Can You Put a Lien on an LLC’s Property? What to Do When a House Flipper Doesn’t Pay

A flip LLC hired you. You did the kitchen, the roof, or the full gut. Now the house is listed, the texts have stopped, and your invoice is still open. The question contractors search most is simple: can you put a lien on an LLC?

Short answer: a mechanic’s lien doesn’t attach to a company. It attaches to the property you improved, whoever owns it. If the flip LLC owns the house, the lien claims the house. Getting a lien on the LLC’s other real estate is a different process that usually starts with a lawsuit and a judgment. This guide explains both, plus what to do fast when a house flipper doesn’t pay.

Owed $10,000 or more and legal costs are the holdup? Request a free claim review. Not legal advice.

A lien on the property vs. a lien “on the LLC”

Colorado gives contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, and others who furnish labor or materials to improve land a lien “upon the property” they improved (C.R.S. 38-22-101). The owner can be a person, an LLC, or a corporation. The lien follows the property, not the owner’s business structure.

A lien that reaches the LLC’s other property works differently. You sue the LLC, win a judgment, and record a certified transcript of the judgment in a county. From the time it’s recorded, the judgment becomes a lien on the LLC’s non-exempt real estate in that county. That lien expires six years after the judgment is entered, unless the judgment is revived and re-recorded (C.R.S. 13-52-102(1)).

Step 1: Confirm who owns the property

Flippers often use a separate LLC for each house, and the LLC on your contract isn’t always the one on the deed. Check:

• County records. The county clerk and recorder’s records show the owner of record for the property address.
• The Colorado Secretary of State business search. Look up the LLC’s status and registered agent.
• Your contract. Who signed it: the LLC, a manager on the LLC’s behalf, or a person in their own name?

This matters because your lien statement has to name the owner or reputed owner, and your notice of intent has to be served on them (C.R.S. 38-22-109).

Step 2: Watch the deadlines, and the listing

Flip timelines are fast, and a lien is only as good as its timing:

• Serve a notice of intent at least 10 days before recording the lien statement (C.R.S. 38-22-109(3)).
• For most claimants, record the lien statement within four months after your last day of work or materials (C.R.S. 38-22-109(5)).
• File suit and record notice of it within the six-month window (generally measured from the last work or completion), or the lien stops holding the property (C.R.S. 38-22-110).

If the house is listed or under contract, talk to counsel right away. A sale can complicate your options, and how it affects your rights depends on timing and what’s been recorded. For the details, see Colorado Notice of Intent Deadlines, Mechanic Lien Foreclosure Timeline, and the Colorado Mechanic Lien Guide 2026.

How Colorado’s paid-in-full defense applies to flips

Colorado has a homeowner protection that trips up a lot of contractors on residential work. It makes it an affirmative defense to a lien that the owner has already paid the full contract amount, including changes, to the principal contractor or a subcontractor, when the property is an existing single-family dwelling, a residence built for the owner before it became their primary residence, or a single-family owner-occupied dwelling (C.R.S. 38-22-102(3.5)). The statute says the owner-occupied part doesn’t cover a developer or builder of multiple residences, except for the one the developer or builder lives in as a primary residence.

Here’s why that matters for flips:

• The defense turns on the owner having already paid. If the flip LLC hired you directly and didn’t pay, the “paid in full” condition generally isn’t met.
• The owner-occupancy parts usually don’t fit a flip. But part (a) covers any existing single-family dwelling, occupied or not, so a flip house can still qualify if the owner paid its GC in full.
• Ask counsel how it applies. Whether the defense fits depends on the property and who paid whom, so have a Colorado attorney look at your facts.

If you were a sub under a GC the flipper hired, and the flipper paid that GC in full, the defense could matter more. In that case, look hard at your claims against the GC. See Subcontractor Not Paid by the General Contractor in Colorado? and Colorado Construction Trust Fund Statute.

Step 3: Consider suing the LLC

Colorado’s lien law doesn’t replace your other remedies (C.R.S. 38-22-124). You can sue the LLC for breach of contract, with or without a lien. The practical question is collectability. An LLC that owned one house and just sold it may not have much left. That’s why timing, and knowing what the LLC owns, matters.

If the balance is over $7,500, small claims won’t cover it, and a business plaintiff usually needs a lawyer in the higher courts. See Owed More Than $7,500?.

What about the people behind the LLC?

Generally, LLC members aren’t personally liable for the LLC’s debts. Colorado courts decide whether to set aside that protection using the same case law used to pierce a corporation’s veil, and an LLC’s failure to observe formalities is not, by itself, enough (C.R.S. 7-80-107).

Other routes may exist, depending on the facts:

• A personal guarantee or a contract signed in someone’s own name.
• The trust fund statute, if the flipper’s company acted as the contractor and received construction funds meant for the subs and suppliers below it. Colorado courts have held people who controlled those funds personally liable in some cases.

These are questions for a Colorado attorney, not a DIY call.

Who Darkwell works with

Darkwell may fund contractor claims against homeowners or businesses, including flip LLCs, developers, general contractors, and property-owning companies. Darkwell does not buy or collect consumer debt in states that require a collection license, including Colorado.

Working on a flip outside Colorado? Different lien rules apply. See Miami unpaid contractor claim funding, Orlando Florida contractor not getting paid, and Los Angeles contractor claim funding, and use counsel licensed where the property sits.

Where funding fits

Flip disputes often come down to speed and cost. You need a lawyer moving before the house sells or the LLC empties out. Darkwell’s main business is funding contractor claims. Darkwell may fund your attorney’s fees and costs to pursue the balance.

Darkwell provides litigation funding. In select cases, and where state law allows, Darkwell may purchase a claim for cash. We review claims of $10,000 or more, subject to review and approval by our team. Darkwell works in select states where our model is allowed, including Colorado, Wyoming, Florida, and California. Darkwell does not buy or collect consumer debt in states that require a collection license, including Colorado.

Related reading: Claim funding when you can’t afford an attorney, Litigation funding vs hiring a lien attorney, Mechanic Lien Attorney Alternative, Contractor Not Getting Paid, and Factoring Won’t Take Your Disputed Invoice?

What to do next

1. Pull the owner of record and the LLC’s status today.
2. Write down your last day of work and get lien dates calendared with counsel.
3. Check whether the house is listed, under contract, or sold.
4. Talk to a Colorado construction attorney about the lien, a suit against the LLC, and anyone else who may be responsible.
5. If cost is the obstacle and the claim is $10,000 or more, request a claim review.

Free claim review (not legal advice)

Flip LLC stopped paying after the work was done? Submit a free claim review at Darkwell Capital or email team@darkwellcapital.com. Send what you have, and you’ll get a response from our team.