Nevada Lien Laws: Notices, Recording, and Foreclosure

To file a Nevada mechanics lien, deliver a Notice of Right to Lien at the start of your work, record a verified Notice of Lien with the county recorder within 90 days of the project’s completion, serve a copy on the owner within 30 days of recording, and file a foreclosure lawsuit within six months or the lien expires. Nevada Revised Statutes Chapter 108 governs the entire process, and each deadline is strict: miss one and an otherwise valid claim disappears.

Who Can File

Nevada defines a lien claimant broadly. Under NRS 108.2214, anyone who provides work, materials, or equipment worth $500 or more for the construction, alteration, or repair of a property qualifies, including general contractors, subcontractors at any tier, laborers, material suppliers, equipment rental companies, architects, engineers, land surveyors, and geologists.¹ The $500 is cumulative across the project, not per invoice.

One requirement is absolute. If your work requires a Nevada license, you must actually hold that license to claim a lien. NRS 108.222 states that a contractor or professional required to be licensed will “only have a lien … if the contractor or professional is licensed to perform the work.”² Courts will not reach the merits of an unlicensed claimant’s lien. The Nevada State Contractors Board requires licensure for virtually all construction work in the state, including subcontracting and specialty trades.³

Send the Notice of Right to Lien on Day One

Before you can record a lien, most claimants must deliver a Notice of Right to Lien to the property owner. NRS 108.245 requires every lien claimant except those who perform only labor to deliver this notice in person or by certified mail after the first delivery of materials or performance of work.⁴ Subcontractors and material suppliers must also send a copy to the prime contractor.

People often misread this as a 31-day deadline. It isn’t. The statute lets you send the notice “at any time” after you begin work. The 31 days operates differently: your lien covers the work and materials you provided during the 31 days before you sent the notice, plus everything from the notice date forward.⁴ Wait three months and you lose lien rights on everything outside that final 31-day lookback window. Send it on your first day. There is no downside to sending early.

Pure labor-only claimants are exempt from this preliminary notice, but still must follow every other step below.⁴

Residential Projects Need a 15-Day Notice of Intent

Nevada adds an extra step for work on residential properties, including single-family homes and apartment buildings. Under NRS 108.226, every lien claimant except laborers must serve a 15-day Notice of Intent to Lien on both the property owner and the prime contractor before recording the actual lien.² This notice must contain substantially the same information that goes into the lien itself.

Skip this on a residential project and your lien cannot be perfected or enforced. The 15 days functions as a last chance to settle before the title is encumbered, and serving the notice adds 15 days to the standard recording deadline, which helps when negotiations are still live.

What Goes in the Notice of Lien

The Notice of Lien is the document that actually creates the lien on the property. NRS 108.226 requires it to contain:

The lienable amount after all credits and offsets — the unpaid balance, not the original contract price.
The name of the property owner, if known.
The name of the person or company that hired you or to whom you supplied materials or equipment.
A legal description sufficient to identify the correct parcel.
A verification under oath by the claimant or another person with knowledge of the facts.

The verification is sworn testimony, and anyone who knowingly makes false statements in a notice of lien faces penalties under the statute.⁵ The notice does not have to be notarized to be recorded, though many claimants have it notarized as a precaution. Errors in the property description or the dollar amount are the most common reasons courts throw out liens, so check the legal description against county records before filing.

Record Within 90 Days of Project Completion

This is where most lien claims fail. Nevada gives you 90 days to record your Notice of Lien, measured from whichever of these events happens last: completion of the overall work of improvement, your last delivery of materials or equipment, or the last day you performed work on the project.⁵ “Completion of the work of improvement” means the entire project, not just your scope. Even if you finished your part months ago, the clock may not have started.

One exception shortens everything. If the owner records a valid Notice of Completion, your deadline drops to 40 days from the date that notice is recorded. Owners use this tool to accelerate resolution. Subcontractors and suppliers should monitor county recorder filings, because a Notice of Completion can cut your time in half without anyone telling you directly.

You record at the county recorder’s office in the county where the property sits. Under NRS 247.305, the base recording fee is $25 per document, with county supplemental fees that can push the total into the $30 to $43 range.⁶ Most recorder offices accept in-person and electronic filings.

Serve the Recorded Lien on the Owner Within 30 Days

Recording with the county is not the end. Nevada requires you to serve a copy of the recorded Notice of Lien on the property owner within 30 days of the recording date.² Use certified mail with a return receipt and keep the green card. If this goes to court, you will need proof of service.

File Suit to Foreclose Within Six Months

A recorded lien does not sit on the property title indefinitely. Under NRS 108.233, the lien expires six months after the recording date unless you file a lawsuit to foreclose within that window. Once the six months lapse, the lien is expired for all purposes and no longer provides actual or constructive notice to anyone.² There is no grace period and no way to revive an expired lien.

The only way to extend is through a written extension agreement signed by both the lien claimant and the property owner or other party in interest. The extension must be recorded with the county recorder before the original six months run out, and it cannot push the total beyond one year from the original recording date.² Owners rarely agree to extensions.

File the foreclosure lawsuit in a court within the county where the property is located. At the time of filing, record a Notice of Pendency (lis pendens) linking the lawsuit to the title, and publish a notice of foreclosure once per week for three consecutive weeks in a local newspaper.² If other liens are recorded against the same property, mail or hand-deliver a copy of the published foreclosure notice to those other claimants.

Where Your Lien Sits in Line

A lien is only as valuable as its priority position. If the property sells at foreclosure and the proceeds don’t cover everyone, priority decides who gets paid.

Nevada’s rules favor construction claimants. Under NRS 108.225, mechanics liens take priority over any mortgage, lien, or other encumbrance that attached to the property after construction began, and they outrank any pre-existing encumbrance that was unrecorded and unknown to the lien claimant when construction started.² A construction lender who records a deed of trust before the first shovel hits dirt will usually outrank the mechanics liens; a lender who records after work has started will not.

Among multiple lien claimants on the same property, NRS 108.236 ranks them in this order: laborers first, then material suppliers and equipment lessors, then other claimants who worked under contract with the prime contractor or a subcontractor, then all remaining claimants. Foreclosure proceeds are distributed in that order, so laborers get paid first from whatever money is available.²

Fees and Costs Follow the Winner

Nevada’s lien statutes include fee-shifting provisions that cut both ways. Under NRS 108.237, a lien claimant who prevails in a foreclosure action recovers not just the lienable amount but also the cost of preparing and recording the lien and the costs of the lawsuit, including attorney representation. If the claim fails, the court can award attorney fees and costs to the property owner instead.² The same fee shifting applies when an owner challenges a lien as frivolous or excessive. Filing an inflated amount is expensive if the owner fights back and wins.

If You’re on the Owner’s Side

Owners have three ways to clear a disputed lien. They can petition the district court under NRS 108.2275 to release a lien filed without reasonable cause or in an inflated amount, with the losing side paying the other’s attorney fees.⁷ They can post a surety bond under NRS 108.2415 equal to 1.5 times the lienable amount, which pulls the lien off the title and substitutes the bond as security so a sale or refinance can close.⁸ And once a lien is paid, NRS 108.2437 requires the claimant to record a discharge; a claimant who stalls after payment faces potential liability.²

One related area to flag for anyone signing paperwork along the way: lien waivers in Nevada are only enforceable if they use one of the four statutory forms prescribed by NRS 108.2457, and any contract term that tries to waive lien rights outside those forms is void.⁹ Never sign an unconditional waiver before confirming the money has actually landed in your account.

1
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 108.2214 – Lien Claimant Defined
2
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 108 – Statutory Liens
3
Nevada State Contractors Board. General Requirements – Nevada State Contractors Board
4
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 108.245 – Notice of Right to Lien Form, Service, Effect
5
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 108.226 – Perfection of Lien, Time for Recording Notice of Lien, Contents of Notice of Lien
6
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 247.305 – Fees Amount
7
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 108.2275 – Frivolous or Excessive Notice of Lien Motion, Hearing, Consequences
8
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 108.2415 – Form of Surety Bond
9
Nevada Legislature. Nevada Code 108.2457 – Term of Contract That Attempts to Waive or Impair Lien Rights