A Massachusetts Notice of Contract is the document a contractor, subcontractor, or supplier records at the registry of deeds to establish a mechanic’s lien on the property where the work is being performed. It is the first and most important step under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 254, and without a properly recorded notice there is no lien to enforce, no matter how much money you are owed. The rules split along a single line: whether your written contract is with the property owner or with someone further down the chain.
Who Can Record a Notice of Contract
Chapter 254 sets up two parallel paths. Which one applies to you depends on who signed your contract.
General Contractors Under Section 2
If you have a written contract directly with the property owner, or with someone authorized to act on the owner’s behalf, for the construction, alteration, repair, or removal of a building or other improvement, you can record a Notice of Contract in the registry of deeds for the county or district where the property sits. Once recorded, the lien attaches to the property as it appeared in the records on the filing date, securing payment for all labor and materials furnished under that contract.1General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 254 Section 2
The written contract requirement is not optional. A handshake deal will not support a Section 2 lien. Laborers who perform personal labor without a written contract have a narrower right under Section 1, which covers up to 30 days of work performed in the 90 days before filing a sworn statement.2General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 254 Section 1
Subcontractors and Suppliers Under Section 4
Subcontractors and material suppliers with a written contract with the general contractor, or with another subcontractor, file under Section 4. You use the same registry and the same filing deadlines as a general contractor, but two features make the subcontractor path harder.
First, recording the notice is not enough. You must also give actual notice to the property owner that you have filed. The lien does not attach to the property until the owner receives that notification.3General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 254 Section 4
Second, the amount you can lien is capped. A subcontractor’s lien cannot exceed what the property owner still owes the general contractor as of the date the owner receives notice of your filing. If the owner has already paid the general contractor in full before that notice arrives, the lien may attach to nothing. File and notify the owner as early as possible, because every day of delay increases the chance the owner has already released funds up the chain.3General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 254 Section 4
What the Notice Must Contain
Chapter 254 prescribes the form. A general contractor’s notice under Section 2 must identify the date of the written contract, the property owner, the contractor, whether labor or materials or both are being furnished, the type of work being performed, and a description of the property.1General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 254 Section 2
A subcontractor’s notice under Section 4 must include all of that plus a financial breakdown: the contract price, agreed change orders, pending change orders, disputed claims, and payments already received. Laborers, or their representatives, filing based on personal labor performed under a written subcontract are not required to itemize these financial details.3General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 254 Section 4
Record the notice at the registry of deeds in the county or registry district where the property is located. Recording fees track other recorded documents at Massachusetts registries.
The Filing Deadline
This is where most lien claims fail. The statute sets three possible trigger dates, and your notice must be recorded by whichever comes first:
- 60 days after a notice of substantial completion is recorded under Section 2A
- 90 days after a notice of termination is recorded under Section 2B
- 90 days after the last day you, or anyone working under you, performed labor or furnished materials on the project
These deadlines apply to both Section 2 filings by general contractors and Section 4 filings by subcontractors.1General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 254 Section 2
You can record the notice any time after the written contract is signed, even before work begins. Filing early takes deadline pressure off entirely and gives you the strongest position, since the lien attaches to the property as of the recording date. Waiting until a payment dispute erupts is the riskiest path, because by then the clock may already be running.
The 60-day trigger tied to substantial completion is the shortest, and it is the one most likely to catch a subcontractor off guard. If the owner or general contractor records a notice of substantial completion, your window compresses. Watching the registry for those filings is part of protecting your lien rights.
What Recording the Notice Does — and What Comes Next
Recording the Notice of Contract puts the world on notice that you claim a lien and fixes the date the lien attaches. It becomes part of the public land records, so anyone running a title search on the property will find it. That visibility is often enough to bring a payment dispute to the table.
But recording the notice does not, on its own, complete the process. Two more deadlines follow, and missing either one dissolves the lien automatically.
You must record a Statement of Account at the same registry — a sworn statement showing the amount owed, a property description, and the names of the owners listed in your notice of contract. The Statement of Account is due by the earliest of 90 days after a notice of substantial completion is recorded under Section 2A, 120 days after a notice of termination is recorded under Section 2B, or 120 days after the last day anyone entitled to enforce the lien performed labor or furnished materials.4General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 254 Section 8
Then you must file a civil action to enforce the lien within 90 days after recording the Statement of Account. If you do not, the lien dissolves.5General Court of Massachusetts. Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 254 Section 11
Three clocks run in sequence: notice of contract, statement of account, lawsuit. Miss any of them and the lien evaporates regardless of how much you are owed.
Mistakes That Destroy Lien Rights
The most common failure is a missed deadline. Because each stage has its own countdown, contractors juggling multiple projects easily lose track of which trigger date controls which filing. No court has authority to extend these deadlines. The Supreme Judicial Court held in Hammill-McCormick Associates, Inc. v. New England Telephone and Telegraph Co. that a mechanic’s lien is a creature of the statute and can be enforced only by following the statute precisely.6Justia Law. Hammill-McCormick Associates Inc v New England Telephone and Telegraph Company
Other common errors: recording the notice in the wrong registry district, leaving out information the statutory form requires, and, for subcontractors, failing to give actual notice to the property owner after recording. The statute does not distinguish between technical oversights and substantive failures. Strict compliance is the standard.
Losing the lien does not eliminate every remedy. You can still sue on the contract, but you become an unsecured creditor with no priority in the property. If the owner is financially distressed or has multiple creditors, the gap between a secured lien and an unsecured claim can decide whether you get paid.
If the Property Owner Files Bankruptcy
A property owner’s bankruptcy filing triggers an automatic stay under federal law that generally prohibits creditors from creating, perfecting, or enforcing liens against the debtor’s property. If you have not yet recorded your Notice of Contract or Statement of Account when the petition is filed, you may be barred from recording without first getting relief from the bankruptcy court. Federal law includes a narrow exception for perfection that relates back to a pre-petition date, but whether Massachusetts lien law fits that exception depends on the specific facts and the bankruptcy court’s reading. Filing in violation of the automatic stay can expose you to sanctions, so get legal advice before recording anything after a bankruptcy has been filed.