Virginia Lien Laws: Filing, Priority, and Removal

Virginia lien laws create a legal claim against a debtor’s property to secure payment of a debt, and they cover everything from unpaid contractor bills to court judgments to delinquent property taxes. Each lien type in Virginia has its own filing rules, deadlines, priority rank, and enforcement path, and the differences matter: a missed date or a wrong jurisdiction can wipe out an otherwise valid claim, and a lien you didn’t know about can hold up a closing. What follows is how the main liens work, how they get filed and enforced, and how to get one off your property.

The Main Types of Liens in Virginia

Judgment Liens

A judgment lien is created when a creditor wins a money judgment in court and records it with a Virginia circuit court. Under Virginia Code 8.01-458, the recorded judgment becomes a lien on all real estate the debtor owns in that county or city.¹ If the debtor owns land in more than one jurisdiction, the creditor has to record the judgment in each one separately. A judgment docketed only in Fairfax County does not reach property the debtor owns in Richmond.

For judgments entered on or after July 1, 2021, the enforcement period is 10 years from the date of the judgment. The creditor can extend it by recording a certificate for another 10 years and may file one more certificate for a second 10-year extension. Judgments entered before July 1, 2021 carry a 20-year initial enforcement period, with the same extension options.²

One point trips up creditors constantly: a Virginia judgment lien attaches only to real estate. It does not automatically reach bank accounts, cars, or other personal property. To get at those, the creditor has to take separate steps such as obtaining a writ of fieri facias and having the sheriff levy on the property. No lien on tangible personal property arises until the sheriff actually seizes it. If the debtor tries to sell the real estate, though, the judgment lien generally has to be satisfied before the buyer takes clear title.

Mechanic’s Liens

Contractors, subcontractors, and material suppliers who go unpaid on Virginia construction projects have one of the strongest collection tools available. Under Virginia Code 43-3, anyone who furnishes labor or materials worth $150 or more for the construction, repair, removal, or improvement of a building or structure permanently attached to land can claim a lien against that property.³ For repair or improvement work on existing structures, the lien only attaches if the property owner or their agent authorized the work.

The filing deadline is where most mechanic’s liens die. A general contractor must record a memorandum of lien no later than 90 days from the last day of the month in which they last performed labor or furnished materials, and the lien cannot be filed more than 90 days after the building or structure is completed or work is otherwise terminated.⁴ The “last day of the month” language matters. If your last day on the job was March 15, the 90-day clock starts on March 31, not March 15. Miss the deadline by a day and the lien is gone.

Recording the memorandum is only step one. To collect, the claimant then has to file an enforcement suit within six months of recording or within 60 days after the project is completed or work is terminated, whichever falls later. Missing that window extinguishes the lien for good.⁵

Mechanic’s liens do not apply to federal government property. If you worked on a federal project in Virginia and went unpaid, your remedy is a Miller Act claim against the prime contractor’s payment bond, with different notice rules and a one-year suit deadline.⁶

Tax Liens

Tax liens carry the most raw power of any lien in Virginia because they jump to the front of the priority line. For real estate taxes, Virginia Code 58.1-3340 makes the lien for taxes and levies assessed on real property prior to any other lien or encumbrance, and it stays that way until the taxes are actually paid.⁷ State and local tax liens arise automatically when taxes go delinquent — no paperwork, no court order.

The Virginia Department of Taxation and local treasurers can enforce these liens through garnishment, bank levies, or public auction of the property. A property owner clears them by paying in full, negotiating a payment plan, or challenging the underlying assessment through the appropriate process.

Federal tax liens work differently. The IRS lien attaches to all of your property and property rights once the IRS assesses the tax, sends a notice and demand, and you fail to pay, and the IRS has 10 years from assessment to collect.⁸ A federal tax lien is not valid against a judgment lien creditor until the IRS files a Notice of Federal Tax Lien, so a Virginia judgment lien recorded before the IRS notice takes priority over the federal claim.⁹ Virginia state real estate tax liens, though, sit ahead of both federal tax liens and judgment liens regardless of recording order.

Other Statutory Liens

Several other Virginia liens come up in specific situations:

HOA assessment liens. A property owners’ association can file a memorandum of lien against a lot owner who falls behind on assessments under Virginia Code 55.1-1833. The association has to file within 12 months of the first unpaid assessment becoming due and must send certified-mail notice to the lot owner at least 10 days before filing. These liens rank ahead of most later-recorded encumbrances but behind real estate tax liens and any mortgage or deed of trust already on record.¹⁰
Hospital and medical provider liens. When someone is injured by another person’s negligence, treating providers can lien the injured person’s claim against the at-fault party. Virginia Code 8.01-66.2 caps these liens at $2,500 for a hospital or nursing home, $750 for each physician, nurse, physical therapist, or pharmacy, and $200 for each emergency medical services provider.¹¹
Self-storage liens. Under Virginia’s Self-Service Storage Act, a storage operator can claim a lien on stored goods when a tenant stops paying rent and can eventually sell the belongings after following the statutory notice procedure.
Agricultural liens. Suppliers of seed, fertilizer, and livestock feed can assert liens against a farmer’s crops or livestock to secure payment, subject to strict filing deadlines.

How Liens Get Filed in Virginia

Filing rules vary by lien type, but the mechanics share common ground. Liens on real estate are recorded in the circuit court clerk’s office for the county or city where the property is located. Filing in the wrong jurisdiction makes the lien unenforceable.

The paperwork typically includes a memorandum or affidavit stating the amount owed, a legal description of the property, the owner’s name, and the basis for the claim. Notarization is generally required. Some liens also require advance notice to the owner: HOA liens, for instance, need 10 days’ written notice by certified mail before the memorandum can be recorded.¹⁰

Timing is the single most common reason claims fail. Each lien type has its own deadline, and courts enforce them without flexibility. A mechanic’s lien recorded a day past the 90-day window is invalid.⁴ A judgment lien should be docketed promptly after the court enters the judgment, because priority runs from the recording date.¹ Errors in the legal description or in the amount claimed also give a debtor grounds to attack the lien.

Priority: Who Gets Paid First

When several liens are stacked on the same property, the order of payment from sale or foreclosure proceeds is set by lien priority. Virginia follows the general “first in time, first in right” rule, but several statutes override chronological order.

Real estate tax liens sit at the top. Virginia Code 58.1-3340 gives them priority over every other lien or encumbrance regardless of when the others were recorded.⁷ HOA assessment liens fall behind existing mortgages and deeds of trust but rank ahead of most liens recorded after the HOA lien is perfected.¹⁰

Deeds of trust, which function as mortgages in Virginia, usually hold strong priority because they are recorded early. Refinancing creates a common trap: if a new deed of trust replaces an older one, liens recorded in between can leap ahead in priority unless the refinance is structured to preserve the original position. For junior lienholders, priority rules often decide whether anything is left after foreclosure.

Enforcing a Lien

A recorded lien on its own does not force payment. If the debtor won’t pay, the creditor has to convert the lien into money through legal process, and the route depends on the lien type and the property involved.

Foreclosure on Real Estate

For a judgment lien, the creditor files a judicial foreclosure suit in the circuit court where the property is located. If the court orders sale, the property is auctioned and proceeds are distributed by lien priority. Deeds of trust take a different route: the trust document contains a power of sale that lets the trustee run a nonjudicial foreclosure without going to court. The trustee applies proceeds first to sale costs, then to taxes and assessments with priority, then to the secured debt, then to any junior liens, with any surplus returned to the former owner.¹²

A mechanic’s lien claimant must file an enforcement suit within six months of recording the lien or within 60 days of project completion, whichever comes later. Miss it and the lien expires with no revival available.⁵

Garnishment and Bank Levies

When the debtor has no real estate worth pursuing, a judgment creditor can go after wages and bank accounts. Under Virginia Code 8.01-511, the creditor requests a garnishment summons from the clerk of the court that issued the judgment, directing the debtor’s employer or bank to turn over money owed to the debtor.¹³

Federal law caps how much of a debtor’s wages can be garnished for ordinary consumer debts at the lesser of 25% of disposable earnings or the amount by which weekly disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage ($7.25 per hour). For child support and alimony, the cap rises to 50% if the worker supports another spouse or child, or 60% otherwise, with an extra 5% added when payments are more than 12 weeks overdue.¹⁴ Where Virginia law is more protective than federal law, the more debtor-favorable rule applies.

How to Remove a Lien

A lien clouds title and can stop a sale or refinance. The removal method depends on why the lien exists and whether it is valid.

Pay It and Get a Release

The simplest option is paying the debt in full. Once paid, the creditor has to file a certificate of satisfaction with the circuit court clerk. Under Virginia Code 55.1-339, the creditor has 90 days after receiving payment to deliver the certificate to the settlement agent or record it with the clerk, and a creditor who misses that deadline forfeits $500 to the debtor. Further penalties apply if the creditor still fails to act after a written demand.¹⁵

Challenge an Invalid Lien

If the lien is defective or the underlying debt doesn’t exist, you can challenge it in court. Common grounds include filing errors, missed statutory deadlines, fraud, and the absence of a real debt. A mechanic’s lien recorded after the 90-day window is invalid on its face. A judgment lien can be attacked if the debtor was never properly served in the underlying suit. Courts can order a fraudulent lien removed. Liens that have run past their statutory enforcement period can be cleared through a petition or during a title examination.

Bond Off a Mechanic’s Lien

For mechanic’s liens, a property owner doesn’t have to wait for the lawsuit to conclude. After five days’ notice to the claimant, the owner can ask the court for permission to post a bond equal to double the lien amount. Once the bond is filed, the property is released from the lien and the fight shifts to the bond.¹⁶

Virginia’s Homestead Exemption

A judgment creditor cannot reach everything a debtor owns. Under Virginia Code 34-4, every Virginia householder can shield up to $5,000 in real and personal property from creditors, or $10,000 if the householder is 65 or older. On top of that, a householder can exempt up to $50,000 in real or personal property used as a principal residence, plus $500 for each dependent supported.¹⁷ For debtors whose main asset is a modest home, these exemptions can sharply limit what a judgment creditor actually collects.

What Bankruptcy Does — and Doesn’t Do — to Liens

Filing for bankruptcy does not automatically wipe out recorded liens. That surprise catches a lot of filers. A discharge eliminates your personal obligation to pay the debt, but a valid lien recorded before the bankruptcy stays attached to the property. The secured creditor can still enforce the lien against the property, even though they can no longer come after you personally.¹⁸

Bankruptcy does give debtors tools. The automatic stay under 11 U.S.C. 362 immediately halts any action to create, perfect, or enforce a lien against the debtor’s property as soon as the petition is filed, and creditors who violate the stay face sanctions.¹⁹ Government entities enforcing regulatory power are generally exempt from the stay.

Debtors can also use 11 U.S.C. 522(f) to ask the bankruptcy court to avoid a judicial lien that impairs their exemptions.²⁰ The calculation adds up all liens on the property plus the exemption amount and compares that total to the property’s value; if the total exceeds the value, the judicial lien can be stripped. This works on judicial liens like judgment liens, not on consensual liens such as deeds of trust, and not on tax liens. In practice, if you own a Virginia home with modest equity and a judgment lien is eating into the equity your homestead exemption would otherwise protect, bankruptcy may let you remove that lien entirely.

1
Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia 8.01-458 – From What Time Judgment to Be a Lien on Real Estate; Docketing Revived Judgment
2
Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia 8.01-251 – Limitations on Enforcement of Judgments
3
Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia 43-3 – Lien for Work Done and Materials Furnished
4
Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia 43-4 – Perfection of Lien by General Contractor; Recordation and Notice
5
Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia Title 43 – Mechanics and Certain Other Liens, Section 43-17
6
GSA. The Miller Act
7
Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia 58.1-3340 – Lien on Real Estate for Taxes and Levies Assessed Thereon
8
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 6502 – Collection After Assessment
9
Internal Revenue Service. 5.17.2 Federal Tax Liens
10
Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia 55.1-1833 – Lien for Assessments; Foreclosure
11
Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia 8.01-66.2 – Lien Against Person Whose Negligence Causes Injury
12
Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia 55.1-324 – Powers and Duties of Trustee in Event of Sale Under or Satisfaction of Deed of Trust
13
Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia 8.01-511 – Institution of Garnishment Proceedings
14
U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet #30: Wage Garnishment Protections of the Consumer Credit Protection Act (CCPA)
15
Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia 55.1-339 – Release of Deed of Trust or Other Lien
16
Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia 43-70 – Release of Mechanics Lien Upon Payment Into Court or Filing of Bond After Suit Brought
17
Virginia Code Commission. Code of Virginia Title 34 Chapter 2 – Homestead Exemption of Householder
18
United States Courts. Discharge in Bankruptcy – Bankruptcy Basics
19
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 362 – Automatic Stay
20
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 11 U.S. Code 522 – Exemptions