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pre lien on a construction agreement in the state of NJ

New JerseyBack ChargesConstruction Contract

Hi I am a licensed contractor in the State of New Jersey. I want to add a "pre-lien" clause on the back of my agreement. Something that states something like this..."please allow this to be your notice of a pre-lien to your home or property in the event that you do not pay us any balance owed...blah blah blah. Can anyone offer any help? I am re-doing my agreements. Paul 732-366-5996

2 replies

Sep 9, 2020

I am not sure exactly what you are asking. However, if you are asking about the obligatory Notice of Unpaid Balance (the "NUB") which must be filed in NJ prior to filing an actual lien on a residential property, a contract clause cannot be used to satisfy the statutor requirement. You need to file the NUB in the County Recorder's Office in which the property you intend to lien is located. The NUB and subsequent lien must be worded in a very precise manner to be enforceable.  

If you are licensed as a Home Improvemnet Contractor ("HIC") to perform residential construction work for homeowners, your primary contractual difficulties are more likely to come from clients who make claims under the New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act (the "CFA"). The CFA requires very specific language in the contracts and HIC who violate lose the right to enforce their contracts AND may become liable to clients for treble damages on ascertaniable losses AND have to pay for the homeowner's legal fees. See: 

https://patch.com/new-jersey/berkeley-nj/home-improvements-and-the-consumer-fraud-act_4d8bafa9.  

The CFA is no joke. I would recommend that you contact a qualified construction attorney to make sure that your contract is in compliance before you get burned by an explitive client.     

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Sep 9, 2020
thank you very much Colin. I am an HIC licensed contractor. I do have specific verbage written on my agreement. i thing the treble damages is BS
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