How to Release a Mechanic's Lien of South Carolina
In South Carolina, a mechanics' lien is a legal tool used by contractors and materials suppliers to collect payments due on improvements to real estate. When contractors perform work and furnish and use material in furtherance of a construction project, they have a legal right to collect payment. When payment is not forthcoming, placement of a mechanics' lien on the property in question creates a legal claim on the value of the property in an amount equal to the unpaid debt plus reasonable legal costs. To initiate a mechanics' lien, the contractor makes a lien filing with the local court clerk and serves it on the owner of the property. The contractor must then bring suit within six months or the lien will be dissolved. At any time prior to a suit, however, any person having an interest in or a lien on the property involved may secure the release of the property from the mechanics' lien by filing, with the court clerk, an acceptable security in its place.
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Instructions
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Obtain an acceptable security in the amount of one and one-third times the mechanics' lien amount. Cash is acceptable, as is a surety bond issued by a licensed South Carolina surety company.
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Visit the court clerk and request a release of the property from the mechanics' lien on the deposit of an acceptable security in its place. Present your cash or surety bond in the appropriate amount. The court clerk will guide you according to local procedure. You will be required to make a written filing, stating that, in the event the contractor should prevail in his suit, the debt will be paid to him out of the security you have deposited. Note that if no suit is filed, the security will be returned to you wholly intact.
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Obtain documentary proof of the filing. The property in question is no longer under a mechanics' lien.
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