{
  "locale": "en",
  "access": {
    "cost": "free",
    "signupRequired": false,
    "loginRequired": false,
    "readCountsAreAnonymous": true,
    "readingHistoryAssociatedWithReader": false,
    "note": "Everything here is free to read. There is no account, no signup, and no login. Verifiant counts anonymous reads of each lesson; no reading history is associated with you."
  },
  "notice": "Verifiant is not the State of Arizona, the Arizona Registrar of Contractors, or a law firm, and nothing here is legal advice. It describes public process and public record, and links to the official sources so you can read them yourself.",
  "lawyerNotice": "This page describes public process. It is not legal advice, and it does not say how any situation will come out. For decisions about your own situation, a licensed Arizona attorney is the right reader.",
  "question": {
    "slug": "can-a-subcontractor-lien-my-house",
    "locale": "en",
    "title": "Can a Subcontractor Put a Lien on My House in Arizona?",
    "answer": "Not on your owner-occupied home, if they never signed a written contract with you. Arizona reserves the mechanics lien against owner-occupied dwellings for the contractor the owner actually hired, which is a shield most homeowners have never heard they hold.",
    "lawyerFlag": true,
    "publicationStatus": "published",
    "updatedOn": "2026-08-11",
    "path": "/learn/questions/can-a-subcontractor-lien-my-house",
    "sections": [
      {
        "heading": "The Owner-Occupant Shield",
        "body": "A subcontractor or supplier who never signed a written contract with the owner occupant cannot enforce a mechanics lien against that dwelling. The threat letter often arrives anyway; the statute is the answer to hold it against.",
        "factSlugs": [
          "owner-occupant-lien-shield"
        ]
      },
      {
        "heading": "What the Shield Does Not Cover",
        "body": "The contractor you actually hired stands differently, and properties that are not owner occupied stand differently again. The statute at the source link draws those lines in its own words.",
        "factSlugs": [
          "owner-occupant-lien-shield"
        ]
      }
    ],
    "officialLinks": [
      {
        "label": "A.R.S. § 33-1002",
        "url": "https://www.azleg.gov/ars/33/01002.htm"
      }
    ],
    "faq": [
      {
        "question": "A supplier sent me a preliminary twenty-day notice. Should I panic?",
        "answer": "A notice is not a lien, and the owner-occupant shield still stands where it applies. Keep the notice, note the date, and read the statute at the source link; for your own situation, a licensed Arizona attorney is the right reader."
      },
      {
        "question": "I already paid my contractor in full. Can their supplier still come after my house?",
        "answer": "Against an owner-occupied dwelling, the shield turns on whether that supplier ever signed a written contract with you, not on where your payment went."
      }
    ]
  },
  "facts": [
    {
      "slug": "owner-occupant-lien-shield",
      "locale": "en",
      "title": "The Owner Occupant Shield Against Subcontractor Liens",
      "statement": "A subcontractor or supplier who never signed a written contract with the owner occupant cannot enforce a mechanics lien against that person's dwelling; Arizona reserves that against owner occupied homes for the contractor the owner actually hired. And the twenty day preliminary notice that arrives in the mail is a notice, nothing more. It is not a lien, and it does not turn into one by itself.",
      "factType": "public_rule",
      "source": {
        "label": "A.R.S. § 33-1002",
        "url": "https://www.azleg.gov/ars/33/01002.htm"
      },
      "authority": 1,
      "authorityName": "primary authority",
      "topic": "Liens",
      "observedOn": "2026-08-11",
      "recheckBy": "2027-02-11",
      "publicationStatus": "published",
      "updatedOn": "2026-08-11",
      "path": "/learn/facts/owner-occupant-lien-shield"
    }
  ]
}