G.L. c. 254, §§ 2, 4, 8, 11, 14
Mechanic's liens in Massachusetts — a chain of deadlines, and the lien dissolves
A claim in Massachusetts trial courts · Last verified August 26, 2026
A mechanic's lien is security, not a judgment. It attaches a contractor's claim to the property that was improved, so the money follows the building rather than the owner's willingness to pay.
Chapter 254 is a sequence of recording deadlines, and Massachusetts enforces them without sympathy. The statute says what happens: the lien shall be dissolved. There is no prejudice inquiry, no substantial-compliance doctrine and no relief for a lawyer's error.
What the claim is
You did work or supplied materials to improve real property, you were not paid, and you want the property to answer for it.
Where the right comes from
G.L. c. 254. The governing principle is strict compliance — Golden v. General Builders Supply Corp., 441 Mass. 652 (2004).
Who gets a lien
A general contractor, under § 2, on a written contract with the owner or with a person the owner authorised.
A subcontractor or supplier, under § 4, on a written contract with a contractor or with another subcontractor — with the amount of the lien limited by what remains unpaid under the contract above them at the time notice is given.
A labourer, under § 1, for personal labour, which is the one route that does not depend on a written contract.
The written contract requirement is real. A handshake job produces no lien for a contractor or subcontractor, whatever it produces in contract or quantum meruit terms.
The deadline chain
Four steps, each with its own trigger.
1. Notice of Contract — recorded at the registry of deeds for the county where the land lies, by the earliest of:
- 60 days after a Notice of Substantial Completion is recorded;
- 90 days after a Notice of Termination is recorded; or
- 90 days after the claimant last performed or furnished labour or materials.
No Notice of Contract, no lien. A subcontractor must also serve the owner with notice of identification under the statute.
2. Statement of Account — recorded, under § 8, by the earliest of:
- 90 days after a Notice of Substantial Completion;
- 120 days after a Notice of Termination; or
- 120 days after the claimant last performed or furnished labour or materials.
Without it, the lien does not perfect. The statement is a sworn account of what is claimed.
3. Enforcement action — under § 11, a civil action to enforce the lien must be commenced within 90 days after the Statement of Account was recorded.
4. Recording the complaint — an attested copy of the complaint must be recorded at the registry within 30 days of commencing the action.
Miss any of the four and, in the statute's words, the lien shall be dissolved.
Why the owner's filings matter so much
Two of those triggers are documents the owner records, not the contractor: the Notice of Substantial Completion and the Notice of Termination. Recording one shortens every downstream deadline, and it is the owner's principal defensive tool.
A contractor who is not monitoring the registry can find that a filing they never saw cut a 90-day window to 60 and ran it out. Checking the registry is part of managing the claim, not an optional diligence step.
How long you have to file
The deadline chain is the limitations regime for the lien. There is no separate limitations period that saves a claimant who missed a recording deadline.
The underlying debt is separate. Losing the lien does not lose the money claim — a contract action still runs on the six-year period in G.L. c. 260, § 2. What is lost is the security, which in a dispute with an underfunded owner is usually the part worth having.
What has to happen before you file
The recordings, in order. And, for a subcontractor, the statutory notice to the owner.
What the claim pays
A secured claim against the property for the amount properly claimed — the contract amount, or for a subcontractor, the amount limited by what remains due above them.
Priority under § 7, which fixes the lien's rank against mortgages and other encumbrances by reference to when the work began and when instruments were recorded.
No general fee-shifting. Chapter 254 does not award attorney's fees to a successful lien claimant, and a contract provision is the usual source if there is one.
Foreclosure of the lien and sale of the property, in the enforcement action.
Getting a lien off
Bonding off, under § 14. An owner or other interested party may dissolve the lien by recording a bond with sufficient surety in the amount claimed. The lien comes off the title, the claimant's security becomes the bond, and the project can be financed and sold. This is the standard commercial answer.
Summary dissolution. A lien that is invalid on its face — recorded late, or without the statutory contents — can be dissolved on motion without trying the underlying dispute.
Payment or agreement, with a recorded discharge.
Which court
Superior Court or District Court, following the amount of the lien and the $50,000 procedural threshold.
Common defenses
- A missed deadline, which dissolves the lien and is the defence in most contested cases.
- No written contract, for a contractor or subcontractor claim.
- The lien exceeds what was owed above the claimant, for a subcontractor under § 4.
- The work was not a lienable improvement to the property.
- Payment, or an accord and satisfaction.
- A bond under § 14, which moves the claim off the property.
- Defective contents of the notice or statement.
What people get wrong
The deadlines are unforgiving. There is no prejudice exception, no substantial compliance and no good-cause relief. Golden means what it says.
The owner can shorten your clock. Recording a Notice of Substantial Completion or Termination resets the triggers, and a contractor who does not watch the registry can lose the lien without notice.
A written contract is required for contractor and subcontractor liens.
A lien is not a judgment. It secures the claim; the enforcement action turns it into money.
Losing the lien does not lose the debt. The contract claim survives on its own six-year period.
Recording the complaint is a separate step. Filing the suit inside 90 days and forgetting to record the attested copy inside 30 dissolves the lien just as surely as missing the suit deadline.
Where it came from
Mechanic's liens are an American invention, and the reasoning behind them is plain: a builder's work becomes part of the owner's land and cannot be taken back. An unpaid supplier of goods can repossess. An unpaid framer cannot un-frame a house.
The lien fixes that by attaching the claim to the improved property. But it does so at real cost to everyone else — it clouds title, complicates financing and can surprise a purchaser — so the statutes that create liens have always paired the right with severe procedural conditions. The claimant gets extraordinary security in exchange for exact compliance and prompt, public notice.
Massachusetts sits at the strict end of that bargain. The deadlines are short, they are triggered partly by documents the owner controls, and the consequence is stated in the statute rather than left to a court's discretion. The § 14 bond is the release valve that keeps the system workable for commercial projects: the owner substitutes money for the property, and the dispute proceeds without freezing the land.
Common questions
How long do I have to file a mechanic's lien in Massachusetts?
The Notice of Contract must be recorded by the earliest of 60 days after a Notice of Substantial Completion, 90 days after a Notice of Termination, or 90 days after you last worked.
What are the other deadlines?
A Statement of Account by the earliest of 90 days after substantial completion, or 120 days after termination or last work; suit within 90 days of recording that statement; and an attested copy of the complaint recorded within 30 days of filing.
What happens if I miss one?
The lien is dissolved. There is no prejudice test and no good-cause exception.
Do I need a written contract?
Yes, for a contractor or subcontractor lien. A labourer's lien under § 1 does not require one.
Can the owner get the lien off the property?
Yes, by recording a bond under § 14. Your claim then runs against the bond instead of the land.
If I lose the lien, do I lose the money?
No. The underlying contract claim survives on its own six-year period. You lose the security.