I finished the job and did not get paid

The job is done, the client vanished and the payment never came. It is one of the hardest situations for anyone who builds: the work is finished, the material came out of your own pocket, and the money is on the other side of a silence. The good news is that, in Massachusetts, the law gives the contractor a real weapon for this. It is called the mechanic's lien, and it turns your right to get paid into a claim on the property itself.

What the mechanic's lien is

It is a claim provided for in chapter 254 of the Massachusetts general laws (MGL c.254). Anyone who supplied labor or material for a job can record an encumbrance on the land and the building where they worked, at the county Registry of Deeds. That encumbrance follows the property and pressures payment, because few owners can sell or refinance with a recorded lien.

Who is entitled

The general contractor, who deals directly with the owner, is entitled to the lien, and so are subcontractors, material suppliers, equipment renters and service providers, as long as they work under a written contract. Here is the first trap: for the subcontractor and the supplier, the law requires a written contract. Without a written contract, there is no lien. The handshake that settles things on the job does not hold your right in court.

The deadlines that decide everything

The mechanic's lien has three stages, each with its own deadline, counted from the last day you supplied labor or material (or from formal notices of completion or termination, when they exist). Missing any deadline dissolves the lien automatically:

Stage	Deadline (rule of thumb, from the last day of work)
Notice of Contract (record at the Registry of Deeds)	up to 90 days
Statement of Account (record the account of what is owed)	up to 120 days
Enforcement lawsuit	up to 90 days after the Statement of Account
Record a copy of the complaint at the Registry of Deeds	up to 30 days after filing the lawsuit

In short: 90, 120, 90 and 30. These are not suggestions, they are hard deadlines. The contractor who carefully records the actual last day of work is already ahead, because that date starts the whole count.

The rule that catches the subcontractor

If you are a subcontractor, there is a critical detail. The amount of your lien cannot exceed what the owner still owes the general contractor at the moment you notify him. And if you do not have a direct contractual relationship with the general contractor (for example, you are a sub of a sub, or a supplier to a sub), your lien is limited, unless you send a Notice of Identification to the general contractor, by certified mail with return receipt, within 30 days of starting your work. That 30-day deadline is one of the most forgotten, and it is exactly what preserves your right when the chain of contracts is long.

What to do in practice

• Always have a written contract, even on a small job. For subs and suppliers, it is what gives access to the lien.
• Record the actual last day of work or delivery on each job. It is the trigger for the deadlines.
• If you are a sub with no direct relationship with the GC, send the Notice of Identification within 30 days, with return receipt.
• Record the Notice of Contract early, as soon as you sign the contract, without waiting for the problem to appear.
• Check the correct county and the correct description of the property before recording.
• At the first sign of non-payment, seek guidance: the deadlines run fast and do not come back.

The mechanic's lien is not a threat, it is structure. It exists so that whoever builds is not held hostage by the goodwill of whoever pays. Using this protection is part of operating as a company in the United States, and not as someone hoping the client turns out to be honest.

The lien is language, not aggression

Many contractors hesitate to use the mechanic's lien for fear of "burning" the client. It is the opposite. In the United States, the lien is part of the game, and serious clients know it. It does not accuse anyone of bad faith: it simply records that there is an amount owed for proven work. In practice, the mere possibility of a lien already changes the behavior of whoever stalls the payment, because a recorded lien blocks the sale and the refinancing of the property.

What really damages your reputation is not using the law in your favor. It is working without a contract, without recording and without deadline control, and then having no way to collect. The lien is the difference between being a professional who knows the rules and a provider who depends on someone else's goodwill to get paid for what he already delivered.

What the lien does not solve on its own

It is important to have realistic expectations. The mechanic's lien is a powerful guarantee, but it is not a magic payment button. It does not force the owner to pay on the spot: it creates the pressure and preserves your right to collect in court within the deadlines. In many cases, the debt is settled by agreement precisely because the lien exists. And, as we saw, it depends on you having done the homework: a written contract, recording the last day of work and strict compliance with the 90, 120, 90 and 30-day deadlines.

That is why the best protection starts before any problem. A contractor who already operates with a contract, recording and date control does not need to "chase" the lien in desperation: he simply follows a process that is already set up. Structure turns collection from an emergency into a procedure.