What information must a subcontractor's "Lien Notice" contain in Wisconsin?

Construction Lien Forms for All States Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Minnesota Michigan Missouri Mississippi Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Virginia Vermont Washington Wisconsin West Virginia Wyoming

(Note: this notice is not to be confused with a "notice of intent to file a lien claim" or the "lien claim" itself).

First, Wisconsin law only requires that the notice of lien rights be provided for projects that are wholly residential in character, and where four (4) or fewer living units are to be provided. No notice is required for projects where more than four (4) family living units are provided, or where the project is partially or wholly non-residential in character. It is recommended to provide a notice, however, in all residential projects, to exercise an abundance of caution.

Under Wis. Stat. § 779.02, a subcontractor must within sixty (60) days of first performing, furnishing or procuring labor, materials, plans or specifications, serve the owner with the lien notice below, in writing (including two (2) signed copies). This notice cannot be satisfied through language in a subcontract or proposal. If printed, a subcontractor's lien notice must state in 8 point, bold font, the following, with blanks accurately completed:

As a part of your construction contract, your prime contractor or claimant has already advised you that those who perform, furnish or procure labor, services, materials, plans or specifications for the work will be notifying you. The undersigned first performed, furnished, or procured labor, services, materials, plans, or specifications on ______ (give date) for the improvement now under construction on your real estate at ______ (give legal description, street address or other clear description). Please give your mortgage lender the extra copy of this notice within 10 days after you receive this, so your lender, too, will know that the undersigned is included in the job.

http://www.legis.state.wi.us/statutes/Stat0779.pdf

The notice must be served by one of the following means:

1. By personal delivery.
2. Delivered by registered or certified mail.
3. Served in any manner that a summons in a lawsuit may be served. By any other means of delivery in which the recipient makes written confirmation of delivery.

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Thank you to Chad Koplien for the above answer. Chad is a Wisconsin construction litigation attorney with Stafford Rosenbaum LLC, a legal firm located in Madison Wisconsin and Brookfield Wisconsin.

The information on these pages provides legal information about Wisconsin statutes designed to help contractors acquire general background information on construction liens in Wisconsin. It is important to note that legal information is not the same as legal advice. Legal advice is the application of the specific applicable laws to a contractor's specific fact scenario. Although we go to great lengths to make sure our information is accurate and useful, you must retain a lawyer, and enter into an attorney-client relationship if you want to obtain professional assurance that our information, and your interpretation of it, is appropriate to your particular situation.

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