Where to File the Notice of Lien

The completed Notice of Lien must be filed with the county recorder for the county in which the property is located. Utah Code Ann. § 38-1-7(1)(a) (Lexis 2005). It is in this office where all property transactions are recorded and where buyers, sellers, lenders and others go to determine the status of the title to various properties as their need may dictate. A lien against a particular property would be noticed by anyone researching the title to that property.

Filing the document with the recorder means that it is presented for recording and left in the clerk’s custody. It becomes a part of the recorded history of that property and a copy is permanently preserved as a public record. The clerk will usually endorse upon the paper the date that it was received and will return the original to the party who recorded it while retaining in his office a copy where it may be reviewed and inspected by whomsoever it may concern. The date and time stamped on the filed Notice of Lien will be the time that the courts will look to in order to determine if the lien was filed within the allowable time limits. If a Notice of Lien is executed by the claimant but it is not recorded with the county recorder means that the lien is not perfected and the lien rights are lost.