Defiance County Mechanics Lien (Laborer) Form

An Ohio laborer who worked on a construction project and was not paid holds a lien on the improvement and on the owner's interest in the land, and the instrument that perfects that lien is a sworn affidavit filed for record with the county recorder. This form prepares the Affidavit for Mechanics' Lien under section 1311.06 of the Ohio Revised Code for one lien claimant who is a laborer: an individual who performed labor or work in furtherance of an improvement to Ohio real property, signing in that individual's own right.

A lien claimant who skips the notice of furnishing

Ohio's mechanics lien chapter treats laborers differently from the subcontractors and material suppliers who work beside them. Section 1311.05 puts a notice of furnishing on subcontractors and material suppliers, and section 1311.05(G) states that no laborer must serve one to preserve lien rights. For a laborer, the affidavit itself is the first and only recorded step, which is why this form carries no notice of furnishing. A laborer, under section 1311.01(C), includes any mechanic, worker, artisan, or other individual who performs labor or work in furtherance of any improvement, and the amount claimed may include wages that are contractually due but unpaid.

First in line among the lien claimants

Section 1311.13 gives liens filed by laborers priority over all other mechanics liens on the same improvement, whether the work was performed before or after the notice of commencement was recorded, and, where a laborer's work straddles the recording of the notice of commencement, gives the lien one effective date rather than two. On a home construction contract, where section 1311.011 caps every lien at the unpaid balance due the original contractor and divides that balance pro rata when it runs short, the statute again puts laborers' liens first. The fixed recital in Section 1 identifies the lien claimant as a laborer within section 1311.01(C).

Sixty or seventy-five days from the last day of work

The affidavit is filed with the county recorder of each county in which the improved property is located: within sixty days after the laborer's last labor or work where the lien arises in connection with a one- or two-family dwelling or a residential condominium unit, within seventy-five days for most other improvements, and within one hundred twenty days for an oil or gas well. Within thirty days after filing, section 1311.07 requires a copy to be served on the owner, part owner, or lessee, with posting on the premises where that service cannot be completed. Once recorded, the lien continues for six years, and an owner can shorten that period with a notice to commence suit under section 1311.11. The affidavit states the items section 1311.06(A) requires, from the amount due over and above all legal setoffs to the first and last dates of labor or work, and its claim of lien is drawn from the form section 1311.06(C) prints, so the operative words are the statute's own.

One laborer, one signature, one jurat

The form recites exactly one lien claimant, a laborer, and that laborer signs the affidavit personally as the affiant. One signature block and one jurat certificate follow the operative text; the laborer swears to the affidavit before a notary public or other officer authorized to administer oaths, who completes the certificate under section 147.542 of the Revised Code. A framing carpenter owed wages by a subcontractor and a mason who worked directly for a property owner each present the single-laborer pattern this affidavit recites. The form is not set up as an affidavit executed by an agent for a laborer, as one affidavit itemizing the claims of several laborers, or as the affidavit of a contractor, subcontractor, or material supplier, whose claims rest on different definitions and notice rules.

The document is built to Ohio's recording format statute, section 317.114: letter size pages, twelve point type above the ten point minimum, a three inch blank top margin on the first page for the recorder's indorsement, and the preparer statement section 317.111 requires. The package includes the fillable Affidavit for Mechanics' Lien, a completed example filled in for a Franklin County fact pattern, and the guide that walks through each numbered section, the filing periods, service on the owner, and the home construction limits. This description and the guide describe the form and the governing Ohio statutes in general terms; they are not legal advice.