Arkansas Mechanics Lien Deadlines (2026)

Mechanics lien rights in Arkansas come from Ark. Code Ann. § 18-44-101 et seq., and they run on a clock: 75 days from first furnishing to serve the preliminary notice, 120 days from completion to record the lien itself, and 450 days from recording to file the enforcement suit. Miss any one of those windows and an otherwise-solid unpaid invoice usually drops to an unsecured debt. The calculator and table below turn those windows into the actual calendar dates for your project.

Contractors here are licensed by Arkansas Contractors Licensing Board — official license lookup ↗.

Free Arkansas lien deadline calculator

Enter the dates you have — we compute every AR deadline from the day-counts below. Dates stay in your browser.

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Arkansas lien deadline rules at a glance

DeadlineWindowCounted from
Preliminary notice75 daysfirst furnishing of labor or materials
Notice of intent to lien10 daysproject completion / last furnishing
Record the mechanics lien120 daysproject completion
File the enforcement (foreclosure) suit450 daysrecording the lien
Payment-bond claim (public/bonded jobs)90 daysproject completion
Respond to a notice of completion30 daysthe owner's notice of completion

Day-counts are the general rule LienWarden tracks for Arkansas under Ark. Code Ann. § 18-44-101 et seq.; statutes carry exceptions (residential vs commercial, owner-occupied, notice methods). Always verify against the current statute.

Keep reading

Preliminary notices 101 — who must send one, when, and howNotice of intent to lien — the letter that gets you paid without filingLien waivers without losing your shirtWhen does the lien clock actually start?What happens if I miss the deadline?Can I still lien without a preliminary notice?

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