Architectural Grp., Inc. v. Lam, 814 N.W.2d 692 (Minn. 2012). · cites it 10× “See Minn.Stat. § 514.011, subd. 1 (2010) (emphasis added).”

Marque Plumbing, Inc. v. Barris, 380 N.W.2d 174 (Minn. Ct. App. 1986). · cites it 44× “On June 3, 1985, the trial court granted summary judgment for respondents based on Marque's failure to meet the notice requirements in the mechanic's lien statute, Minn.Stat. § 514.011 (1982). Summary judgment was also entered in favor of twelve other homeowners.”

ServiceMaster of St. Cloud v. GAB Bus. Servs., Inc., 544 N.W.2d 302 (Minn. 1996). · cites it 8× “3 At some point ServiceMaster attempted to exercise its statutory mechanic’s lien rights on the Mollinedo home, but was unable to do so, apparently because the pre-lien notices required under Minn.Stat. § 514.011 had not been filed within the requisite 10 day time period after…”

Pelletier Corp. v. Chas. M. Freidheim Co., 383 N.W.2d 318 (Minn. Ct. App. 1986). · cites it 22× “The trial court determined Freidheim failed to present any facts supporting its position that Pelletier was both the owner of the lots and the contractor, and thus it was not entitled to prelien notice under Minn.Stat. § 514.011, subd. 4a (1982). The .”

Nasseff v. Schoenecker, 253 N.W.2d 374 (Minn. 1977). · cites it 14× “06, 2 does a mechanics lien attach to the *489 fee owner’s interest notwithstanding the contracting lien claimant’s failure to serve the notices required by § 514.011? We hold under the stipulated facts that where improvements are made under separate contracts between the…”

Har-Ned Lumber Co. v. Amagineers, Inc., 436 N.W.2d 811 (Minn. Ct. App. 1989). · cites it 8× “Har-Ned began furnishing materials for the Gepner improvements on January 13, 1984, and within 10 days it served Gepner with a pre-lien notice pursuant to Minn. Stat. § 514.011 , subd. 2 (Supp.1983).”

S.M. Hentges & Sons, Inc. v. Mensing, 759 N.W.2d 229 (Minn. Ct. App. 2009). · cites it 36× “” Minn. Stat. § 514.011 , subd. 4b (2006). SEH also claims that engineers, as a class, are not required to provide prelien notice.”

Christle v. Marberg, 421 N.W.2d 748 (Minn. Ct. App. 1988). · cites it 12× “Because the property was wholly residential in nature, pre-lien notice was required under Minn.Stat. § 514.011, subd. 4c. Since no pre-lien notice was given, we reverse.”

Premier Bank v. Becker Dev., LLC, 785 N.W.2d 753 (Minn. 2010). · cites it 2× “Generally, a lien claimant must (1) provide notice to the owner of the work or materials provided within 45 days after the work or materials are provided, Minn.Stat. § 514.011 (2008); (2) file a proper statement of claim within 120 days of the last work or materials provided,…”

Show all 52 citing cases →

— Minn. Stat. § 514.011(2) — 1 case

Diethelm v. Cavanaugh, 349 N.W.2d 608 (Minn. Ct. App. 1984).

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.