New York mechanics lien: what to do when a customer won't pay, the deadlines, and the letter to send

Published November 4, 2026 · Law checked November 4, 2026

• Free. The demand letter and deadline worksheet download links come by email.
• Deepsel is our product: free estimate, invoice and scheduling software for contractors (scheduling, quotes, invoicing, card payments). The section before the FAQ says where it fits and where it doesn't.
• Not legal advice. Have a New York attorney read your letter before you send it, and your lien before you file it.

Send a written demand with a pay-by date first. If that fails, file a notice of mechanic's lien with the County Clerk within four months of your last day of work on a single-family house, or eight months on anything else, serve the owner within 30 days, and sue to foreclose within a year.^4,5,6 Before any of that, check that you held the license the job needed while you did the work: New York courts take the lien, and the rest of the claim, away from an unlicensed home improvement contractor.^19,20 For smaller bills, small claims takes up to $10,000 in New York City and $5,000 in the District and City Courts outside it.^31,32

I put the letter and the dates into a free download: a demand letter with a notice of intent to file a lien, the court's own demand letter wording for commercial claims, and a worksheet that walks you from your last day of work to every deadline below. Get it three ways: make your own copy in Google Docs, download the Word version (.docx), or download the PDF. Pick a format, enter your email and I'll send the links.

"Customer refuses to pay. What should we do?" is one of the questions new owners ask most.³⁸ Getting it wrong costs real money: a painter described a friend who waited six months for his money and "had to take a line of credit inorder to pay his painters."³⁹ The New York lien guides you'll find first come from law firms and lien-filing services, written for commercial subs and suppliers. This one is for New York City general contractors and for HVAC and electrical firms on Long Island and in Westchester whose customer is a homeowner. What your contract has to say, and how to hold a deposit, is on the New York home improvement contract page. This page starts when the money doesn't come.

Your New York deadlines at a glance

Counting months. A month runs to the same date in the later month.¹¹ Last contract work on Friday, October 9, 2026 on a one-family house gives Tuesday, February 9, 2027 at four months; on a two-family it gives June 9, 2027. When a deadline falls on a weekend or a public holiday, the law moves it to the next business day,¹¹ but I'd never plan a filing around that.

Customer refuses to pay: the first steps, in order

1. Decide whether to stop work

Your contract decides this. The New York template on the contract page lets you stop once a payment is more than 10 days late, after 7 days' written notice (its clause 4.5). Without a clause like that, ask a lawyer before you walk off the job. Roofers have an extra rule: a roofing contractor may not "abandon, or fail to perform, without justification, any roofing contract."¹⁷ New York's Prompt Payment Act, which voids contract clauses that forbid suspending work for non-payment on bigger projects, doesn't reach one- to three-family homes (more below).³⁴

2. Put it in writing

Pull together the signed contract, every change order, the invoices, each payment received, and proof of your last day of contract work: visit records, photos, delivery tickets, texts. That last day matters more than anything else here, because every lien deadline runs from it. Ask the customer by text or email what they think is wrong. Then you know whether you're fixing a crack or chasing someone who won't pay anyone.

3. Send the final invoice, then the demand letter

Re-send the invoice with a statement of payments. If a week passes, send the demand letter: the balance and how you got there, a pay-by date at least 10 days out, a request to put any dispute in writing, a payment plan offer, and a notice that you intend to file a mechanic's lien. New York sets no wording for a pre-lien notice. It does set the wording for one letter: if your business is a corporation or partnership and you'll sue a homeowner in commercial claims, you must first mail a demand letter on the court's form (UCS-124) by ordinary first-class mail, at least 10 and no more than 180 days before you file.^31,33 The download has both letters.

4. Offer a payment plan, in writing

A homeowner who can't pay $9,000 this week will often pay $1,500 a month. Put the amounts and dates in a short signed note, say the full balance comes due if a payment is missed, and keep your lien deadline on the calendar anyway. A payment plan doesn't stop the four- or eight-month clock.⁴

5. Pay your subs and suppliers anyway

Money a customer pays you on a home improvement job is trust money under Article 3-A of the Lien Law. It's held first for your subcontractors, suppliers and laborers, the payroll taxes and benefits on the job, and your bond and insurance premiums for it.⁹ If you spend it on something else and don't pay one of them within 31 days of the due date, that's larceny under section 79-a, unless you dispute their bill in good faith. Failing to keep the trust books is "presumptive evidence" that you diverted the money.⁹ So when a customer stiffs you on the last payment, the earlier payments still go to the people who worked on that job.

6. When to call a lawyer

• You weren't licensed for the job while you did it, or you're not sure.
• Your lien deadline is less than a month away.
• The job is in a co-op apartment or a condo unit.
• The balance is over the small claims limit and you'll need to foreclose.
• The customer says the work is defective and talks about suing you back.
• Your contract is missing items GBL 771 requires (the contract page has the list).

The New York mechanics lien on a home

Who may file: the license comes first

Lien Law section 3 gives a lien to a "contractor, subcontractor, laborer, materialman" who improves real property "with the consent or at the request of the owner," for "the principal and interest, of the value, or the agreed price" of the labor and materials. "Improvement" includes "alteration or repair," so a furnace swap counts as much as a gut renovation.¹

The license is where new contractors lose. In 1990 New York's top court threw out a contractor's claim for the unpaid balance of a Manhattan co-op renovation, after the owners had paid "over $237,000," because the contractor wasn't licensed by the City "when the agreement was signed or when the work was performed." No contract claim, no quantum meruit (payment for the value of the work), and getting the license later didn't help.¹⁹ On December 3, 2025 the Appellate Division applied the same rule to an HVAC installer at a home in Nassau County: unlicensed under Nassau's home improvement law, it "has forfeited the right to foreclose the mechanic's lien," and having a licensed subcontractor do the install didn't save it.²⁰ In 2024 an electrical company lost a $300,851 award for work at a Brooklyn apartment complex because the company held no master electrician license, though its vice president did.²¹

If you sue a homeowner over work that needs a license from New York City's consumer protection department, or from the Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Putnam or Rockland county agencies, your complaint must state that you were "duly licensed at the time of services rendered," with the license name and number. Leave it out and the customer can move to dismiss.¹⁸ Check what the job needed, in the place the job was: the NYC general contractor license page, the NYC electrical license page and the New York HVAC license page between them cover the City, Westchester, Nassau and Suffolk.

No pre-job notice, and the contract doesn't have to be perfect

New York has no preliminary notice and no notice of commencement for a lien on a private home. I read sections 2, 3, 4 and 9 through 11 of the Lien Law and found no step before the lien itself.^1,3,4,5 The one warning that comes first is in your contract: every home improvement contract over $500 must tell the owner, in bold, that an unpaid contractor or supplier "may have a valid legal claim against your property known as a mechanic's lien."¹⁶ The template on the contract page carries it.

A written contract isn't a condition of the lien either: the lien is for "the value, or the agreed price."¹ The contract does decide what else you can collect. The Second Department, the appeals court for Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester,²⁴ holds that a contract missing some GBL 771 items can still be enforced when both sides agreed on the material terms; it did that for a Suffolk renovation in July 2026.²² Upstate courts are stricter. In April 2026 the Fourth Department held that a contractor with a non-compliant contract gets only the value of its work, and loses the contract's interest and attorney's fee clause with it.²³ I didn't find a recent ruling from the First Department, which covers Manhattan and the Bronx.

The New York mechanics lien deadline, and what counts as your last day

Lien Law section 10 gives you "eight months after the completion of the contract, or the final performance of the work, or the final furnishing of the materials, dating from the last item of work performed or materials furnished." Where the property is "improved or to be improved with a single family dwelling," it's four months.⁴ A two-family house, a mixed-use building or a store gets eight. If you're not sure which applies, use four.

The last item has to be real contract work. A New York County judge put it plainly in 2019: "warranty or repair work, or new work performed outside the original contract, does not extend the time to file a lien with respect to the original contract."²⁵ Coming back a month later for a punch-list touch-up doesn't buy you a month. Write down your last day of contract work, with the proof, the day it happens.

Apartments are harder. A condo unit can be liened only if its owner asked for or agreed to the work (emergency repairs aside), and the common elements can't be liened without every unit owner's consent.²⁶ In a co-op the corporation owns the building. The Court of Appeals says an owner's property answers for work a tenant ordered only when the owner was "an affirmative factor in procuring the improvement" or consented to it, and "mere passive acquiescence" isn't enough.²⁷ Whether a board's sign-off on your alteration agreement clears that bar depends on the facts. Ask a lawyer before you lien a co-op.

How to file a mechanics lien in NY: what to write, where, and the fee

I didn't find an official statewide form. The New York County Clerk tells filers they can get a notice of mechanic's lien form "from most legal stationary stores," as long as it meets Lien Law sections 9 and 10.¹³ Section 9 lists what the notice must say:³

• your name and address (a corporation or partnership adds its business address and principal place of business), and your lawyer's, if any
• the owner's name and their interest in the property, as far as you know it
• who hired you
• the labor and materials and their agreed price or value
• the amount unpaid
• the dates of the first and last items of work or materials
• the property, by street address and description, and whether it's a single-family dwelling or not

It must be verified: sworn true by you or your agent.³ Getting the owner's name wrong doesn't sink it; the statute says so.³

File it with the County Clerk of the county where the property is.⁴ The state fee is $30 in the five New York City counties and $15 elsewhere,¹² and some counties charge more: Nassau charges $315 plus $300 for each extra block, while Westchester charges $15.^14,15 I couldn't load Suffolk's fee page, so call the clerk there. The New York County Clerk wants the block and lot on the notice, takes paper originals only, by mail or in person, and charges $5 to file the affidavit of service.¹³

Then serve the owner, within five days before or 30 days after filing: hand it to them, leave it at their home with a person "of suitable age and discretion," or send it by registered or certified mail to their last known home. File proof of service with the clerk within 35 days of filing, or the notice stops being a lien.⁵ Until the owner is served, payments they make in good faith to someone else (to the general contractor, say, when you're the sub) are protected.⁵

Enforce it within a year, or it's gone

A lien lasts one year from filing. To keep it alive you start a lawsuit to foreclose it and file a notice of pendency with the County Clerk within that year.⁶ On most property you can instead file one extension for another year. On a single-family house you can't: "A lien on real property improved or to be improved with a single family dwelling may only be extended by an order of a court," one year per order.⁶ A notice of pendency costs $35 to file in New York City and $15 elsewhere.¹²

The owner can shorten your year. They can serve you a notice to start your lawsuit by a date at least 30 days out, and if you don't, ask the court to cancel the lien.⁸ You can sue to foreclose in Supreme Court or County Court for any amount, or in a lower court whose money limit covers the debt.⁸

An overstated or wrongful lien

Claim what's owed and nothing more. If a court finds you "wilfully exaggerated" the amount, the lien is void, you can't file another for the same claim, and you owe the owner the cost of the bond they bought to clear it, "reasonable attorney's fees" for getting rid of it, and the amount you overstated.⁸ The owner has other tools too: a written demand for a verified itemized statement, which you owe within five days; a bond for 110% of the lien to clear the title; and a court petition to discharge a lien that's late or defective on its face.^6,8 Keep a page of backup for every number on the lien.

Subcontractors and suppliers

Subs and suppliers have the same filing deadlines, with two differences. A sub's lien can't be more than the owner still owes the general contractor when the lien is filed, plus what's earned later.² And a sub must send a copy by certified mail to the contractor who hired it, under the same 35-day proof rule.⁵ Subs also have the trust: once your payment is 30 days overdue you can demand to see the general contractor's trust books for the job, or a verified statement of them.⁹ If you're the general contractor, the same rules point at you.

New York lien waivers: when to sign

Any agreement to give up lien rights in advance is "void as against public policy and wholly unenforceable" in New York. A written waiver is allowed when it's signed "simultaneously with or after payment."⁷ So a waiver goes with money, never ahead of it. Sign one for the amount you've actually received, and if the payment is a check, sign once it clears.

Other ways to get paid

New York small claims limit: $10,000 in NYC, less outside it

The limits and fees come from the court acts and the court system's own pages.^31,32,33 You sue where the customer lives or works.^31,32 If your business is an LLC, ask the clerk which part it belongs in. Against a homeowner, the commercial claims part needs that court-form demand letter mailed 10 to 180 days before you file, with a copy of the contract and an accounting of payments.^31,33 Bills to raise the limits to $15,000 outside town courts, and town courts to $5,000, sit in committee; nothing has passed.³⁵

Interest and attorney's fees

A court adds interest to an award for breach of contract, counted from when the claim arose.²⁸ The usual rate is 9% a year. When the person you're suing owes a "consumer debt" (money for services "primarily for personal, family or household purposes"), it's 2%.²⁸ My reading is that a homeowner's unpaid home improvement bill is a consumer debt, so plan on 2%. Your lawyer's fees are yours unless a contract or a statute shifts them.²⁹ So put a late-payment interest and collection-fee clause in your contract, and make the contract compliant: in the Fourth Department, a contract that missed GBL 771 items lost that clause along with everything else.²³

The deposit sitting in escrow

Payments you hold in your home improvement escrow account stay the customer's money until the payment schedule applies them to work done or the job is substantially complete. If the customer defaults, you can keep more only up to "any reasonable liquidated damage amount" your contract sets, "and only after seven days prior written notice to the owner."¹⁰ The demand letter in the download has an optional paragraph for that notice.

The New York Prompt Payment Act doesn't cover most home jobs

New York's Prompt Payment Act sets invoice approval times and voids some contract clauses, but only on projects of $150,000 or more, and it excludes "an individual one, two or three family residential dwelling" and residential projects of 4,500 square feet or less.³⁴ It changed on December 19, 2025 to void retainage above 5% on the jobs it does cover.³⁴ On a typical home job, your contract's payment schedule is the only prompt-payment rule you get.

A collection agency

An agency that collects household debts from New York City residents must hold a debt collection agency license from the City's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, wherever the agency is based.³⁶ Check the license and read what share it keeps before you sign. Your lien deadline keeps running while an agency works the account, so if you're close, file first.

Card payments

If the customer paid by card and disputes the charge, Stripe, for one, takes back the disputed amount plus a dispute fee while the bank decides, and warns that not answering can leave you with a dispute you can't win.³⁷ Answer with the signed quote, the change orders and photos of the finished work.

Notes by trade

Roofers: no deposit, the deductible and the claim

GBL 771-b sets the payment terms for roofing, gutter, downspout and siding work. You can't require a deposit. You can invoice the materials on delivery, if you disclosed their cost in writing first, and the rest "upon successful completion of all contracted work."¹⁷ So on a roof the won't-pay moment lands at completion, and the most you can have collected by then is the materials. The deductible is part of what the homeowner owes you: the law bars promising to pay, rebate or discount it to win the job. You can't negotiate the claim for the homeowner either, though you can share what you know about the roof when the insurer asks. If the insurer denies part of the claim in writing, the homeowner has three business days to cancel, and you refund within ten days, keeping only the reasonable value of emergency work they acknowledged in writing.¹⁷ I haven't written a New York insurance claim page yet.

Electricians, plumbers and HVAC: bill by stage, and keep the inspection out of the big payment

On an install over $500, GBL 771 wants each progress payment tied to "the state of completion of the work," and the escrow rule holds payments until the stage they cover is done.^10,16 Hourly or time-and-materials billing for work already done sits outside the escrow rule, and HVAC repairs under a maintenance agreement or a warranty sit outside the home improvement law altogether.^10,16 For permit and inspection holds, split the last payment: a small, stated amount waits for the City's or town's sign-off, and the rest is due when your work is done. Written that way, the inspector's calendar holds back the small amount only.

General contractors and remodelers: the punch list and the final payment

The fight is usually over the last check. One contractor wrote that "the client is still unhappy and is refusing to pay the remaining $6,000 balance for the entire project because of that crack."⁴⁰ Define completion in the contract, tie the final payment to it, and give the punch list its own small line. And don't let punch-list visits fool you on the lien clock: it runs from the last real contract work.²⁵

What to do this week if a customer owes you now

1. Write down your last day of contract work and the proof. Mark the four- or eight-month date, and a reminder three weeks before it.
2. Confirm you held the license the job needed while you did the work. If not, stop and call a lawyer before you threaten anything.
3. Re-send the invoice with the contract, the signed change orders and a statement of payments.
4. Call the customer, find out what's wrong, and fix any real punch-list item quickly.
5. Send the demand letter with a pay-by date at least 10 days out, by first-class mail and email. Keep a copy and the mailing receipt.
6. If your business is a corporation or partnership and you'll use commercial claims, mail the court-form letter too, and wait at least 10 days before you file.
7. Pay your subs, suppliers and crew for that job from what the customer has paid.
8. Don't sign a lien waiver for money you haven't received.
9. If the money isn't in by the pay-by date: under the small claims limit, file a claim; over it, or close to the lien deadline, file the lien, serve it within 30 days, file proof within 35, and calendar the one-year date.

The free demand letter and deadline worksheet

Three printable parts. The demand letter has blanks for the job, your license, the balance and how it adds up, a pay-by date, a request to put any dispute in writing, a payment plan offer, and a notice of intent to file a mechanic's lien, with an optional paragraph for the seven-day escrow notice and a box of checks to run before you send it. The second page is the court's commercial claims demand letter wording, for corporations and partnerships. The worksheet starts from your last day of work and gives each deadline in this article with its time limit, a blank for your date, the rule and a box to tick, then the notice of lien checklist, the County Clerk fees and the small claims limits. Copy it in Google Docs, or download the Word file or the PDF.

More for new contractors

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• Angi vs Thumbtack: should you pay for leads yet, with a free lead cost calculator.
• Google Business Profile for contractors: setup, verification and your first reviews, with a free checklist.
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• Punch list template: stop a small list holding your final payment.

Where Deepsel fits

Deepsel is the field service software I build. It helps with the paper trail and the asking, not the law. Every invoice gets a due date, the invoice list and the home screen show what's overdue, and an invoice shows the date and time the customer first opened it. The customer can pay the balance by card from the invoice link once you've set up card payments, and you can record checks and partial payments with a receipt. Customers approve quotes online with an on-screen signature, and the quote keeps their name, the time and the IP address, with your shop's terms copied onto every quote: that's where your late-payment and collection-fee clauses can sit. Each visit records when it was finished, the tech's notes and photos, which is the record you want when someone asks about your last day of work. What it won't do: it doesn't send overdue reminders on its own (you press Resend), charge late fees or interest, track lien deadlines, or prepare a lien or a demand letter. Free covers 30 estimates and 30 invoices a month for your whole team; Pro is $29 a month with unlimited estimates and invoices (pricing).

Frequently asked questions

What is the time limit for filing a mechanic's lien in New York?

Four months after the last item of work or materials when the property is a single-family house, and eight months for anything else, under Lien Law section 10. The clock runs from the last real contract work, so a warranty visit or a punch-list touch-up afterward doesn't restart it. Then you have 30 days after filing to serve the owner, 35 days to file proof of service, and one year to start a foreclosure lawsuit.

Can an unlicensed contractor file a mechanics lien in New York?

They can file one, but they can't enforce it. New York courts hold that a home improvement contractor without the license the job required can't recover on the contract, can't recover the value of the work, and forfeits the right to foreclose the lien. The Court of Appeals said so for a New York City job in 1990, and the Appellate Division applied it to an HVAC installer in Nassau County in December 2025. Using a licensed subcontractor doesn't fix it, and getting the license after the work doesn't either.

Do I have to warn the homeowner before I file a lien?

New York doesn't require a notice before the lien on a private home. Your home improvement contract must already carry the mechanic's lien notice from General Business Law 771, and you must serve a copy of the lien on the owner within five days before or 30 days after you file it. A demand letter that says you intend to file is good practice, and it often gets the bill paid.

How long does a mechanics lien last in New York?

One year from filing. To keep it, you start a lawsuit to foreclose it and file a notice of pendency within that year. On most property you can file one extension for a second year instead. On a single-family house you can't: only a court order extends that lien, one year per order. The owner can also serve you a notice to start your lawsuit within 30 days or more, or have the lien cancelled.

Is there an official mechanics lien form in New York?

I didn't find a statewide one. The New York County Clerk tells filers to get a notice of mechanic's lien form from a legal stationery store, as long as it meets Lien Law sections 9 and 10. Section 9 lists what it must say: your name and address, the owner and their interest, who hired you, the work and its price, the amount unpaid, the first and last dates of work, the property and whether it's a single-family house, all verified under oath.

What is the small claims limit in New York?

$10,000 in New York City Civil Court, $5,000 in the District Courts and City Courts, and $3,000 in town and village courts. In the City the filing fee is $15 up to $1,000 and $20 above. Only individuals use small claims. A corporation or partnership files in the commercial claims part, with the same limit, a $25 fee plus postage, five claims a month, and a demand letter on the court's form mailed 10 to 180 days before it sues a homeowner.

What happens after I file a mechanics lien on a house?

The owner gets your copy and usually calls. They can demand a verified itemized statement, which you owe within five days. They can post a bond for 110% of the lien to discharge it from the property; the bond then stands for any judgment on your lien. They can serve a notice to make you sue within at least 30 days, or ask a court to discharge a lien that's late or defective on its face. If you overstated the amount on purpose, the lien is void and you pay their costs of removing it.

Sources

1. New York Lien Law 2 ("owner," "improvement") and 3, "Mechanic's lien on real property": who may file, consent or request of the owner, lien for "the principal and interest, of the value, or the agreed price." nysenate.gov, nysenate.gov, read November 4, 2026.
2. New York Lien Law 4, "Extent of lien": a sub's lien limited to the sum earned and unpaid on the contract at filing, plus sums later earned. nysenate.gov, read November 4, 2026.
3. New York Lien Law 9, "Contents of notice of lien" (revision from April 24, 2020): the seven items, single-family statement, misnaming the owner doesn't affect validity, verification. nysenate.gov, read November 4, 2026.
4. New York Lien Law 10, "Filing of notice of lien": eight months, four months for a single family dwelling, from the last item of work or materials; county clerk of the county where the property is; block index. nysenate.gov, read November 4, 2026.
5. New York Lien Law 11, "Service of copy of notice of lien" (five days before to thirty days after filing; proof within thirty-five days or the lien terminates; good-faith payments before service protected), and 11-b (copy to the contractor by certified mail). nysenate.gov, nysenate.gov, read November 4, 2026.
6. New York Lien Law 17, "Duration of lien" (one year; notice of pendency; extension; single family dwelling only by court order), and 19, "Discharge of lien for private improvement" (bond of 110%; summary discharge). nysenate.gov, nysenate.gov, read November 4, 2026.
7. New York Lien Law 34, "Waiver of lien": advance waivers void; written waivers allowed "simultaneously with or after payment." nysenate.gov, read November 4, 2026.
8. New York Lien Law 38 (itemized statement within five days), 39 (wilfully exaggerated lien void), 39-a (owner's damages: bond premium, attorney's fees, the exaggerated amount), 41 (where to foreclose) and 59 (notice to commence an action, not less than thirty days). nysenate.gov, nysenate.gov, nysenate.gov, nysenate.gov, nysenate.gov, read November 4, 2026.
9. New York Lien Law article 3-A: 70 (contractor's funds under a home improvement contract are trust assets), 71 (trust purposes), 75 (books), 76 (beneficiary's right to examine the books after thirty days) and 79-a (diversion is larceny when a trust claim goes unpaid thirty-one days; missing books are presumptive evidence). nysenate.gov, nysenate.gov, nysenate.gov, nysenate.gov, read November 4, 2026.
10. New York Lien Law 71-a(4): home improvement escrow; deposits stay the owner's until applied under the payment schedule, the owner's default (a reasonable liquidated damages amount in the contract, after seven days' written notice) or substantial performance; hourly billing excluded. nysenate.gov, read November 4, 2026.
11. New York General Construction Law 20 (days), 25-a (period ending on a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday) and 30 (months). nysenate.gov, nysenate.gov, nysenate.gov, read November 4, 2026.
12. New York CPLR 8021(a)(4) and (10) (revision from April 19, 2019): notice of mechanic's lien $30 in New York City counties, $15 elsewhere; notice of pendency $35 and $15. nysenate.gov, read November 4, 2026.
13. New York County Clerk, "Judgment Docket and Lien Section" (block and lot; sections 9 and 10; forms from legal stationery stores; $30 and $5; paper originals by mail or in person) and "Filing Fees." nycourts.gov, nycourts.gov, read November 4, 2026.
14. Nassau County Clerk, "Legal Fees": mechanics lien $315, plus $300 per block after the first; affidavit of service $5. nassaucountyny.gov, read November 4, 2026.
15. Westchester County Clerk, "Legal Fees": mechanic's lien $15; affidavit of service $5; lis pendens $35. westchesterclerkny.gov, read November 4, 2026.
16. New York General Business Law 770 (home improvement; warranty and maintenance-agreement work excluded) and 771 (written contract over $500; lien notice in bold; progress payments tied to the state of completion; revision from October 29, 2021). nysenate.gov, nysenate.gov, read November 4, 2026.
17. New York General Business Law 771-b, "Responsibilities of roofing contractors" (revision from May 29, 2020): deductible, cancellation after an insurer's denial, refunds, no required deposit, invoicing, no abandonment without justification, no claim negotiating. nysenate.gov, read November 4, 2026.
18. New York CPLR 3015(e), "License to do business": plead the license against a consumer for businesses licensed by New York City, Suffolk, Rockland, Putnam, Westchester or Nassau consumer agencies. nysenate.gov, read November 4, 2026.
19. B & F Bldg. Corp. v Liebig, 76 NY2d 689 (Court of Appeals, November 29, 1990): unlicensed NYC home improvement contractor; no recovery in contract or quantum meruit; after-acquired license doesn't help. law.cornell.edu, read November 4, 2026.
20. Nationwide HVAC Supply Corp. v Mosby, 2025 NY Slip Op 06712 (App Div, 2d Dept, December 3, 2025): unlicensed HVAC installer in Nassau County "has forfeited the right to foreclose the mechanic's lien"; licensed subcontractor no cure. courtlistener.com, read November 4, 2026.
21. Electrical Contr. Solutions Corp. v Trump Vil. Section 4, Inc., 2024 NY Slip Op 01907 (App Div, 2d Dept, April 10, 2024): unlicensed electrical company, Kings County; award reversed and complaint dismissed. courtlistener.com, read November 4, 2026.
22. P.E. Smith Assoc., Inc. v Bandoian, 2026 NY Slip Op 04512 (App Div, 2d Dept, July 22, 2026): failure to strictly comply with GBL 771 doesn't make a contract "per se unenforceable in all cases" where there was a meeting of the minds. nycourts.gov, read November 4, 2026.
23. Amber Well Drilling, LLC v Reed, 2026 NY Slip Op 02539 (App Div, 4th Dept, April 24, 2026): non-compliant home improvement contract not enforceable by the contractor; quantum meruit only; contract interest and attorneys' fees clause not enforced. nycourts.gov, read November 4, 2026.
24. Appellate Division, Second Department, "About the Court": the 10 counties it covers. nycourts.gov, read November 4, 2026.
25. Manhattan Mech. Contrs., Inc. v Nissan N. Am., Inc., 2019 NY Slip Op 30223(U) (Sup Ct, NY County, January 28, 2019): warranty or repair work doesn't extend the time to file. nycourts.gov, read November 4, 2026.
26. New York Real Property Law 339-l: no lien on condominium common elements without unanimous consent; a unit only with its owner's request or consent, except emergency repairs. nysenate.gov, read November 4, 2026.
27. Ferrara v Peaches Café LLC, 32 NY3d 348 (Court of Appeals, November 20, 2018): when an owner's property answers for work a tenant ordered. nycourts.gov, read November 4, 2026.
28. New York CPLR 5001 (interest on contract awards) and 5004 (9%; 2% on a consumer debt where a natural person is the defendant; revision from May 6, 2022). nysenate.gov, nysenate.gov, read November 4, 2026.
29. Premium Prods., Inc. v O'Malley, 2026 NY Slip Op 00918 (App Div, 2d Dept, February 18, 2026): attorney's fees only by agreement, statute or court rule (quoting Hooper Assoc. v AGS Computers, 74 NY2d 487). law.justia.com, read November 4, 2026.
30. New York CPLR 213: six years for an action on a contract. nysenate.gov, read November 4, 2026.
31. New York City Civil Court Act 1801 and 1803 (small claims up to $10,000; $15 and $20 fees), 1809 (no corporations, partnerships or associations), 1801-A, 1803-A and 1809-A (commercial claims; $25; consumer-transaction demand letter 10 to 180 days before; five a month). nysenate.gov, nysenate.gov, nysenate.gov, read November 4, 2026.
32. Uniform District Court Act 1801, 1801-A, 1803 and 1803-A ($5,000; commercial claims; fees; demand letter); Uniform City Court Act 1801 and 1801-A ($5,000); Uniform Justice Court Act 1801 ($3,000). nysenate.gov, nysenate.gov, nysenate.gov, nysenate.gov, read November 4, 2026.
33. New York State Unified Court System: "Starting a Case in NYC Small Claims Court," "NYC Small Claims Commercial Claims and Consumer Transactions," "Small Claims," and form UCS-124, "Demand Letter." nycourts.gov, nycourts.gov, nycourts.gov, nycourts.gov, read November 4, 2026.
34. New York General Business Law 756 (Prompt Payment Act definitions: $150,000; one to three family homes and small residential projects excluded), 756-a and 757 (void provisions, including retainage over 5%, revision from December 26, 2025); Senate Bill S5655, signed December 19, 2025 as chapter 654. nysenate.gov, nysenate.gov, nysenate.gov, read November 4, 2026.
35. Pending bills: Assembly Bill A8001 (small claims limits to $15,000 in New York City, District and City Courts) and Senate Bill S5316 (town and village courts to $5,000), both in Judiciary committees. nysenate.gov, nysenate.gov, read November 4, 2026.
36. NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection, "Debt Collection Agency License Application Checklist": who must hold the license. nyc.gov, read November 4, 2026.
37. Stripe, "How disputes work": the disputed amount plus a dispute fee is debited; failing to respond can signal acceptance of the claim. docs.stripe.com, read November 4, 2026.
38. r/Roofing thread: "Customer refuses to pay. What should we do?" reddit.com.
39. r/paint thread, December 5, 2025: "had to take a line of credit inorder to pay his painters." reddit.com.
40. r/Contractor thread, October 8, 2026: "refusing to pay the remaining $6,000 balance for the entire project because of that crack." reddit.com.