How to file a mechanics lien in Massachusetts

Step by step

12 steps for a subcontractor in Massachusetts.

1. 1

   Step 1: Find out who owns the property before you count any deadline

   As soon as you are asked to bid or sign — and again the day payment stops.

   There is no mechanics lien on public property in Massachusetts. Section 6 bars a lien on any land or building owned by the Commonwealth, a county, a city, a town, or a water or fire district. If the owner is a public body, everything else in this guide is the wrong track and you are on a bond claim clock instead.

   Where it goes

   The registry of deeds for the county or registry district where the land lies.

   How

   Check the deed and the owner name on record at the registry of deeds, and read the contract documents for the awarding authority. School, municipal, state and water/fire-district jobs are the common ones people get wrong.

   Proof to keep

   A copy of the recorded deed or the registry printout showing the owner of record, and the contract documents naming the awarding authority.

   If you miss it: You record a lien that cannot attach to anything, you pay to record it, and the time you spend on it is time off the 65-day bond notice clock that actually protects you.

   Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 254, § 6(opens the statute in a new tab)
2. 2

   Step 2: If the job is public, send the 65-day bond notice to the general contractor

   Within 65 days after the last day you performed labor or furnished labor, materials, equipment, appliances or transportation. Note this runs from your LAST day, the opposite of the 30-day private-job notice, which runs from your first.

   On a public job your protection is the payment bond, not a lien. If you do not have a direct contract with the general contractor (the contractor principal on the bond), you only get a claim on that bond if you send it written notice in time. This is a different statute and a different document from anything in chapter 254 — do not use lien forms for it.

   Where it goes

   To the general contractor named as principal on the payment bond. Ask the awarding authority for a copy of the bond.

   How

   Written notice to the contractor principal, stating your claim.

   Proof to keep

   Proof of delivery and the date, plus a copy of the notice and a copy of the bond. The date is the whole fight.

   What the document must contain

   • A statement of your claim — what you supplied or performed, and the amount

   If you miss it: You have no claim on the bond, and there is no lien to fall back on.

   Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 149, § 29(opens the statute in a new tab)
3. 3

   Step 3: Get your contract in writing before you start work

   Before you set foot on site, and again before you perform any change order.

   A written contract is not paperwork here — it is the lien. Section 4 gives a lien to whoever furnishes labor, materials, rental equipment or professional services 'under a written contract with a contractor, or with a subcontractor of such contractor.' Sections 2, 2C and 2D open the same way for people contracting with the owner. Without a written contract you have no lien to lose, and no deadline will save you. The one exception is an individual performing personal labor under section 1, which needs no written contract.

   Where it goes

   Keep it in your own file. Nothing gets recorded at this stage.

   How

   Signed written contract. Get change orders signed too — a verbal change order riding on a written base contract is the single most common Massachusetts argument, and you do not want to be having it.

   Proof to keep

   The signed contract, every signed change order, and the purchase orders both sides actually countersigned.

   If you miss it: No lien at all. This happens before any clock starts, so no deadline tool will warn you about it.

   Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 254, § 4 (and §§ 2, 2C, 2D)(opens the statute in a new tab)
4. 4

   Step 4: Serve the Notice of Identification within 30 days of your first day

   Within 30 days of the day you started your own performance on the project.

   If you have no direct contract with the original (general) contractor — you are working for a subcontractor, or supplying one — this notice protects the size of your claim. Without it, section 4 caps your lien at whatever the general contractor still owes the subcontractor above you, which after that subcontractor defaults is usually nothing. It also puts you on the list of people who must be mailed copies of a Notice of Substantial Completion or Notice of Termination, which is your only reliable warning that the clock has moved. If your written contract is with the owner, or with the general contractor directly, this step is not required — but sending it anyway costs a stamp and tier is easy to get wrong. A design professional serves this only if the contract is with a contractor or subcontractor; if the contract is with the owner, or you are a subconsultant to the owner's design professional, sections 2C and 2D apply to you instead and this notice does nothing for you.

   Where it goes

   To the original (general) contractor.

   How

   Certified mail, return receipt requested.

   Proof to keep

   The green card or USPS return receipt, the certified mail receipt with its date, a copy of the notice, and your dated record of your first day on the job.

   What the document must contain

   • Addressed to the general contractor, by name
   • Your name, and your role — subcontractor, vendor or design professional
   • Who you have a written contract with
   • What you are furnishing: labor, materials, rental equipment, appliances or tools, or professional services
   • The project street address and the town or city, Massachusetts
   • The amount or estimated amount of your contract. No amount need be stated for a contract to rent equipment, appliances or tools

   If you miss it: Your lien survives but is capped at whatever the subcontractor above you is still owed on that subcontract as of the day you record your Notice of Contract — frequently zero. You also stay off the mailing list for the notices that shorten your deadlines.

   Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 254, § 4 (third paragraph)(opens the statute in a new tab)
5. 5

   Step 5: Check the registry before you count any deadline

   Before you calculate a single date, and then keep checking while your claim is open.

   Two documents recorded by the other side can shorten every clock in this guide. A Notice of Substantial Completion, signed by the owner and the contractor together, cuts your Notice of Contract window to 60 days from its recording and your Statement of Account window to 90 days. A Notice of Termination, recorded by the owner when the prime contract is terminated, cuts them to 90 days and 120 days from its recording. Copies are mailed certified mail, return receipt requested — but only to people who have already recorded a Notice of Contract or already served a Notice of Identification. If you have done neither, you get nothing in the mail, and section 2A says outright that failure to notify 'shall not prejudice the rights of third parties who rely upon said notice of substantial completion in good faith.' The clock moves whether or not anyone tells you. Sections 2A and 2B do not change an individual laborer's section 1 deadline — section 8 ties that one only to the ninety days in section 1.

   Where it goes

   The registry of deeds for the county or registry district where the land lies.

   How

   Search the registry index against the property and the owner name. Do it yourself or have a title searcher do it.

   Proof to keep

   A dated printout of your search, and a copy of any Notice of Substantial Completion or Notice of Termination you find, showing its recording date — that date is what your deadline runs from.

   If you miss it: You count from your last day of work, find out later that a Notice of Substantial Completion was recorded months ago, and discover your window closed 30 days before you recorded. The lien never existed and there is no cure.

   Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 254, § 2A (and § 2B)(opens the statute in a new tab)
6. 6

   Step 6: Check whether a payment bond is already recorded

   Check before you record anything. If a bond is on record, record your Statement of Account on the normal section 8 schedule and sue within 90 days of it.

   Anyone in interest, including the owner, can record a surety bond in the amount of the contract sum before any lien is claimed. Once that bond is recorded, no lien under chapter 254 attaches at all in favour of anyone covered by it — you sue on the bond instead. Here is the trap: section 12 still measures your bond suit off the lien timetable. No suit on the bond may be started more than 90 days after you filed the Statement of Account required by section 8. So you must still record a Statement of Account, for a lien that can never attach, or you lose the bond claim too.

   Where it goes

   The registry of deeds for the county or registry district where the land lies.

   How

   Search the registry index for a recorded bond against the property.

   Proof to keep

   A copy of the recorded bond with its recording date, the surety's name, and your recorded Statement of Account.

   If you miss it: You either record a lien that cannot attach, or — worse — you skip the Statement of Account because you were told there is no lien, and then find the bond suit is time-barred 90 days after a statement you never filed.

   Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 254, § 12(opens the statute in a new tab)
7. 7

   Step 7: Record your Notice of Contract — contract with a contractor or subcontractor

   Any time after your written contract is signed — before the work is finished is fine — and no later than the earliest of: 60 days after a Notice of Substantial Completion is recorded; 90 days after a Notice of Termination is recorded; or 90 days after the last day the general contractor's side of the job furnished labor or materials to the project. Record early.

   This is the document that creates your lien. Recording it IS the lien. Section 4 covers everyone working under the general contractor or under one of its subcontractors — labor, materials, rental equipment, appliances and tools, subcontractor construction management services, and professional services. Read the deadline carefully: the 90-day branch does not run from your own last day on site. It runs from the last day the general contractor, or anyone claiming through the general contractor, furnished anything to the project. Your own last day is always on or before that, so counting from your own last day is the safe way to count — but it also means your rights can still be alive months after you demobilized. Never assume they are gone.

   Where it goes

   The registry of deeds for the county or registry district where the land lies. Berkshire, Bristol, Essex, Middlesex and Worcester counties are each split into more than one registry district.

   How

   Record it at the registry of deeds. No oath, jurat or acknowledgment is required by chapter 254 — confirm the registry's own document standards before you go.

   Proof to keep

   The recorded copy stamped with book and page (or certificate of title number) and the registry's date and time, plus your receipt. Keep the backup for every number on the form.

   What the document must contain

   • The date of the written contract
   • The names of the parties to your contract
   • A description of the work and of the land
   • Contract price
   • Agreed change orders
   • Pending change orders
   • Disputed claims
   • Payments received
   • No amount need be stated for a contract to rent equipment, appliances or tools
   • If the land is registered (Land Court) land: the certificate of title number and the volume and page of the registration book (ch. 185, § 78)

   If you miss it: You have no lien, and nothing recorded afterwards will create one.

   Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 254, § 4(opens the statute in a new tab)
8. 8

   Step 8: Tell the owner you recorded — the same day you record

   The same day you record. There is no statutory grace period and every day of delay can reduce the amount.

   Under section 4 the lien does not exist on recording alone. It arises 'upon filing or recording a notice ... and giving actual notice to the owner of such filing.' And that date is the date your lien is measured on: your lien cannot exceed what the owner still owes the general contractor as of the day the owner gets your notice. If the owner pays the general contractor in full first, a flawless lien is worth nothing. The statute sets no method and no deadline for this, which is exactly why people forget it. Every day you wait can shrink the claim. The same requirement applies to a design professional's subconsultant under section 2D.

   Where it goes

   To the owner of the property, at the address of record.

   How

   The statute does not prescribe a method, so use one you can prove: personal delivery with a signed receipt, a constable or sheriff, or certified mail return receipt requested — and ideally more than one.

   Proof to keep

   A signed receipt, a process server's return, or the green card — with the date clearly shown. This date, not the recording date, sets the ceiling on your claim.

   What the document must contain

   • That you have recorded a notice of contract
   • Enough to identify the recording — registry, date, book and page
   • A copy of the recorded notice

   If you miss it: No lien attaches at all. And if you send it late, your lien is capped at whatever is left in the pot on the later date, which may be zero.

   Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 254, § 4(opens the statute in a new tab)
9. 9

   Step 9: Record your Statement of Account

   No later than the earliest of: 90 days after a Notice of Substantial Completion is recorded; 120 days after a Notice of Termination is recorded; or 120 days after the last day the prime contract chain furnished labor or materials. You may record it before any Notice of Substantial Completion or Notice of Termination is recorded — but do not record it earlier than you need to, because your 90 days to sue starts on this date.

   This is the second recording, and it is the step most people do not know exists. Recording the Notice of Contract does not preserve the lien by itself — section 8 says liens under sections 2 and 4 'shall be dissolved' unless this statement is also recorded. It is a sworn-in-substance accounting: a just and true account of what you are owed, with all just credits given.

   Where it goes

   The registry of deeds for the county or registry district where the land lies.

   How

   Record it at the registry of deeds where your Notice of Contract was recorded.

   Proof to keep

   The recorded copy with book and page and the registry's date stamp, plus the ledger, invoices and payment history that back every number and every credit.

   What the document must contain

   • A just and true account of the amount due or to become due you
   • All just credits — every payment, backcharge and allowance you have received
   • A brief description of the property
   • The names of the owners as set forth in your notice of contract, not merely whoever owns it today
   • If the land is registered (Land Court) land: the certificate of title number and the volume and page of the registration book (ch. 185, § 78)

   If you miss it: The lien is dissolved. Everything you did before this is worthless.

   Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 254, § 8(opens the statute in a new tab)
10. 10

    Step 10: Start your lawsuit within 90 days of the Statement of Account

    Within 90 days after your Statement of Account is recorded.

    Section 11 is blunt: 'The lien shall be dissolved unless a civil action to enforce it is commenced within ninety days after the filing of the statement required by section eight.' Count from the Statement of Account — not from your Notice of Contract, and not from your last day of work. This is also why you should not record the Statement of Account earlier than you need to: the day you record it, you start your own clock to sue.

    Where it goes

    The superior court for the county where the land lies, or the district court in the judicial district where the land lies.

    How

    A civil action to enforce the lien. You will need a lawyer for this step; it is a lawsuit, not a filing.

    Proof to keep

    The date-stamped complaint and the docket number. The commencement date starts the next 30-day clock.

    What the document must contain

    • A brief description of the property sufficient to identify it
    • A statement of the amount due

    If you miss it: The lien is dissolved. You may still have a contract claim against whoever owes you, but the property is no longer security for it.

    Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 254, § 11(opens the statute in a new tab)
11. 11

    Step 11: Record an attested copy of your complaint within 30 days of suing

    Within 30 days after you commence the action.

    This is the step that catches people who did everything else right. Filing the lawsuit is not the last act. Section 5 requires an attested copy of the complaint to be filed and recorded at the registry of deeds within 30 days of commencing the action, 'or such lien shall be dissolved.' It applies to every chapter 254 lien — laborers, contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and design professionals alike. Suing on day 90 and recording the complaint on day 31 destroys a lien that was otherwise perfect.

    Where it goes

    The registry of deeds for the county or registry district where the land lies — the same office where your Notice of Contract was recorded.

    How

    Get an attested copy of the complaint from the court clerk, then record it at the registry of deeds. Ask your lawyer to calendar this the day the case is filed.

    Proof to keep

    The recorded attested copy with book and page and the registry's date stamp, and the clerk's attestation.

    What the document must contain

    • An attested copy of the complaint
    • A brief description of the property sufficient to identify it
    • A statement of the amount due
    • If the land is registered (Land Court) land: the certificate of title number and the volume and page of the registration book (ch. 185, § 78)

    If you miss it: The lien is dissolved — after you filed everything on time and won the race to court.

    Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 254, § 5(opens the statute in a new tab)
12. 12

    Step 12: If someone bonds off your lien, sue on the bond on a new clock

    Within 90 days after the LATER of: the day you filed your Statement of Account under section 8, or the day you received notice that the bond was recorded.

    Any person in interest can wipe out your recorded lien at any time by recording a surety bond in the amount of the lien. The lien is dissolved the moment the bond is recorded. You then have a claim against the bond instead — but on a deadline that can be different from the one you were tracking, and the bond gives you no rights you would not have had on the lien and takes away none of the obligors' defences.

    Where it goes

    Court. Keep the recorded bond and the surety's details.

    How

    Suit on the bond. You are entitled to be served with notice of the recording and a copy of the bond, by an officer qualified to serve civil process or by delivery to you.

    Proof to keep

    The notice of recording and the copy of the bond, with the date you received them — that date, or your Statement of Account date, sets your deadline.

    If you miss it: You lose the bond claim, and the lien it replaced is already gone.

    Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 254, § 14(opens the statute in a new tab)

Who can claim a lien in Massachusetts

Where you file

Office

Registry of Deeds for the county or registry district where the land lies

Recording fee

$105

Notarization

Not required

How it is served

Certified mail

Copies

1

Fees and office procedures change; confirm them with the recording office before you file.

What trips people up in Massachusetts

• Believing the deadline is 120 days. 120 days is the Statement of Account deadline under section 8. The Notice of Contract, which is what actually creates the lien, is due at 90 days at the very outside — and 60 days if a Notice of Substantial Completion has been recorded. A Massachusetts contractor who waits 120 days to 'file the lien' never had one.
• Working without a written contract. Sections 2, 2C, 2D and 4 all require one. Handshake jobs, verbal change orders and purchase orders nobody countersigned lose the lien before any deadline is reached. Only an individual laborer's section 1 lien survives without one.
• The 60-day ambush. The owner and the general contractor together can record a Notice of Substantial Completion under section 2A that cuts your window to 60 days from that recording. Copies go only to people who have already recorded a Notice of Contract or already served a Notice of Identification — and section 2A says failure to send them 'shall not prejudice the rights of third parties who rely upon said notice of substantial completion in good faith.' Search the registry; do not wait to be told.
• The owner's Notice of Termination. Under section 2B the owner records this when the prime contract is terminated. It cuts your Notice of Contract window to 90 days from that recording and your Statement of Account window to 120 days from it, with the same service gap.
• Recording the Notice of Contract and stopping. Section 8 dissolves the lien unless the Statement of Account is also recorded. A lien in Massachusetts takes two registry filings before you ever get to court.
• Counting the 90 days to sue from the wrong document. Section 11 runs from the Statement of Account, not the Notice of Contract and not your last day of work. Record the statement early and you have shortened your own time to sue.
• Suing on time and still losing the lien. Section 5 requires an attested copy of the complaint to be recorded within 30 days of commencing the action or the lien is dissolved. This is the most expensive footgun in the chapter, because it fires after everything else went right.
• Recording a perfect Notice of Contract and never telling the owner. Under section 4 the lien attaches only 'upon filing or recording a notice ... and giving actual notice to the owner of such filing.' No notice to the owner, no lien.
• Letting the pot empty. Section 4 caps a subcontractor's lien at what the owner still owes the general contractor as of the date the owner receives your notice of the filing. If the owner has already paid the general contractor out, a perfectly perfected lien is worth zero. Serve the owner the day you record.
• Skipping the 30-day Notice of Identification as a lower-tier claimant. The lien usually survives but is capped at whatever the subcontractor above you is still owed — often nothing after that subcontractor defaults — and you stay off the section 2A and 2B mailing lists.
• Filing a lien on public property. Section 6 bars it outright: no lien attaches to land or a building owned by the Commonwealth, a county, city, town, or water or fire district. The remedy is a payment bond claim under ch. 149, § 29 — 65-day notice to the contractor principal if you are not in direct contract with it, and a petition in equity within one year of your last day.
• Running a design professional through the subcontractor timeline. Sections 2C and 2D have only two deadline branches — there is no Notice of Termination branch — and the Statement of Account is due within 30 days after the last day the Notice of Contract could have been recorded, not 120 days from last services.
• Telling a laborer they have 90 days from their last day. Section 1 is a look-back: only 30 days' work performed in the 90 days before the statement is filed is lienable, so the real clock runs from the earliest unpaid day you want covered.
• Recording in the wrong registry. The filing goes to the registry for the county or district where the land lies, and Berkshire, Bristol, Essex, Middlesex and Worcester are each split into more than one registry district (ch. 36, § 1). If the land is registered (Land Court) land, the document is filed with the assistant recorder and must carry the certificate of title number and the volume and page of the registration book (ch. 185, § 78).
• Assuming your own last day started the clock. Section 2(iii) runs from the last work of the claimant 'or any person by, through or under him'; section 4(iii) runs from the last day the section 2 claimant or anyone under that claimant furnished anything to the project. Your own last day is always on or before that, so counting from it is safe — but it also means a claimant whose own work ended months ago may still have live rights. Nobody should be told their Massachusetts rights are gone based on their own last day alone.
• Not running title immediately before you record. Sections 2 and 4 fix the lien on the interest in the property 'as appears of record' on the day the notice is filed. A conveyance, a refinance or a transfer to a new entity in between changes what your lien can reach. Under section 7 a mortgage recorded before your notice beats your lien for amounts already advanced or unconditionally committed, and a buyer whose deed was recorded before your notice takes free of it.
• Treating a recorded lien as settled. Under section 15A any person in interest — owner, contractor or mortgage holder — can apply to the superior or district court for an order summarily discharging the lien, on an order of notice served as little as seven days before the hearing. Grounds include that the notice was not filed in accordance with the chapter.
• Filing under the wrong section. Section 2 is for a written contract with the owner; section 4 is for a written contract with a contractor or a subcontractor of that contractor. The deadlines are identical either way, so getting it wrong is not a missed date — but it is exactly the kind of formal defect a section 15A discharge motion is built to attack.

After you file

• Recording the Notice of Contract is roughly one quarter of the job. Three things still stand between you and a live lien: the section 8 Statement of Account, a lawsuit within 90 days of recording that statement (section 11), and an attested copy of the complaint recorded within 30 days of filing suit (section 5). Each one independently dissolves the lien if you miss it. Source(opens the statute in a new tab)
• Keep watching the registry. A Notice of Substantial Completion (section 2A) or Notice of Termination (section 2B) recorded after your Notice of Contract still moves your Statement of Account deadline forward. Once you have recorded a Notice of Contract you are entitled to be mailed a copy by certified mail, return receipt requested — but a copy going astray does not stop the clock. Source(opens the statute in a new tab)
• Anyone in interest can dissolve your lien at any moment by recording a surety bond in the amount of the lien (section 14). The lien is gone the day it is recorded. You must then sue on the bond within 90 days after the later of the day you filed your section 8 statement or the day you received notice of the recording. You are entitled to be served with that notice and a copy of the bond. Source(opens the statute in a new tab)
• Any person in interest — including the owner, the contractor or a mortgage holder — can apply to the superior court for the county, or the district court for the judicial district, for an order summarily discharging your lien. The show-cause order need only be served seven days before the hearing, so you can have very little time to respond. Grounds include that the notice was not filed in accordance with the chapter and that you have no valid lien given the character of the work. Source(opens the statute in a new tab)
• Your lien's priority is set by what was already on record. A mortgage duly recorded before your Notice of Contract beats your lien to the extent of amounts actually advanced or unconditionally committed before that date, and a purchaser other than the original owner whose deed was recorded before your notice takes the property free of your lien (section 7). A perfected lien and a collectible lien are not the same thing. Source(opens the statute in a new tab)
• When you are paid, discharge the lien yourself. Section 10 lets you dissolve your own lien by recording a notice signed by you stating that the lien is dissolved, at the registry where the Notice of Contract was recorded. Leaving a satisfied lien on record clouds the owner's title and invites a fight you have no reason to have. Source(opens the statute in a new tab)
• Budget for the recordings. Massachusetts recording fees are set by statute (ch. 262, § 38 sets a $50 fee for entering and recording a paper) and registries collect additional statutory surcharges on top, so the amount you pay at the counter is higher than the statutory base. A completed Massachusetts lien takes at least three separate recordings — Notice of Contract, Statement of Account, attested complaint — plus a discharge at the end. Call your registry for the current per-document total before you go. Source(opens the statute in a new tab)
• This guide describes what the statute requires. It is not legal advice about your job, and Massachusetts courts read chapter 254 strictly. Bring the statute sections and your dated proof to a Massachusetts construction lawyer before the first deadline, not after it.