For subcontractors stuck under a GC
Your GC got paid by the big-box store. You haven't. And your lien window is closing.
LienLine helps sub-tier contractors understand their lien rights, document the payment chain, and pressure intermediary GCs to release withheld retainage — before the deadline kills your leverage.
Today
You finished the work, sent the invoice to the GC, and got told 'the owner hasn't released retainage yet' — a wall you can't see past, on a property you have no direct contract with. Generic lien calculators don't know you're a sub-tier on a Walmart buildout; a collection agency wants 25% of what you're already owed.
With LienLine
You know whether you have lien rights against the property, what notices are still valid, and exactly what to send the GC — and they know you know, which is usually enough to get a check cut.
Conceptual — the workflow LienLine is being built to handle.
What we keep seeing
This pattern appears consistently across public contractor forums and legal Q&A boards: subcontractors completing work on national retail and big-box store projects report being held off by intermediary GCs who cite owner retainage as cover, often past the point where the sub's lien rights have lapsed — leaving no practical recourse.
Observed across public operator forums — the reason this page exists.
Without it
You finished the work, sent the invoice to the GC, and got told 'the owner hasn't released retainage yet' — a wall you can't see past, on a property you have no direct contract with. Generic lien calculators don't know you're a sub-tier on a Walmart buildout; a collection agency wants 25% of what you're already owed.
With LienLine
You know whether you have lien rights against the property, what notices are still valid, and exactly what to send the GC — and they know you know, which is usually enough to get a check cut.
We're building LienLine to map sub-tier payment rights in big-box and national retail job contexts state by state, with guided workflows that turn a confusing lien statute into a concrete next action.
How LienLine works
Map your payment chain
Enter the property address, the GC you contracted with, and your invoice amount — LienLine identifies who sits above the GC and what lien tier you occupy in that state.
Check your deadline status
LienLine calculates your preliminary notice window, mechanics lien deadline, and any bond claim option based on your last day on site — so you know exactly how much time you have left to act.
Generate your pressure package
Get a ready-to-send demand letter referencing your valid lien rights, the correct statutory form for your state, and a documented payment chain the GC can't easily ignore.
Straight answers
Can I use LienLine today? +
We're building LienLine now and opening access to the first group of contractors shortly. Early users get direct input into which states and job types we prioritize first, and they get access before anyone else. If this is your current situation, getting on the list is the right move.
What happens after I sign up? +
Within a few days you'll get a short email from us asking about your specific situation — state, job type, how much is withheld. That shapes what we build first. When the tool is ready for your use case, you'll be the first to know. No newsletters, no drip campaigns.
Who's behind LienLine? +
An independent builder who went deep on sub-tier lien rights after watching this exact payment chain problem play out repeatedly in public contractor forums and court records. No VC, no agency — just someone building the tool that should already exist.
I don't have a direct contract with the property owner — do I even have lien rights? +
In most states, yes — mechanics lien rights extend to sub-tier contractors who furnished labor or materials to an improvement, regardless of who you contracted with directly. The rules around preliminary notice deadlines and the required forms vary significantly by state, which is exactly the problem LienLine solves.
LienLine isn't live yet.
We're still building it. Leave your email and we'll tell you the moment it's ready — and show you first. No spam in between.
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You're in.
We'll be in touch within a few days with a short question about your situation — it directly shapes what gets built first. This isn't a waitlist that disappears; you'll hear from a real person.
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One quick question so we build the right thing for your situation: