Notice of Unpaid Balance and Right to File Lien (NUB) in NJ

In New Jersey, a Notice of Unpaid Balance and Right to File Lien is a document recorded with the county clerk under the Construction Lien Law that warns the property owner, lenders, and future buyers that a contractor, subcontractor, or supplier may file a construction lien for money owed on the project. On residential jobs it is mandatory: no NUB, no lien. On non-residential jobs it is optional in name only, because without it a later lien sits behind any mortgage or conveyance already on record. The filing deadlines are short and cannot be stretched, so the practical question for most claimants is not whether to file but how fast.

What the NUB Does

The NUB is not itself a lien. It is a recorded notice, and its legal effect is to put everyone dealing with the property on constructive notice of a potential lien claim. Anyone who acquires an interest in the property after the NUB is recorded is treated as having known about it.¹

On non-residential projects, that recording date is what buys priority. A construction lien only leapfrogs a previously recorded mortgage or conveyance if the NUB was filed before that mortgage or conveyance hit the record. You can still file a valid lien without a NUB, but it will sit behind existing encumbrances, and on a heavily financed project that usually means it sits behind everything worth reaching.¹

On residential projects, the NUB is a threshold. You cannot file a construction lien on a residential property at all unless you first file a NUB and then complete the statutory arbitration process.²

Who Can File

Any contractor, subcontractor, or supplier who provided work, services, materials, or equipment for the project under a contract is eligible.³ “Contract” here is broad enough to cover a general contractor working directly with the owner, a subcontractor working under the general, and a supplier holding a signed delivery or order slip from the owner, contractor, or subcontractor.

Something in writing is essential. The NUB form itself calls for the claimant to identify the written contract or signed order slip, the date, and the name of the contracting party.¹ A handshake job with no paperwork is a hard case at best.

The statute does not squarely address design professionals such as architects and engineers. Their eligibility depends on whether their work qualifies as “services” that improve the real property, which turns on the facts. Purely administrative or managerial work that adds nothing to the physical improvement is a poor fit for the statute’s language.

Filing Deadlines

This is where most NUB claims fail. The clocks are tight, and they run from the same event: the last date you provided work, services, materials, or equipment for which payment is claimed.

Non-Residential Projects

The NUB must be filed within 90 days after that last-work date, and it remains effective for 90 days from the same date.¹ The actual lien claim also has to be filed within 90 days of that same date.⁴ Because the NUB and the lien share the same 90-day window measured from the same event, filing the NUB late can leave no time for the lien itself.

Residential Projects

The NUB must be filed within 60 days of the last-work date.² It remains effective for 120 days from that date, which is the room the statute gives for arbitration to run.¹

Within 10 days of filing the NUB, the claimant must serve a demand for arbitration through the American Arbitration Association. That 10-day clock starts when the NUB is lodged with the county clerk, so any slack you burned getting the NUB filed comes out of the arbitration window.²

What the Form Must Contain

The Construction Lien Law prescribes a specific form. Missing fields or wrong details invite challenges, so the entries have to match reality and match the record. The required information includes:

Full name, business address, and entity type of the claimant (individual, partnership, corporation, or LLC).
The owner’s name and the property’s block and lot number from the municipal tax map, plus the municipality and county.
The date of the contract, the name of the party the claimant contracted with, and whether the work was performed under a written contract or a signed delivery slip.
An itemized description of the work performed, services rendered, or materials and equipment supplied.
The specific date on which the claimant last provided work, services, materials, or equipment.
The initial contract price, any change orders or amendments, the total adjusted contract price, payments already received, and the unpaid balance claimed.

The claimant also has to sign a verification confirming that the NUB was filed within the applicable deadline and that the information is accurate. False statements in the NUB can carry legal consequences.¹

Filing and Service

The completed NUB is lodged for record with the county clerk in the county where the property sits. Formatting has to be right and the document has to be signed. Errors in the property description, missing signatures, or wrong party names can lead to rejection at the counter or a successful challenge later.¹

After filing, you must serve copies on the property owner and on any contractor or subcontractor against whom the claim is asserted. Service follows the same procedures used for lien claims, meaning personal delivery or certified mail with return receipt requested. On residential projects, the arbitrator specifically reviews whether service was proper, so a sloppy mailing can sink the whole claim.²

The Residential Arbitration Step

Residential jobs come with a procedural layer that does not apply to commercial work, and it is the step that catches most claimants off guard.

After filing the NUB, the claimant has 10 days to serve a demand for arbitration and satisfy the AAA’s filing requirements for an expedited proceeding before a single arbitrator. The demand has to include a copy of the signed NUB and proof that it was lodged for record. If the parties previously signed an alternative dispute resolution agreement, that agreement controls in place of AAA arbitration.²

The arbitrator decides whether the NUB was properly filed and served, the earned value of the contract between the owner and the general contractor, the validity and amount of the lien claim, any setoffs or counterclaims, and the allocation of arbitration costs. The proceeding has to be completed within 30 days of the AAA receiving the demand. If no response is filed, the timeline compresses to seven days after the response deadline expires.²

If the arbitrator finds the lien valid, the claimant has 10 days from receiving the determination to file the actual lien claim. Miss that window and the right to file is gone.²

What Happens After the NUB Is Recorded

Once a NUB is on the record, the owner can withhold and deduct the claimed amount from whatever is still owed to the general contractor. The owner can also pay the claimant directly and credit that payment against the contract price. That mechanism is why the NUB has leverage even before a lien is filed: it gives the owner a legal basis to redirect money that would otherwise flow through the general.

Enforcing the Lien After the NUB

Filing the NUB and then the lien does not by itself force payment. To collect, the claimant has to bring a lawsuit in Superior Court in the county where the property is located. The outside deadline is one year from the date of last work or delivery. A shorter clock can also be triggered: if the owner, contractor, or subcontractor against whom the lien was filed sends a written demand by personal service or certified mail requiring you to commence an action, you have only 30 days to file suit. Miss either deadline and the lien is unenforceable, and you become obligated to discharge it from the record.⁵

The Full Deadline List

Every one of these dates runs from a fixed event and cannot be extended by agreement between the parties except where the statute specifically allows it.

NUB filing, non-residential: within 90 days of last work or delivery.
NUB filing, residential: within 60 days of last work or delivery.
NUB effective period, non-residential: 90 days from last work or delivery.
NUB effective period, residential: 120 days from last work or delivery.
Arbitration demand, residential: within 10 days of filing the NUB.
Arbitration completion, residential: within 30 days of AAA receiving the demand.
Lien claim filing, non-residential: within 90 days of last work or delivery.
Lien claim filing, residential: within 10 days of receiving the arbitrator’s determination.
Enforcement lawsuit: within one year of last work or delivery, or within 30 days of a written demand to commence suit, whichever comes first.

When the dispute looks like it might harden, file early. There is no penalty for filing a NUB before things escalate, and there is no remedy for filing one day late.