3 deadlines NoticeGuard models for Maryland: what each one counts from, the statute it was read from, and the statute text.
Information, not legal advice. This app reports what the statute says and cites the section it read. It is not legal advice, it does not file anything for you, and it does not tell you what to do.
Verify with the statute or an attorney. Statutes change, and courts reinterpret them. Every deadline in this app comes from a statute read on the date shown next to its citation - that snapshot can go out of date. Missing a mechanics lien deadline can extinguish your claim permanently, so confirm any deadline you are relying on with an attorney licensed in that state before you act on it.
Data verified: statute text retrieved 2026-09-21 (each citation below carries its own date). Rule data from the NoticeGuard app, source commit 22f9300.
Given to the owner (registered/certified mail or personal delivery), counted from this claimant's own last work or materials furnished. Owed only by a claimant without a direct contract with the owner - Maryland calls this claimant a "subcontractor" regardless of whether they furnished labor, materials, or both.
What it counts from. 120 days after last furnishing (last day on site).
Applies to. Subcontractor, Supplier, Preconstruction service.
Md. Real Property § 9-104 (a)(1) Official source · statute text retrieved 2026-09-21
“A subcontractor doing work or furnishing materials or both for or about a building other than a single family dwelling being erected on the owner's land for his own residence is not entitled to a lien under this subtitle unless, within 120 days after doing the work or furnishing the materials, the subcontractor gives written notice of an intention to claim a lien substantially in the form specified in subsection (b) of this section.”
If the date is missed (the statute's own terms). The statute states plainly a subcontractor "is not entitled to a lien... unless" this notice is timely given - a genuine precondition to lien eligibility, not merely a formality.
Also stated next to this deadline.
A general contractor with a direct contract with the owner never owes this notice - confirmed by § 9-104's own title ("Notice to owner by subcontractor") and every clause being scoped to "a subcontractor" as defined in § 9-101(g).
Runs in PARALLEL with the 120-day-longer petition-filing deadline below, both anchored to the same last-furnishing date - this notice is not a prerequisite step that must finish before the petition-filing clock starts.
If notice cannot be given due to absence or other cause, it may instead be posted on the building itself within the same 120 days, before a competent witness (§ 9-104(e)).
File the petition to establish the lien
Filed as an action in equity in the circuit court for the county where the land is located, counted from this claimant's own last work or materials furnished. This is a lawsuit from the moment it is filed - Maryland has no separate recordable lien document.
What it counts from. 180 days after last furnishing (last day on site).
Applies to. Original contractor, Subcontractor, Supplier, Preconstruction service.
Md. Real Property § 9-105 (a) Official source · statute text retrieved 2026-09-21
“In order to establish a lien under this subtitle, a person entitled to a lien shall file proceedings in the circuit court for the county where the land or any part of the land is located within 180 days after the work has been finished or the materials furnished.”
If the date is missed (the statute's own terms). The statute states this filing is required "in order to establish a lien" - a lien cannot be established at all without a timely-filed petition.
Also stated next to this deadline.
Applies to every role identically - a general contractor owes this same 180-day filing deadline, just without the sibling notice requirement above.
The petition must include, if the petitioner is a subcontractor, facts showing the § 9-104 notice was properly given (§ 9-105(a)(1)(v)) - this app does not verify that cross-requirement.
The clerk dockets this filing "as an action in equity" - it is the lawsuit itself, not a precursor to one (§ 9-105(b)).
File a petition to enforce the established lien
Filed within the same court case (not a new lawsuit), counted from the date the petition to establish the lien was originally filed. The right to enforce the lien expires at this date.
What it counts from. 365 days after notice of construction lien recorded.
Applies to. Original contractor, Subcontractor, Supplier, Preconstruction service.
Md. Real Property § 9-109 (sole operative sentence) Official source · statute text retrieved 2026-09-21
“The right to enforce any lien established under this subtitle expires at the end of one year from the day on which the petition to establish the lien was first filed. During this time the claimant may file a petition in the lien proceedings to enforce the lien or execute on any bond given to obtain a release of the land and building from the lien.”
If the date is missed (the statute's own terms). The statute states plainly "the right to enforce any lien... expires" at this date - a substantive extinguishment of the right to enforce, not merely a procedural bar.
Also stated next to this deadline.
Approximated as 365 calendar days (1 year × 365), the same approximation style used throughout this app. A calendar year is 365 or 366 days, so this date always lands on or before the statutory one - never after it.
This app's `noticeOfLienRecorded` field is repurposed here to mean the date the § 9-105 petition to establish the lien was filed - Maryland has no separate recorded lien document; see the doc comment above.
Enforcement happens "in the lien proceedings" - the same court case as the original petition, not a new lawsuit.
If an interlocutory order was entered under § 9-106(b)(3), the same case already carries a trial date within 6 months, which functionally forces enforcement activity well inside this 1-year outer bound - not separately modeled.
Weekend and holiday rollover
NoticeGuard does not model a weekend or holiday extension for Maryland. The dates above are the plain count from the date you enter. Check whether a Saturday, Sunday or holiday changes your date.
What this rule set does not cover
This app does not distinguish subcontractor from supplier from preconstruction service provider for Maryland the way it does elsewhere - Maryland's own statute draws only one line: a person with a direct contract with the owner ("contractor," § 9-101(d)) versus everyone else ("subcontractor," § 9-101(g), "a person who has a contract with anyone except the owner or his agent"). Whether a claimant furnished labor, materials, or both is irrelevant to which track applies; only who they contracted with matters.
The petition to establish the lien has genuinely required content (§ 9-105(a)(1)) and must be accompanied by an affidavit and supporting documents - this app does not generate that petition, since Maryland's filing is a real court pleading (typically requiring an attorney or e-filing), not a document a layperson files at a land-records office the way most other states' lien claims work.
Weekend/holiday rollover is NOT modeled - deliberately, not by oversight. General Provisions § 1-302 is a general statute of construction with real teeth for court filings (it specifically extends a deadline when the clerk's office is closed, and separately notes that Saturday alone does NOT trigger rollover except via that court-closure clause - a real asymmetry), but no cross-reference tying it to Real Property Title 9 specifically, and no case confirming its application to §§ 9-104 or 9-105, was found. The same honest gap as most other states in this app.
Only §§ 9-101, 9-102(e), 9-104, 9-105, 9-106, 9-109, and 9-113 have been read. The rest of Subtitle 1 - including bond-substitution mechanics and priority disputes - is not incorporated.
This app generates the notice to owner from § 9-104(b)'s own form ("substantially in the following form"). The petition to establish the lien itself (§ 9-105(a)(1)) is NOT generated - it has required content only, no fixed form, and is a real court pleading (typically requiring an attorney or e-filing), not a document a layperson files the way most other states' lien claims work.
NoticeGuard is an app that turns a job's dates into a countdown for each statutory step, shows the statute text each date was read from, exports a calendar file (.ics) and sends reminders 14, 7 and 1 day before each deadline. It tracks and reminds; it does not file anything for you.