Have you been considering filing a “Notice of Claim of Lien” against someone but aren’t entirely sure what that would entail? Does a vessel owner owe you for work that you did but has not paid up? If so, then we can help you with some parts of the process. At the Maritime Documentation Center, we offer many different kinds of United States Coast Guard documentation. When the situation demands it, you can find a “Notice of Claim of Lien” at our site.
With this form, you should note that, just because you’ve completed and sent this form through our site, that does not mean that your lien will be enforced, that you will receive compensation for it, and so forth. Your claim’s merits must be found to be legally proper. When it comes to these forms, we do recommend reaching out to private legal counsel to determine whether or not your claim has merit before filling it out.
What Causes Someone to File a Notice of Claim of Lien?
At the risk of oversimplification, often, these notices are filed when one party either doesn’t pay the other party money they’re owed or one party has damaged the other’s property and has yet to pay for it. Obviously, every vessel, vessel owner, and the situation is different. However, the above are among some of the most common reasons that people file these forms at our site.
Most maritime liens come from broken contracts, maritime torts, and the like. A good example of this: is crew wages. Maybe you were a crew member on someone else’s vessel and they didn’t pay what they said they would. Then, you could best be served by filing one of these liens. Other circumstances include if a charter was breached if there was freight that wasn’t paid for, and so forth.
Another common cause of these liens: is damage, whether it’s to the vessel or to persons. If someone is injured on a vessel, if the vessel is damaged during a collision, or harmed in some other way, then, you may well have a case for a notice of claim of lien. Everything from dockage to towage, repairs to crew provisions, and more, when unpaid/unsatisfied, could be a reason to send one of these notices.
What is the Notice of Claim of Lien Process?
You can file a notice of claim of lien on essentially any documented vessel. While it’s not something that’s done through our site, most recommend that the first step you should take is to send a notice to the vessel owner that you’re intending to file a notice of claim of lien. That’s not the only person you should send it to, too. Additionally, if there’s a mortgage on a vessel, send the notice to anyone who holds that mortgage. Then, you can file the claim through our site.
You might ask: “does this really help? How can this help me to get what I’m owed?” Well, if you file a Notice of Claim of Lien, it will show up on the abstract of the title of the documented vessel that you’ve filed it against. Thus, if the vessel owner you’ve filed the NCL against tries to sell the vessel, it very well may cause any potential buyer who looks at the abstract to have second thoughts. So, it might motivate the owner to satisfy your lien.
The Preferred Ship’s Mortgage and Notice of Claim of Lien
As you may know, if you’ve read our blogs in the past, one of the most common reasons that anyone decides to document their vessel is to get financing through a Preferred Ship’s Mortgage. What they may not know is that a majority of preferred ship’s mortgages are structured in such a way that the owner cannot have additional liens (additional to the mortgage) filed against the vessel. This can motivate just about vessel owners.
See, if they don’t pay off your lien, then that may violate the mortgage. The owner could go into default just by not satisfying your lien. So, while it may not seem like it initially if someone owes you, then you very well may be able to get what you deserve through the Notice of Claim of Lien.
What to Understand About this United States Coast Guard Documentation
Filing a Notice of Claim of Lien through our site is just one step towards getting what you deserve, but it is also only one step. We cannot tell you whether your claim is legally proper or not, but what we can do is make it easier and simpler for you to file this particular piece of documentation or any other. To see all of the forms we offer and ways we can help, head to our site.