Unpaid on an Oakland County job? LevelSet Collections prepares, records and serves Oakland County mechanics liens, Michigan’s claim of lien, for contractors, subcontractors and suppliers on jobs in Troy, Southfield, Novi, Farmington Hills, Royal Oak, Rochester Hills, Auburn Hills and Pontiac. Since 2020 we’ve filed more than 1,100 liens, and an Oakland County lien is one all-inclusive price from intake to service.
Quick answer: An Oakland County mechanics lien is a claim of lien recorded with the Oakland County Clerk/Register of Deeds at 1200 N. Telegraph Road in Pontiac, which accepts liens electronically, including through its MiPropDocs portal. It has to be recorded within 90 days of last furnishing and served within 15 days after. See the full Michigan deadlines and statutes.
Where Oakland County liens are recorded
Oakland County liens go to the Register of Deeds in the Oakland County Clerk/Register of Deeds office, 1200 North Telegraph Road, Dept 480, in Pontiac, open Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Oakland is set up well for electronic recording. Registered submitters can e-record through Corporation Service Company, eRecording Partners Network, Simplifile or HopDox. The county also runs MiPropDocs, a Simplifile portal for documents that don’t transfer ownership, and its list of eligible documents names liens and notices of commencement specifically. Deeds and other transfers can’t go through MiPropDocs. We e-record Oakland liens so the 90-day clock isn’t spent in the mail.
Paper or electronic, the format rules are the same: black ink, 10-point type, white 20-lb paper no larger than 8.5 x 14, a 2.5-inch top margin on the first page with half-inch margins elsewhere, original signatures with names typed or printed beneath, a Michigan notary acknowledgment, and the recordable event stated on the first line of the first page.
Finding the legal owner and legal description in Oakland County
Oakland County has 51 local assessing units. Each city or township values its own property, and the county’s Equalization Division does real property assessing only for units that contract with it. Equalization keeps parcel IDs, tax descriptions and GIS parcel maps for more than 478,700 parcels.
We use the parcel ID and tax description to identify the property, then confirm the owner and legal description from the vesting deed at the Register of Deeds. On commercial jobs we also pull the Notice of Commencement the owner recorded there, since it names the designee you have to serve.
Cities we file in across Oakland County
Oakland County is home to nearly 1.3 million people in 63 cities, villages and townships across 907 square miles. Most of our work is in Troy, Southfield, Novi, Farmington Hills, Royal Oak, Rochester Hills, Auburn Hills and Pontiac, along with townships like Waterford, West Bloomfield and Bloomfield.
Watch the borders. 8 Mile Road separates Oakland from Wayne, and Dequindre Road separates it from Macomb, so a Warren or Sterling Heights job a few blocks away is a Macomb County lien.
Oakland work is heavy on office and medical interiors, retail, multifamily and new subdivisions. A major public job underway is MDOT’s $250 million “Restore the Reuther” rebuild of I-696, which reconstructs the freeway between Lahser Road and I-75 in 2025–2026, extends to Dequindre Road in 2027 and repairs 60 bridges. Highway work runs on payment bonds, not liens.
What sinks liens in Oakland County
- Serving the owner instead of the designee. On commercial jobs, the Notice of Commencement recorded in Pontiac names the designee who gets the Notice of Furnishing and the claim.
- A Notice of Furnishing past day 20. Subs and suppliers have 20 days after first furnishing.
- Waiting on a home job until the owner pays out. On residential work, the lien doesn’t attach to the extent the owner shows it paid the contractor.
- A Dequindre Road job in the wrong county. East of Dequindre is Macomb County. South of 8 Mile is Wayne.
- Missing the 15-day service window. The claim has to be served within 15 days after recording. See the Michigan deadline table.
How LevelSet handles an Oakland County lien
- Intake. Send us the job address, the company that hired you, your unpaid invoices, your first and last furnishing dates and your Notice of Furnishing.
- Statutory form. We identify the parcel, pull the deed and any Notice of Commencement from the Register of Deeds, and prepare the Michigan claim of lien.
- Notarization. Matt Rush signs the claim as the claimant’s agent in front of a notary.
- Recording. We e-record it with the Oakland County Register of Deeds, with proof of the Notice of Furnishing attached.
- Service. We serve the designee or owner by certified mail within 15 days after recording and copy the general contractor.
Example: an Oakland County deadline walk-through
Example: A roofing subcontractor re-roofs a house in Troy and finishes on June 10. Because it’s a residential job, no Notice of Commencement was recorded; the sub asked the owner for the residential notice of commencement in writing. The claim of lien has to be recorded with the Oakland County Register of Deeds by September 8 (90 days), and the sub should file before the owner pays the contractor in full.
Oakland County deadline already gone?
Whoever hired you still owes you. Our construction collections service pursues unpaid Oakland County construction invoices on contingency, 10% to 33%, and there’s no fee if nothing is collected.
Other Michigan counties we file in
Wayne County · Macomb County · Kent County
For Notices of Furnishing, the 90-day rule and foreclosure deadlines statewide, see our Michigan construction lien page. We record liens in every Michigan county.
Pricing
Liens $199 to $500, including recording fees, notarizing and serving. Pre-lien notices $100. Typical turnaround 2 business days. No minimum. Call (469) 694-8003, Monday through Friday, 8am to 7pm.
Frequently asked questions
Where do you file an Oakland County mechanics lien?
With the Oakland County Clerk/Register of Deeds, 1200 North Telegraph Road, Dept 480, Pontiac, open weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., or electronically through an approved e-recording vendor.
Can a lien be e-recorded in Oakland County?
Yes. Oakland accepts e-recording through CSC, ePN, Simplifile and HopDox, and its MiPropDocs portal lists liens and notices of commencement among the documents it accepts.
Who assesses property in Oakland County?
Each of the county’s 51 local assessing units values its own property. The county’s Equalization Division does real property assessing for the units that contract with it.
Is a job on Dequindre Road an Oakland County lien?
Only if the parcel is on the Oakland side. Dequindre Road is the line with Macomb County, so we check the parcel’s county before recording.
This page is general information, not legal advice. LevelSet Collections is not a law firm; we prepare and file liens and notices as agent for the claimant. Deadlines change and depend on the facts of your job. We'll check your dates against the statute before filing. Lien laws are constantly changing. Contact us for the most up-to-date information.
Owed money on an Oakland County job?
Oakland liens $199 to $500, with recording, notarizing and serving included. E-recorded in Pontiac, usually in 2 business days. Call (469) 694-8003.
