Nebraska Mechanics Lien Filing: Deadline, Contents, and Owner Notice

To file a mechanics lien in Nebraska, you must record a signed, notarized lien claim with the Register of Deeds in the county where the property sits within 120 days of your last work or delivery, then send a copy to the contracting owner within ten days of recording. The claim itself has to carry specific information the statute requires, and residential projects add a pre-recording notice step. The Nebraska Construction Lien Act, at sections 52-125 through 52-159 of the Revised Statutes, controls every step.¹ Get the details right and you have a security interest in the property that clouds its title. Get them wrong and the lien can be thrown out entirely.

Who Is Eligible to File

Anyone who furnishes services or materials under a real estate improvement contract can claim a construction lien to secure the unpaid contract price.² That covers prime contractors who dealt directly with the owner, subcontractors hired by other contractors, and material suppliers. Design professionals qualify too. A “real estate improvement contract” includes preparing plans, surveys, and drawings for a change to real property, and the lien right exists even if those plans are never used.³

You need a contract. Nebraska courts have consistently held that a construction lien is not valid without an agreement between the parties.² The contract can be written or oral so long as it establishes the scope of work and the price, but proving an oral agreement in court is much harder than producing a signed document.

The 120-Day Deadline

A construction lien does not attach and cannot be enforced unless the claimant records it within 120 days after their final furnishing of services or materials.⁴ This is the single hardest deadline in the process. Miss it by one day and your lien rights are gone.

The clock starts on the last date you performed substantial work or delivered materials. Minor punch-list items and warranty callbacks generally do not reset the clock, so treating a late touch-up visit as an extension of the deadline is a trap. The relevant date is the final furnishing of services or materials, not minor follow-up work.² If your work on the project was finishing in stages, pick the date conservatively.

What the Lien Claim Must Contain

The lien claim is a specific document, not a letter. Every claim must include:

The legal description of the property, taken directly from the deed or title records
The name of the person whose interest in the property is being liened
A description of the services or materials provided
The name and address of the person with whom the claimant contracted
The total contract price
The specific amount that remains unpaid⁵

Errors in the legal description or the property owner’s name are the most common reasons liens get dismissed. Pull the legal description from the deed or title records rather than tax rolls or online map tools, which sometimes abbreviate it. Check the owner’s name against county records before filing. The claim must be signed and notarized.

Where to Record and What It Costs

You record the completed claim with the Register of Deeds in the county where the property sits. The document can be submitted in person or by mail. Nebraska’s recording fee is $10 for the first page and $6 for each additional page.⁶ Most single-page lien claims cost $10 to record.

Notifying the Owner After You Record

Within ten days after recording, the claimant must send a copy of the recorded lien to the contracting owner.⁷ The statute does not prescribe a delivery method, but certified mail with return receipt requested is the practical standard because it creates a paper trail. Without proof of timely delivery, the lien is vulnerable to a challenge for defective notice.

Residential Projects: Notice of Right to Assert a Lien

Nebraska adds a protection for certain homeowners it calls “protected parties.” A protected party is an individual who contracts to buy, improve, or place a mortgage on residential real estate they occupy or intend to occupy as their home, and the definition extends to a person obligated on the contract who is related to someone who occupies or intends to occupy the residence.⁸

When the contracting owner is a protected party, a claimant may send a Notice of Right to Assert a Lien before recording the actual lien. The notice must be in writing and must include:

The names and addresses of the claimant and the opposing party
A general description of the services or materials
The name of the property owner
The unpaid amount or a good-faith estimate
A warning that if the owner did not contract directly with the person giving the notice, future payments on the project may expose them to double liability⁷

That double-liability warning is the real pressure point for subcontractors on a home: once the owner receives the notice, any payment they make to the prime contractor without accounting for the subcontractor’s claim could leave them paying twice. The notice is not mandatory, but skipping it on a residential job with a protected-party owner gives up an important tool for protecting your payment priority.

How Long the Lien Lasts

A recorded construction lien stays enforceable for two years after the date it was recorded.⁹ If you do not file a foreclosure lawsuit within that window, the lien lapses. Foreclosure follows the rules of a regular civil action, and the court can direct foreclosure using any method available for a security interest in real estate.¹⁰ A lawsuit filed while the lien is still effective continues the lien throughout the entire proceeding.

The two-year window can be shortened against you. Any person with an interest in the property, including the owner or a mortgage holder, can serve a written demand on the claimant requiring them to begin a judicial proceeding. Once that demand is received, the claimant has 30 days to either file a lawsuit or record an affidavit stating the full contract price is not yet due.⁹ Do neither in 30 days and the lien lapses. If the owner pays before suit is filed, you must record a release or discharge to clear the title.

Penalties for Getting It Wrong

Filing a lien in bad faith, overstating what is owed, or refusing to release a paid lien all carry consequences. A court can declare the lien void and award damages to the owner or any other injured party, including the costs of correcting the public record and reasonable attorney fees.¹¹ To trigger those penalties, the court must find the claimant knew the lien was invalid or overstated, or acted with reckless disregard of those facts. An honest calculation error, standing alone, will not usually meet that bar.

Failing to discharge a lien after receiving payment is treated more seriously still: it is a Class II misdemeanor under Nebraska law.¹² That is a criminal offense, not just civil liability. Once you have been paid, record the release.

1
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 52-125 – Act, How Cited
2
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 52-131 – Construction Lien; Existence; Amount; Priority; Enforcement
3
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 52-127 – Terms, Defined
4
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 52-137 – Attachment and Enforcement of Lien; Recording Required; Time Limitation; Attachment, When
5
Cass County, Nebraska. Construction Lien
6
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 33-109 – Register of Deeds; Fees
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Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 52-135 – Notice of Right to Assert Lien; Contents; Optional Notice to Contracting Owner; Notice, When Effective; Applicability of Section
8
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 52-129 – Terms, Defined
9
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 52-140 – Duration of Lien; Demand to Institute Judicial Proceedings; Continuation of Lien During Pendency of Proceeding
10
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 52-155 – Proceedings; Rules Applicable; Claimants; Joinder
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Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 52-157 – Remedies for Wrongful Conduct
12
Nebraska Legislature. Nebraska Code 52-124 – Failure to Apply Payments for Lawful Claims; Failure to Discharge Lien; Penalty