Construction Liens
If you work in the construction industry, you have an active interest in your rights as a creditor against a business that owes you money for work performed or materials supplied. At the Boston law firm of Rudolph Friedmann LLP, our construction law practice includes representing contractors, subcontractors and materials suppliers in obtaining judgments for payment, filing construction liens, and resolving construction payment disputes through mediation, arbitration or litigation.
Take Action Before the Project to Protect Your Payment Rights
Enforcement of construction liens requires a written contract between the party owed money and the party it did business with. An exception exists for laborers. We offer contract drafting services at reasonable rates as part of our construction law practice.
Construction law partner James Rudolph is a past president of the Board of the Massachusetts Associated Builders and Contractors. He was included in the Massachusetts Super Lawyer magazine in 2004 through 2013 and was listed on Boston’s Best Lawyers list in 1998.
Protect Your Rights: Do Not Miss Deadlines for Construction Collections
Many people and businesses involved in a construction project have the right to place a lien on a construction project in order to get paid. Generally, a lien is a legal encumbrance on real estate that can result in the forced sale of the property to satisfy the project’s creditor’s judgment for payment, unless the creditor is paid what it is owed.
The following parties to a construction project have access to the remedy of a construction lien: general contractors, subcontractors, suppliers, laborers, architects and engineers for on-site administrative services, and construction managers.
Strict timelines exist within which you must file a lien in order to protect your payment rights. A notice of contract, the first step in the process, must be recorded in the Registry of Deeds by the earliest of the following dates:
- 90 days after the last performance of work by anyone claiming under a general contractor
- 60 days after recording a Notice of Substantial Completion
- 90 days after recording a Notice of Termination
If the party that is owed money meets this deadline, the next two steps are to file a Statement of Claim and then the Complaint to enforce the lien.
Do not delay if you are owed money for work on a private or public construction project. Learn how to enforce your payment rights with a construction lien (private construction jobs) or filing a bond claim (public construction projects).
To speak with one of our experienced mechanics’ lien attorneys call 617.723.7700 or contact us online.