Construction Liens in North Dakota
Contents
Overview
Sources
N.D. Cent. Code §§ 35-27-01 et seq.
Authorized Claimants
Any person that improves real estate, whether under contract with the owner of such real estate or under contract with any agent, trustee, contractor, or subcontractor of the owner, has a lien upon the improvement and upon the land on which the improvement is situated or to which the improvement may be removed for the price or value of such contribution (N.D.C.C. 35-27-02)
Lien Priority
All construction liens are preferred to any mortgage or other encumbrance not then of record, unless the lienholder had actual notice thereof. (N.D.C.C. 35-27-03) As against a mortgage given in good faith for the purpose of providing funds for the payment of materials or labor for the improvement, a lien may not be preferred even though such mortgage is recorded after the time the first item of material or labor is furnished upon the premises, or after the actual visible beginning of the improvement unless the person furnishing such labor, skill, or material for such improvement, before the recording of such mortgage, files for record a construction lien. (N.D.C.C. 35-27-04)
Notices and Registries
Filing Deadlines
Every person desiring to perfect the person's lien shall record with the recorder of the county in which the property to be charged with the lien is situated, within ninety days after all the person's contribution is done, and having complied with the provisions of this chapter, a lien describing the property and stating the amount due, the dates of the first and last contribution, and the person with which the claimant contracted. (N.D.C.C. 35-27-13) A failure to file within ninety days does not defeat the lien except as against purchasers or encumbrancers in good faith and for value whose rights accrue before the lien is filed, and as against the owner to the extent of the amount paid to a contractor before the recording of the lien. A lien may not be filed more than three years after the date of the first item of material is furnished. (N.D.C.C. 35-27-14)
Enforcement Deadlines
A lien is not valid, effective, nor enforceable , unless the lienor commences an action and records with the county recorder a lis pendens within three years after the date of recording of the lien. If a lis pendens is not recorded within the limitations provided by this section, the lien is deemed satisfied. (N.D.C.C. 35-17-25)
