How to file a mechanics lien in Nebraska

Step by step

14 steps for a subcontractor in Nebraska.

1. 1

   Step 1: Read your contract for a lien waiver before you sign it

   Before you sign the contract, and before you start work.

   In Nebraska a lien waiver you sign before you ever start work is fully binding. It needs nothing given in return. A waiver clause buried in a subcontract can wipe out every right in this guide before your first day on the job.

   Where it goes

   Your own contract file — nothing is filed with anyone.

   How

   Read the whole contract and every exhibit. A written waiver signed by you waives all your lien rights on that improvement unless the waiver is specifically limited to a particular lien right or a particular portion of the work. Accepting a promissory note is not a waiver unless the note says so.

   Proof to keep

   A complete signed copy of the contract with all exhibits, plus any separate waiver forms you signed.

   If you miss it: You can lose all lien rights on the project before you do a single hour of work, and nothing later in this guide will bring them back.

   Neb. Rev. Stat. § 52-144(opens the statute in a new tab)
2. 2

   Step 2: Confirm whether the land is publicly owned

   Before you start work, or as soon as payment becomes a worry.

   No construction lien attaches to real estate owned by the state, a county, a city or village, or any other government agency or political subdivision. Public jobs are protected by a payment bond instead, and that bond runs on a completely different clock.

   Where it goes

   County register of deeds for the county where the land sits.

   How

   Ask who holds title, and check the register of deeds records for the property. If the owner is a government body, stop working on a lien and go to the bond steps below.

   Proof to keep

   A note of who owns the land and how you confirmed it.

   If you miss it: You record a lien that legally cannot attach, and you burn time that belonged to the four-month bond notice, which is your only real remedy on a public job.

   Neb. Rev. Stat. § 52-132(opens the statute in a new tab)
3. 3

   Step 3: Check the county records for a recorded notice of surety bond

   Early in the job, and again before you spend money preparing a lien.

   If the owner or the prime contractor buys a surety bond and records a notice of surety bond, no lien attaches to the property for anyone claiming through that prime contractor. Your claim moves off the land and onto the bond. Different target, different deadlines, and nothing about the 120-day lien clock applies any more.

   Where it goes

   County register of deeds where the land sits; then the surety company named in the notice.

   How

   Search the property records. A recorded notice of surety bond is signed by the contractor or owner and by the surety company, and names the surety company and a person on whom service of process may be made. If one exists: give the prime contractor written notice of the amount due within 90 days after you complete your performance if you have no direct contract with the prime, and sue the surety within one year after you complete your performance, unless the bond itself allows longer.

   Proof to keep

   A copy of the recorded notice of surety bond, and proof of the 90-day notice you sent the prime contractor.

   If you miss it: You spend your 120 days perfecting a lien that cannot attach to anything, and you blow past the 90-day notice and the one-year suit deadline that actually govern your claim.

   Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 52-141, 52-150(opens the statute in a new tab)
4. 4

   Step 4: On railroad, canal, bridge, viaduct or ditch work, use the shorter deadlines

   90 days from the date the last material was furnished or the last labor performed if you contracted directly (principal contractor). 60 days from that same date if you are a subcontractor. For railway subcontractors specifically, 60 days from the last day of the month in which the labor was done or the material furnished.

   Nebraska has a second, older lien law that still applies to railroad and similar utility construction. Its deadlines are much shorter than the 120 days everyone quotes, and it is the one place in Nebraska where a deadline runs from the end of a month you worked.

   Where it goes

   As directed by §§ 52-115 to 52-117 for that class of work.

   How

   File a statement of the claim under the railroad lien sections rather than the Construction Lien Act. Because two schemes can look like they overlap, have a lawyer confirm which one governs your job before you rely on either date.

   Proof to keep

   Dated records of your last labor and last material delivery, and the filed statement of claim.

   If you miss it: You lose the lien. A rail or utility-line contractor who counts to 120 days is 30 to 60 days late.

   Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 52-115 to 52-117 (deadlines at § 52-117)(opens the statute in a new tab)
5. 5

   Step 5: Serve the Notice of Right to Assert Lien on an owner-occupied home

   As soon as you sign your contract. Nebraska sets no day count — the statute lets you serve it any time after you enter the contract — but every day you wait can shrink what you collect. Do not wait for first delivery.

   When the owner who signed the construction contract lives in the home (or intends to), your lien is capped at the LESSER of what you are owed and what the owner still owed the general contractor on the day the owner received this notice. If the owner already paid the GC in full, a timely, flawless lien is worth $0. Serving this notice early is the only thing that protects the amount. You need it only if you did not contract directly with the owner — anyone who contracts directly with the owner is a prime contractor and is exempt, whether they are a GC, a supplier or an architect.

   Where it goes

   The contracting owner — the person who signed the improvement contract. Notice to someone held out as the contracting owner, or delivered to an address the owner held out, is effective against the owner.

   How

   Written notice delivered to the contracting owner. Send it certified mail so you can prove the date it arrived, because that arrival date is what fixes the cap.

   Proof to keep

   The certified mail receipt and the signed return card showing the date the owner received it, plus a dated copy of the notice itself. The receipt date is the number that caps your claim.

   What the document must contain

   • Your name and the address where the owner and others may send you communications
   • The name and address of the person you contracted with
   • The name of the owner against whom a lien is or may be claimed
   • A general description of the services or materials you have provided or will provide
   • A description sufficient to identify the real estate
   • A statement that you are entitled to record a lien
   • The amount unpaid to you, whether or not it is due yet, or a good faith estimate if the contract fixes no amount
   • The warning statement about possible double liability required by § 52-135(1)(h)

   If you miss it: Your lien still attaches — this notice is NOT a condition of having a lien. What you lose is money: your recovery is limited to whatever the owner still owed the general contractor when the notice arrived, which can be zero. Record your lien within 120 days regardless; that deadline is untouched.

   Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 52-135(1), 52-136(2), 52-129(opens the statute in a new tab)
6. 6

   Step 6: Ask the owner in writing to warn you before any notice of termination takes effect

   Optional

   Any time during the job. Send it with your Notice of Right to Assert Lien so it is one trip.

   The owner can record a notice of termination that ends the notice of commencement, with a termination date as little as 30 days after recording. Lien claims not recorded by that date can be defeated by a sale of the property — even though your 120 days has not run. The owner only has to warn claimants who asked to be warned.

   Where it goes

   The contracting owner.

   How

   A written request to the owner. If it is not part of your Notice of Right to Assert Lien, it must carry the same identifying information listed in § 52-135(1)(a) through (e). Owners who record a termination must send a copy at least three weeks before the termination date to every claimant who asked.

   Proof to keep

   Certified mail receipt and a dated copy of the request.

   What the document must contain

   • Your name and the address for communications to you
   • The name and address of the person you contracted with
   • The name of the owner against whom a lien is or may be claimed
   • A general description of the services or materials
   • A description sufficient to identify the real estate

   If you miss it: You may never hear that your window was cut short, and learn about it only after the property has been transferred out from under your claim.

   Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 52-135(2), 52-146(opens the statute in a new tab)
7. 7

   Step 7: Record the lien within 120 days of your own last day of work

   Within 120 days after your own final furnishing of services or materials. It also has to be after you entered the contract. Punch-list, warranty, corrective or trivial return trips generally do not restart this clock — do not count on them.

   This is the step that creates the lien. In Nebraska the lien does not exist until it is recorded — recording is the only condition of the lien arising. The clock runs from the last day YOU furnished services or materials, not from when the project finished.

   Where it goes

   The register of deeds for the county where the land is situated. 'Recording' means presenting the document there and having it accepted and either logged or given an identifying number.

   How

   Present the signed lien to the register of deeds. Fees are set by statute, not by the county: $10 for the first page and $6 for each additional page, so a typical two- or three-page lien runs about $16 to $22. The statute requires only that the lien be signed by the claimant — no oath, verification or acknowledgment. Notarize it anyway: it costs a few dollars, and a recording rejected on day 119 cannot be fixed.

   Proof to keep

   The file-stamped copy showing the recording date and the instrument or book-and-page number, plus the fee receipt. Also keep your own dated delivery tickets, time records and daily logs proving your last furnishing date.

   What the document must contain

   • A description of the real estate subject to the lien, sufficient to identify it — use the legal description; a street address alone is not enough
   • The name of the person against whose interest in the real estate the lien is claimed
   • Your name and address
   • The name and address of the person you contracted with
   • A general description of the services performed or to be performed, or materials furnished, and the contract price for them
   • The amount unpaid, or a good faith estimate if no amount has been fixed
   • The time the last services or materials were furnished — this is the date your 120 days is measured against
   • Your signature as the claimant

   If you miss it: You have no lien at all. The lien does not attach and cannot be enforced, and there is no cure, no extension and no grace period.

   Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 52-137(1), 52-147, 52-131(2), 52-127(13); fees at § 33-109(opens the statute in a new tab)
8. 8

   Step 8: Send a copy of the recorded lien to the owner within 10 days

   Within 10 days after the lien is recorded.

   After recording, mail the contracting owner a copy of the recorded lien. On an owner-occupied home this copy does double duty: it is a compliance step, and it may be the event that fixes how much your lien is worth.

   Where it goes

   The contracting owner.

   How

   Certified mail, so you have a dated receipt.

   Proof to keep

   Certified mail receipt and return card, with the copy you sent.

   What the document must contain

   • A copy of the lien as recorded, showing the recording information

   If you miss it: The statute places this duty inside a section that applies only where the contracting owner is a protected party, so the consequence on a commercial job is not settled by the statute's text. Send it on every job — it costs a stamp, and on an owner-occupied home it is tied to the amount you can recover.

   Neb. Rev. Stat. § 52-135(3)(opens the statute in a new tab)
9. 9

   Step 9: On a public job, serve the bond notice on the prime contractor within four months

   Within four months from the date you did the last of the labor or furnished the last of the material. Count four calendar months, not 120 days.

   On public work there is no lien — there is a payment bond. If you have no contract, written or implied, directly with the prime contractor who furnished the bond, you must give that prime contractor written notice before you can claim on the bond. If you do have a direct contract with the prime, you do not need this notice.

   Where it goes

   The prime contractor who furnished the bond.

   How

   Registered or certified mail, postage prepaid, addressed to the contractor at any place the contractor maintains an office or conducts business, or at the contractor's residence.

   Proof to keep

   Registered or certified mail receipt showing the mailing date and address, plus a copy of the notice.

   What the document must contain

   • The amount claimed
   • The name of the party to whom the material was furnished or supplied, or for whom the labor was done or performed

   If you miss it: You lose the right to sue on the bond, and there is no lien to fall back on because public property cannot be liened.

   Neb. Rev. Stat. § 52-118.01(opens the statute in a new tab)
10. 10

    Step 10: On a public job, sue on the bond inside the window

    Not until 90 days after the day you did the last of your labor or furnished the last of your material. And not after one year from the date of final settlement of the principal contract.

    The public-works bond has both a floor and a ceiling. You have to wait before suing, and then there is a hard outer bar that is much shorter than the two years private lien claimants get.

    Where it goes

    Court. The 'final settlement of the principal contract' date is the one that ends your window — find out when it happened, because it is set by the public owner's dealings with the prime, not by your work.

    How

    File suit in your own name as the party claiming the benefit of the bond.

    Proof to keep

    Your four-month notice proof, dated records of your last labor and material, and whatever documents the public body has fixing the final settlement date.

    If you miss it: The suit is barred. Note that the 90 days is a waiting period before you may sue, not a deadline — do not mistake it for one.

    Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 52-118.01, 52-118.02(opens the statute in a new tab)
11. 11

    Step 11: If anyone demands that you sue, you have 30 days

    Within 30 days after you receive the written demand.

    This is the trap that kills good Nebraska liens. An owner, a lender holding a security interest, or any other person with an interest in the property can hand you a written demand to start a lawsuit. From the moment you receive it, your two years is gone and you have 30 days.

    Where it goes

    Court for the lawsuit; the same county register of deeds for the affidavit.

    How

    Two ways out. Either file the judicial proceeding to foreclose the lien, or record an affidavit that the total contract price is not yet due under the contract you recorded the lien for. The affidavit is recorded in the same office where the lien was recorded, refers to the lien by its record location, and gives the names of the owner and the claimant.

    Proof to keep

    The demand itself with the envelope and the date you received it, and either the file-stamped complaint or the recorded affidavit.

    What the document must contain

    • If recording the affidavit: a statement that the total contract price is not yet due under the contract for which the lien was recorded
    • A reference to the recorded lien by its record location
    • The names of the owner and the claimant

    If you miss it: The lien lapses. Your recorded, timely, perfect lien is gone, and any countdown telling you that you have two years left is wrong the moment that demand lands in your hands.

    Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 52-140(2), 52-152(opens the statute in a new tab)
12. 12

    Step 12: Foreclose the lien within two years of recording

    Within two years after the date the lien was recorded — unless a written demand under the previous step has already cut it to 30 days.

    A recorded lien stays enforceable for two years after it was recorded. If you start a judicial proceeding while the lien is still effective, the lien continues for as long as that case is pending.

    Where it goes

    Court. Count two calendar years from your recording date, and file early — do not shave it.

    How

    A civil action. The ordinary rules for civil actions apply. All claimants with recorded liens may join as plaintiffs, and those who do not join may be brought in as defendants. The court determines what is owed to each claimant and directs foreclosure against the real estate.

    Proof to keep

    The file-stamped complaint showing the filing date, and your recorded lien with its recording date.

    If you miss it: The lien is no longer enforceable. Your contract claim against whoever hired you may survive on its own terms, but the security against the property is gone.

    Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 52-140(1), 52-155(opens the statute in a new tab)
13. 13

    Step 13: Release the lien once you are paid

    Once you have been paid what the lien secures.

    When the debt is satisfied, take the lien off the record. Refusing to release a lien is one of the things a court can punish.

    Where it goes

    The same county register of deeds where the lien was recorded.

    How

    Record a signed statement of the record claimant stating that the lien is released. The document has to refer to the original lien by its record location. You can also record a partial release that reduces the amount or narrows the property affected.

    Proof to keep

    The file-stamped release, and the record of payment that triggered it.

    What the document must contain

    • A signed statement by the record claimant that the lien is released
    • A reference to the recorded lien by its record location

    If you miss it: If you recorded in bad faith, overstated what you were entitled to, or refuse to execute a release, a court may declare your lien void and award damages to the owner or anyone else injured — including the cost of correcting the record and reasonable attorney's fees. Failing to discharge a lien can also be charged as a Class II misdemeanor.

    Neb. Rev. Stat. §§ 52-154, 52-157(2)-(3), 52-124(opens the statute in a new tab)
14. 14

    Step 14: Answer other claimants' information requests on time

    Optional

    Prime contractors: within 10 days of the request. All other claimants: within 5 days of the request.

    On an owner-occupied home, claimants owe each other information. If another claimant asks, you have to answer, and there is a fixed price for ignoring it.

    Where it goes

    The claimant who asked.

    How

    In writing. A prime contractor must give a description of the real estate being improved sufficient to identify it, the name and address of the contracting owner, and bond information if there is a bond. Any other claimant must give the name of the person who contracted for the claimant's materials or services.

    Proof to keep

    A dated copy of your response and proof you sent it.

    What the document must contain

    • Prime contractor: description of the real estate sufficient to identify it; name and address of the contracting owner; surety bond information if applicable
    • Other claimants: the name of the person who contracted for your materials or services

    If you miss it: You are liable for actual damages, or $200 as liquidated damages. This duty applies only where the improvement contract involves a protected party.

    Neb. Rev. Stat. § 52-143(opens the statute in a new tab)

Who can claim a lien in Nebraska

Where you file

Office

County Register of Deeds

Recording fee

$10–$28

Notarization

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 Nebraska

• Counting 120 days from project completion. The clock runs from YOUR own final furnishing (§ 52-137(1)). A sub who finished in March and watches the job wrap up in November lost the lien in July. Any calendar showing you the project's completion date next to your lien deadline is inviting this mistake.
• Trusting the two-year enforcement window after a demand arrives. A written demand from an owner, a lender, or anyone else with an interest in the property collapses two years to 30 days from receipt (§ 52-140(2)). This is the most common way a properly recorded Nebraska lien dies. The day that letter arrives, the countdown you were watching is wrong.
• Serving the Notice of Right to Assert Lien late on an owner-occupied home. Your lien gets capped at what the owner still owed the general contractor when the notice arrived (§ 52-136(2)(b)). If the homeowner already paid the GC in full, you have a valid, timely lien worth nothing. There is no deadline attached to this loss, which is exactly why nobody sees it coming.
• Sorting jobs into 'residential' and 'commercial'. The test is occupancy, not building type (§ 52-129). An owner-occupied fourplex is protected. A condo unit stays protected even in a 200-unit development. An investor-owned duplex may not be protected at all. When in doubt, serve the notice — over-serving costs a stamp.
• Signing the subcontract without reading the waiver. Pre-work lien waivers are valid and binding in Nebraska, need no consideration, and wipe out all lien rights on the improvement unless specifically limited (§ 52-144). The rights may already be gone before day one.
• Assuming timely means first in line. Attachment and priority turn on the notice of commencement (§ 52-137(2)-(3)). A lien recorded more than 30 days after the last notice of commencement lapses relates back only to 31 days after the termination date, putting you behind lenders and judgment creditors who came in between. Meeting the deadline and holding a lien worth collecting are two different things.
• Not checking for a recorded notice of surety bond. If the owner or prime contractor recorded one, no lien attaches to the property at all for anyone claiming through that prime (§ 52-141(1)) — and you are instead on a 90-day notice and a one-year suit clock against the surety. Nothing about your lien paperwork will tell you this; only the property records will.
• Recording a lien on a public job. Public property cannot be liened (§ 52-132). The lien is void on arrival and the time went missing from the four months you had to notice the bond (§ 52-118.01).
• Letting someone else sign. The statute requires the lien to be signed by the claimant (§ 52-147). Do not let a form service or a representative sign it for you.
• Rounding the number up. Recording in bad faith, overstating the amount, or refusing to release can get the lien declared void plus damages and the owner's attorney's fees (§ 52-157(2)-(3)). Claim what you can document.
• Using a street address as the property description. The lien needs a description sufficient to identify the real estate (§ 52-147). Pull the legal description from the deed or the county records.
• Treating a missed preliminary notice as the end. It is not. Recording within 120 days is the only condition of the lien arising (§ 52-131(2)), and the notice is not a precondition to the lien attaching. If you missed the notice, you still record — and you still record inside 120 days.
• Applying the 120-day rule to railroad, canal, bridge, viaduct or ditch work. That work runs under a separate statute with 90 days for a principal contractor and 60 days for a subcontractor, and for railway subcontractors the clock starts at the end of the month the work was done (§ 52-117).
• Forgetting the 10-day copy to the owner after recording (§ 52-135(3)). Recording feels like the finish line. It is not.

After you file

• Mail the owner a copy of the recorded lien within 10 days (§ 52-135(3)). Certified mail, keep the receipt.
• Open your mail. A written demand to institute judicial proceedings from the owner, a lender, or anyone with an interest in the property gives you 30 days from receipt to either file the foreclosure suit or record an affidavit that the total contract price is not yet due (§ 52-140(2), § 52-152(2)). Write the receipt date on the envelope and keep it.
• Watch for the owner substituting collateral. Anyone with an interest in the property can release the land from your lien by depositing cash, a certified check, a bank obligation or a surety bond with the clerk of the district court equal to the lien amounts plus 15%, then recording the clerk's certificate (§ 52-142). Your lien rights transfer from the real estate to that deposit — you still have to establish your claim, and the court then orders payment out of the deposit or judgment against the surety.
• Your lien stays enforceable for two years after recording, and if you start the foreclosure while it is still effective, it continues while the case is pending (§ 52-140(1), (3)).
• You can amend the recorded lien. During the original recording period you can amend generally; after that you can still amend to reduce the amount, reduce the property affected, or apportion among subdivision lots. Any amendment must refer to the original lien's recording information (§ 52-148).
• Foreclosure is an ordinary civil action. Other claimants with recorded liens can join as plaintiffs or be joined as defendants, and the court determines what is owed to each and directs foreclosure (§ 52-155).
• Being timely does not guarantee you get paid first. A construction lien takes the priority of a purchaser for value without knowledge who recorded when the lien attached, and earlier recorded security interests keep priority for certain later advances — including advances actually used to pay for the improvement (§ 52-139).
• On an owner-occupied home, answer information requests from other claimants: 10 days if you are the prime contractor, 5 days for everyone else, or you owe actual damages or $200 (§ 52-143).
• When you are paid, record a signed release referring to the lien by its record location (§ 52-154). Refusing to release exposes you to a void lien plus damages and attorney's fees (§ 52-157), and failure to discharge can be charged as a Class II misdemeanor (§ 52-124).