What is American Bureau of Liens?

What does the company say it does?

The site describes American Bureau of Liens as “a private notice and verification service.” Its stated purpose is to let someone who received a lien notice in the mail look up the underlying filing and have it explained in plain language. The homepage frames the typical situation as a car accident, after which — in the company’s words — “a hospital or medical provider can record a lien to be repaid out of any future settlement.”

The company states that it is not a bill or a demand for payment, not a collection agency, not a court or government office, and not a law firm, and that nothing on its site is legal advice.

How does its notice process work, as described?

The site sets out three steps:

1. Scan a QR code printed on the mailed letter, which opens a page specific to that notice. No account or app is required.
2. If you cannot scan, type the web address printed beside the QR square (it begins ablien.org/v/) and then enter a secure code from the same box on the letter.
3. View what the company describes as the recorded amount, who filed it, and which county it came from, then choose what to do next.

The company says notice details are shown only to someone holding the secure code printed on the mailed notice.

What optional steps does it offer?

• An introduction to what the site calls a “lien relief specialist,” described elsewhere on the page as a personal-injury attorney. The company presents this as optional.
• Opting out of future notices.
• Doing nothing at all — stated explicitly as an option.
• Requesting a replacement copy of a lost letter, by mail to the address on file or by phone.

What does it cost, and how is it funded?

The company states that verifying a notice is free, that being connected with a specialist is free, and that it never asks recipients for money. On funding it says: “Attorneys pay us — you don’t. If you ask to be connected with a personal-injury attorney, that attorney covers the cost of the introduction.” It adds that there is no catch and no hidden fee, and that using the site does not involve a credit check or credit reporting.

Read plainly, that is an attorney-referral arrangement paid for by the receiving attorney. That is a common business model and is not by itself improper, but it does mean the service has a financial interest in recipients asking to be connected to an attorney. Attorney referral and fee-sharing arrangements are regulated at state level by the relevant bar; the American Bar Association maintains directories of state lawyer-referral resources if you want to compare.

Contact details published on the site

• Mailing address: PO Box 38402, Phoenix, AZ 85069, United States
• Email: notices@ablien.org, with a stated one-business-day reply
• Phone: 1-888-ABL-LIEN, Monday to Friday, 9 AM–5 PM ET
• Site sections for privacy policy, terms of use, “do not sell my info,” and opt-out

What we could not verify

Being straightforward about the limits of this summary matters more than filling the page:

• We have not confirmed the company’s corporate registration, ownership, or how long it has operated.
• We have not confirmed that the filing details shown on a notice page match county records, because those pages require a code printed on a private letter. We do not have and would not publish such a code.
• We cannot confirm how attorneys are selected, or what a recipient is asked to agree to after requesting an introduction.
• The testimonials shown on the company’s homepage are first-name attributions we cannot verify, so we neither repeat nor rely on them.

None of this implies wrongdoing. It marks the boundary between what a company says about itself and what an outside reader can check — and it is why the practical answer is always to look up the recorded filing yourself at the county office, independently of any sender.