A.R.S. 33-1002: The Owner-Occupied Home Lien Exemption

This is the single most important mechanics lien rule for a homeowner who lives in the house being built or remodeled. A.R.S. 33-1002 says a subcontractor or supplier who had no written contract directly with you cannot lien your owner-occupied dwelling. So if you signed only with your general contractor, the framing sub the contractor never paid generally cannot put a lien on your home. You still owe your contractor, but the people you never hired are shut out. The catch is the definitions: you have to be a genuine owner-occupant.

Who counts as an owner-occupant

The protection is narrow on purpose. It is meant for a person building or fixing the home they live in, not an investor or a flipper. The statute ties the exemption to a defined owner-occupant and dwelling:

A lien... does not attach to or be enforceable against the dwelling of a person who became an owner-occupant prior to the construction, alteration, repair or improvement, except by a person having executed in writing a contract directly with the owner-occupant.

To qualify, you generally must have held legal or equitable title to the property before the work started, and you must reside in the dwelling, or intend to reside in it for at least thirty days within the next twelve months, without intent to sell or lease it. The home has to be a single one-family or two-family residence. Meet those conditions and only a party with a direct written contract with you can lien the home. That usually means your general contractor can lien you, but the subs and suppliers below them cannot.

What it does and does not do

For example, you build a custom home in Rio Verde on a lot you already owned, and you move in. You pay your general contractor in full, but the contractor stiffs a $14,000 cabinet supplier. Because you had no direct written contract with that supplier and you are a real owner-occupant, 33-1002 blocks its lien on your home. The supplier has to chase your contractor, not your house.

It does not make you bulletproof. The general contractor you signed with can still lien you if you genuinely owe them. The exemption also does not erase your duty to pay; it just keeps strangers off your title. And it only applies if you truly occupy or intend to occupy the home, which is why second-guessing your residency is the first move a frustrated sub will make. Importantly, you cannot bargain this protection away:

Any provision, covenant, clause or understanding in any contract or agreement... that waives or purports to waive the rights of an owner-occupant under this section is void.

How this fits the rest of the lien law

This exemption sits on top of the whole lien article as the homeowner's trump card. The lien right it blocks comes from A.R.S. 33-981 . Even when the exemption applies, you may still receive twenty day notices and see liens recorded under A.R.S. 33-993 that you then have to get removed. Pair this exemption with withholding payment under A.R.S. 33-994 and lien waivers under A.R.S. 33-1008 for full coverage. Because the exemption hinges on hiring a licensed direct contractor, start by verifying that contractor with the ROC and putting it all in a solid written contract .

Full text and source

Read the exact owner-occupant and dwelling definitions on the legislature's site: View A.R.S. 33-1002 on azleg.gov .

This exemption can fail on the facts of residency or title timing, so if a sub liens your owner-occupied home, gather your title and occupancy proof and have an attorney move to release the lien on 33-1002 grounds.