Keeping the Payment Chain Moving
Guest:
Armando Montesino,
Florida Construction Lien Lawyer
Episode 56 | The Construction Lending Podcast
Subscribe on your favorite channels:
Every construction loan depends on the people doing the work getting paid. Attorney Armando Montesino helps specialty trades in Florida understand and use their lien rights, and his plain-spoken videos have made lien law approachable for thousands of contractors.
In this episode, he explains why a notice to owner is a transparency tool rather than a warning sign, how cost pressure can work its way down the payment chain, and the deadlines and paperwork details that determine whether a lien holds up. It’s a clear look at how the trades think about getting paid, and the practices that help keep projects on track for everyone involved.
Never miss an episode
Questions Answered
No. Armando describes the notice to owner as a fairness requirement, not a collection step. It lets the owner know who is working on the property so releases can be collected from that party when payments go out. He encourages trades to send it before they even start.
The notice to owner must be served within 45 days of starting work. It counts as served on mailing if it goes out by certified mail with proof of acceptance by day 40. A claim of lien must be recorded within 90 days of final furnishing. The claimant then has one year to file suit to enforce it.
No. Armando points out that a clerk may accept a re-recorded lien, but it won’t hold up. The one-year window to bring suit doesn’t reset.
No. In Florida, lien rights can’t be waived before labor or materials are provided, regardless of what the contract says.
Not if the scope of work requires a license. Armando notes the contract is unenforceable in that case, for both a lien and a breach of contract claim.
The issues Armando sees most are forms that don’t match Florida’s statutory language, including forms from other states or generated with AI tools, along with missing notarization and improper delivery methods. Some requirements call for strict compliance, while small errors in details like a property address may be acceptable if the owner was still put on notice.
When the mortgage was recorded before the notice of commencement, it typically has priority. Armando explained that a represented lien claimant may still actively participate in the lender’s foreclosure case, so resolving junior claims early can help everyone’s case move faster.
Armando pointed to a payment bond from the general contractor as the most direct option, since it moves lien claims off the property. He also noted he’d collect releases from every party who sends a notice to owner on his own build.
Episode Recap
Keeping the Payment Chain Moving: What a Florida Lien Attorney Wants Lenders to Know
A construction loan only performs when the work gets done, and the work only gets done when the people on site get paid. That’s the thread running through the latest episode of The Construction Lending Podcast, featuring attorney Armando Montesino.
Armando represents specialty trades in Florida: roofers, plumbers, painters, and the small and midsize businesses that make up most of a job site. He grew up around the trades. His father ran a tile company and his grandfather was a painter. Today he’s known on Instagram and TikTok for explaining lien law in a hard hat and high-vis vest, in language contractors actually use.
His perspective is one lenders don’t often hear directly, and a lot of it lines up with what lenders want from a project anyway.
A notice to owner is a transparency tool
The most common misconception Armando runs into is that a notice to owner is a collection tool, something a sub sends once a payment is late. In practice, it works the other way. The notice exists so the owner knows who is working on the property and can collect a release from that party when payments go out. By the time a sub is sending it because they haven’t been paid, the deadline has often passed.
Notices also give owners and lenders a view down the payment chain that’s otherwise hard to get. Who’s supplying the concrete? Who picked up the plumbing scope? A notice to owner answers that.
Armando’s advice to his own clients is to send the notice before they start work, so it’s clearly routine. If a general contractor objects to a sub sending one, he treats that as a warning sign. A contractor doing things by the book expects to provide releases.
Asked what he’d do if he built his own home, Armando said he would collect lien waivers without question. An unexpected notice to owner wouldn’t worry him. It would simply go on his list of releases to collect.
Where payment problems usually start
Most of the payment disputes Armando handles don’t start with the sub. Some involve financial strain in a local market. Many come from fixed-price contracts that run over budget, where the contractor absorbs the overrun and pressure moves down to the trades.
One familiar version came up in the conversation: a change order agreed to verbally, never approved in writing, and not covered when the draw comes in. Armando agreed that scenario is likely common. For lenders, it’s a reminder of how much a clean, documented change order process protects every party below the borrower.
The deadlines and details that decide a lien
Florida lien law looks simple, Armando says, but it’s unforgiving in places. The key dates he walked through:
- The notice to owner must be served within 45 days of starting work. If it’s sent by certified mail with proof of acceptance by day 40, it counts as served on mailing.
- A claim of lien must be recorded within 90 days of final furnishing. He tells clients not to wait until day 89 or 90, since late work can be challenged as corrective or remedial.
- The claimant has one year to file suit. A lien can’t be extended by re-recording it, even if a clerk accepts the filing.
A few other rules matter for anyone reviewing waivers and lien exposure. Lien rights in Florida can’t be waived before labor or materials are provided, no matter what the contract says. And if the scope of work requires a license, an unlicensed contractor can’t enforce a lien or the contract.
Paperwork quality matters
Armando sees plenty of documents that don’t hold up. The usual problems are forms that don’t follow Florida’s statutory language, including forms borrowed from other states or drafted with AI tools, along with missing notarization and delivery by email or regular mail when the law calls for something else.
Some requirements, like deadlines, call for strict compliance. Others allow substantial compliance. A slightly wrong property address or owner name can still be acceptable if the owner was clearly put on notice. Knowing which is which is part of why careful waiver review pays off.
When lien claims and loans intersect
On most properties, a mortgage recorded before the notice of commencement has priority over later lien claims. Armando explained that when a claimant has counsel, they will stay active in the case, including any foreclosure the lender brings. In his view, resolving junior claims early tends to make the whole process faster and smoother for everyone involved.
Asked what a lender could require up front to avoid lien issues, his one direct suggestion was a payment bond from the general contractor, which keeps lien claims off the property.
He also noted that Florida’s lien statute allows attorney’s fees, which can exceed the original claim. Drawn-out disputes get expensive quickly for whoever is paying.
Everyone wants to get paid
Armando was clear; he’s glad people are lending for construction, because it keeps his clients working. When interests do collide, he said, it’s just business.
The episode closed on the same note. No one on a project sets out to keep someone from getting paid. The more visibility everyone has into who is on the job and whether they’ve been paid, the better it works out for owners, contractors, trades, and lenders alike.
Social Links
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/montesinolaw/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@montesinolaw
Website: https://www.montesinolaw.com/
Learn more about creating successful construction loan programs
Featured Resource
Your Complete Guide for Construction Loan Management Software
Construction loans have many moving pieces throughout their life cycle. It can be especially complex to efficiently manage them during the post-close draw process.
Construction loan management software is specifically designed to maximize productivity of your draw administration team, reduce risk, and provide better reporting and visibility to all stakeholders. It is also referred to as Construction Draw Software and Construction Lending Software.
