North Dakota: Mechanic's Lien Deadlines & Notice Requirements
The short answer
North Dakota is one of the few states requiring advance notice from essentially every claimant: written notice that a lien will be claimed must go to the owner by certified mail at least 10 days before the lien is recorded. Filing itself has an unusually soft 90-day deadline — missing it doesn't kill the lien outright, it only costs priority against good-faith purchasers, encumbrancers, and payments the owner already made, with an outer limit of 3 years from the claimant's first (not last) day of work. Enforcement then runs on its own separate 3-year clock from the recording date, shortenable to just 30 days if the owner serves a written demand. Unlike some neighboring states, North Dakota's general homestead exemption expressly does NOT protect a home from a mechanic's lien for work done on it.
| Governing law | N.D. Cent. Code Title 35, ch. 27, §§ 35-27-01 to -28, 'Construction Lien' — a chapter substantially streamlined by 2009 S.L. ch. 293, which repealed several older notice and recording sections (former §§ 35-27-05, -08, -11, -12, -15, -26) and consolidated their substance into the sections now in force |
|---|---|
| Who can claim a lien | Section 35-27-02(1) covers any person improving real estate under a contract with the owner OR under a contract with any agent, trustee, contractor, or subcontractor of the owner — reaching every tier. Section 35-27-01(2)'s definition of 'improve' is broad, expressly covering architectural services, construction staking, engineering, land surveying, mapping, and soil testing, not just physical construction. Two built-in limits cut the other way: the lien amount is capped at the difference between what the owner already paid and the value of the contribution, so 'if the owner... has paid the full price or value of the contribution, no lien is allowed' regardless of whether that payment reached the actual claimant (§ 35-27-02(2)), and a signed lien waiver bars the lien entirely (§ 35-27-02(3)). Anyone covered by the separate well-or-pipeline lien chapter (ch. 35-24) is barred from also claiming under this chapter (§ 35-27-02(5)) |
| Preliminary notice | Written notice that a lien will be claimed must be sent to the owner by certified mail at least 10 days before the construction lien is recorded (§ 35-27-02(4)) — the statute's own text frames this in the context of someone extending credit through an intermediary (an agent, trustee, contractor, or subcontractor of the owner) rather than contracting directly, but the chapter provides no separate exception for a direct contractor, and multiple independent practitioner sources treat the 10-day certified-mail notice as a practical prerequisite for every claimant, including a prime contractor in privity with the owner. There's no stated consequence for a late notice beyond a delayed recording date, since the notice period simply has to run before the lien is filed |
| Deadline to file the lien | A lien statement must be recorded within 90 days after the claimant's own last contribution is done (§ 35-27-13) — but unlike most states, missing that 90 days doesn't defeat the lien outright. Section 35-27-14 softens it: a late filing only loses out against good-faith purchasers or encumbrancers whose rights accrued before the lien was filed, and against the owner to the extent the owner already paid the contractor before recording. The true outer limit is separate and stricter in one sense: 'A lien may not be filed more than three years after the date of the first item of material is furnished' — measured from the FIRST contribution, not the last |
| Notice of completion effect | Chapter 27 has no owner-recorded notice of completion, substantial completion, or termination mechanism anywhere in its sections. A related but different tool exists: within 15 days after the contract is completed, the owner may demand an itemized, verified account from any lien claimant, and no enforcement action may be brought until 10 days after that statement is furnished (§ 35-27-09) — this delays enforcement, it doesn't shorten the filing deadline itself |
| Serving the lien on the owner | North Dakota puts its one notice requirement before recording rather than after: the certified-mail notice under § 35-27-02(4) functions as the owner-facing step, sent at least 10 days before the lien is filed. The chapter has no separate 'serve a copy of the recorded lien on the owner' step following the recording itself |
| Deadline to sue to foreclose | A lien 'is not valid, effective, nor enforceable' unless the claimant commences an action and records a lis pendens within 3 years after the date the lien was RECORDED (§ 35-27-25) — a separate 3-year clock from the 3-year filing deadline in § 35-27-14, which instead runs from the claimant's first contribution. That baseline can be cut sharply: upon written demand delivered to the lienholder and filed with the county recorder, suit must be commenced and a lis pendens recorded within 30 days of delivery 'regardless of the method of delivery,' or the lien is forfeited (§ 35-27-25). Before actually enforcing the lien, the claimant must also give the owner a separate notice of intent to sue — by personal service at least 10 days before the action, or by registered mail at least 20 days before it (§ 35-27-24) |
| Homestead/residential extras | Chapter 27 itself adds no residential-specific formality. North Dakota's general homestead exemption law goes the opposite direction from some neighboring states: N.D. Cent. Code § 47-18-04(1) expressly lists debts 'secured by mechanics', construction, or laborers' liens for work or labor done or performed or material furnished exclusively for the improvement' of the homestead as one of the categories where the homestead IS 'subject to execution or forced sale' despite the exemption — meaning a mechanic's lien for work on the home itself can reach the homestead even though the general $150,000 homestead exemption otherwise protects it from most creditors |
Compare this rule across all 50 states + DC →
The short answer
North Dakota is one of the few states that expects essentially every
claimant to give advance notice: written notice that a lien will be claimed
must reach the owner by certified mail at least 10 days before the lien is
recorded. The filing deadline itself is unusually forgiving — a lien
recorded after the standard 90 days doesn't die outright, it only loses
priority against good-faith purchasers, encumbrancers, and payments the
owner already made before recording, with an absolute outer limit of 3 years
measured from the claimant's FIRST day of work rather than the last.
Enforcement runs on its own separate 3-year clock starting from the
recording date, and an owner can compress that all the way down to 30 days
by serving a written demand. Residential property gets no special break
here — North Dakota's general homestead exemption expressly carves out
mechanic's liens, so a home otherwise protected from most creditors can
still be reached by a lien for work done on it.
Requirements one by one
Governing law
North Dakota's construction lien law is N.D. Cent. Code Title 35, Chapter
27, §§ 35-27-01 to -28. The chapter was substantially streamlined by 2009
session laws (S.L. 2009, ch. 293), which repealed several older notice and
recording sections and folded their substance into the provisions still in
force — a detail worth knowing, since several older secondary sources and
even lien-form templates still cite the repealed section numbers.
Who can claim
Section 35-27-02(1) covers anyone who improves real estate "under a contract
with the owner... or under contract with any agent, trustee, contractor, or
subcontractor of the owner" — reaching every tier of the contracting chain.
The definition of "improve" in § 35-27-01(2) is broad, expressly including
architectural services, construction staking, engineering, land surveying,
mapping, and soil testing alongside physical construction. Two limits work
the other way: the lien can never exceed the difference between what the
owner has already paid and the value of the contribution, so if the owner
"has paid the full price or value of the contribution, no lien is allowed"
— regardless of whether that money actually reached the unpaid claimant
(§ 35-27-02(2)) — and a signed lien waiver bars the lien outright
(§ 35-27-02(3)). Anyone covered instead by the separate well-or-pipeline
lien chapter can't also claim under this one (§ 35-27-02(5)).
Preliminary notice
Section 35-27-02(4) requires written notice that a lien will be claimed to
go to the owner by certified mail at least 10 days before the lien is
recorded. The subsection's own wording frames this around someone who
"extends credit or makes a contract with any agent, trustee, contractor, or
subcontractor of the owner" — language describing a claimant working through
an intermediary rather than directly with the owner — but the chapter
doesn't carve out a separate exception for a direct contractor anywhere
else, and independent practitioner guides treat the 10-day notice as a
practical requirement for every claimant, including a prime contractor in
privity with the owner. There's no stated forfeiture penalty for skipping
it beyond simply not being able to record the lien until the 10 days have
run.
Deadline to file the lien
Section 35-27-13 sets the standard: the lien must be recorded within 90
days after the claimant's own last contribution. But § 35-27-14 makes this
softer than it looks — filing late doesn't defeat the lien outright, it only
costs the claimant priority against a good-faith purchaser or encumbrancer
whose rights accrued before the late filing, and against the owner to the
extent the owner already paid the contractor before the lien was recorded.
The true hard stop is different and stricter in a different way: "A lien
may not be filed more than three years after the date of the first item of
material is furnished" — the clock for this outer limit runs from the
FIRST contribution, not the last.
Notice of completion effect
Nothing in Chapter 27 lets an owner record a notice of completion,
substantial completion, or termination. A related but separate tool exists:
within 15 days after the contract is completed, the owner can demand an
itemized, verified account from any lien claimant, and the claimant then
can't bring an enforcement action until 10 days after providing that
statement (§ 35-27-09) — this delays when a claimant can sue, it doesn't
shorten the 90-day-or-3-year filing window itself.
Serving the lien on the owner
North Dakota's one notice obligation comes before recording, not after: the
certified-mail notice under § 35-27-02(4), due at least 10 days before
filing, functions as the owner-facing step. There's no separate requirement
to serve a copy of the lien on the owner once it's been recorded.
Deadline to sue to foreclose
A lien "is not valid, effective, nor enforceable" unless the claimant
commences an action and records a lis pendens within 3 years after the date
the lien was RECORDED (§ 35-27-25) — a separate clock from the 3-year filing
deadline in § 35-27-14, which instead runs from the claimant's first
contribution. That baseline shrinks sharply if the owner acts: upon written
demand delivered to the lienholder and filed with the county recorder, suit
must be commenced and a lis pendens recorded within 30 days of delivery,
"regardless of the method of delivery," or the lien is forfeited. Before
actually filing suit, the claimant must also send the owner a separate
notice of intent to enforce — by personal service at least 10 days before
the action, or by registered mail at least 20 days before it (§ 35-27-24).
Homestead/residential extras
Chapter 27 adds no residential-specific rule of its own. But North Dakota's
general homestead law points the opposite direction from some neighboring
states: § 47-18-04(1) lists debts "secured by mechanics', construction, or
laborers' liens for work or labor done or performed or material furnished
exclusively for the improvement" of the property as a case where the
homestead IS "subject to execution or forced sale" despite the general
$150,000 homestead exemption. In plain terms, the homestead exemption that
otherwise shields a home from most creditors doesn't apply to a mechanic's
lien for work actually done on that home.
What trips people up
The two different 3-year clocks are the sharpest trap: § 35-27-14's 3-year
outer filing limit runs from the claimant's FIRST contribution, while
§ 35-27-25's 3-year enforcement deadline runs from the date the lien was
RECORDED — mixing these up can lead a claimant to believe they have more (or
less) time than they actually do. Second, the 90-day filing deadline reads
like an absolute cutoff in casual summaries, but the statute's own text only
makes it costly, not fatal, against later purchasers and payments the owner
already made — a claimant who files at day 120 hasn't necessarily lost the
lien against the original owner, only against certain third parties.
Third, several lien-form templates and older guides cite section numbers
that were repealed in 2009 (old §§ 35-27-05 and -12 in particular) — always
check a citation against the current chapter rather than an older source.
Common questions
Do I need to send a notice before I record my lien in North Dakota?
Yes, in essentially every case: written notice that a lien will be claimed
must go to the owner by certified mail at least 10 days before you record
the lien.
What happens if I record my lien after the 90-day deadline?
It's not automatically dead. A late-filed lien loses priority against a
good-faith purchaser or encumbrancer whose rights arose before you filed,
and against amounts the owner already paid the contractor — but you still
have up to 3 years from your FIRST day of work to file at all.
How long do I have to sue once my lien is recorded?
3 years from the recording date, unless the owner serves you a written
demand — then you have only 30 days from delivery of that demand to sue and
record a lis pendens, or the lien is forfeited.
Can a lien reach someone's home in North Dakota?
Yes, for work done on that home. North Dakota's homestead exemption
specifically doesn't protect against a mechanic's, construction, or
laborer's lien for improvements to the property.
Statutes and sources
- N.D. Cent. Code § 35-27-01 (definitions) —
https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t35c27.pdf
(accessed 2026-07-05) - N.D. Cent. Code § 35-27-02 (persons entitled to a lien; notice;
prohibition) —
https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t35c27.pdf
(accessed 2026-07-05) - N.D. Cent. Code § 35-27-09 (owner's demand for an itemized account) —
https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t35c27.pdf
(accessed 2026-07-05) - N.D. Cent. Code § 35-27-13 (90-day recording deadline; contents) —
https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t35c27.pdf
(accessed 2026-07-05) - N.D. Cent. Code § 35-27-14 (late filing; 3-year outer filing limit) —
https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t35c27.pdf
(accessed 2026-07-05) - N.D. Cent. Code § 35-27-24 (pre-suit notice of intent to enforce) —
https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t35c27.pdf
(accessed 2026-07-05) - N.D. Cent. Code § 35-27-25 (3-year enforcement deadline; 30-day
demand shortcut) —
https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t35c27.pdf
(accessed 2026-07-05) - N.D. Cent. Code § 47-18-04 (homestead subject to execution for mechanic's
liens) —
https://ndlegis.gov/cencode/t47c18.pdf
(accessed 2026-07-05)
Source links
Every statute quoted above, linked, with the date we checked it.