Florida Construction Liens – Property Subject To A Construction Lien

As a threshold matter, it is often important to determine whether Florida law permits a construction lien to be placed on a particular property. In order for Florida lien law to be applicable to a property, there must be a contract between a person performing services and/or providing materials and a nongovernmental  owner of property before the Florida construction lien laws apply. A construction lien cannot encumber governmental property. However, the statute leaves open the possibility that a construction lien could encumber leaseholds within governmental property; i.e. a vendor's property in an airport or bus terminal.

While the cleanest construction liens will be based on an express written agreement, a construction lien can be based on a contract-implied-in-fact under Florida law. This is because a contract-implied-in-fact is an enforceable contract "that is inferred in whole or in part from the parties' conduct, not solely from their words." Commerce