§ 52-135 — Notice of right to assert lien; contents; optional notice to contracting owner; notice, when effective; applicability of section

(1) At any time after a claimant has entered into the contract under which he or she may claim a lien under the Nebraska Construction Lien Act, he or she may give notice of the right to assert a lien to the contracting owner. The notice of the right to assert a lien must be in writing, state that it is a notice of a right to assert a lien against real estate for services or materials furnished in connection with improvement of the real estate, and contain:
(a) The name of the claimant and the address to which the owner or others may send communications to the claimant;
(b) The name and address of the person with whom the claimant contracted;
(c) The name of the owner against whom a lien is or may be claimed;
(d) A general description of the services or materials provided or to be provided;
(e) A description sufficient to identify the real estate against which the lien is or may be claimed;
(f) A statement that the claimant is entitled to record a lien;
(g) The amount unpaid to the claimant for services or materials, whether or not due, or if no amount is fixed by the contract, a good faith estimate of the amount designated as an estimate; and
(h) The following statement in type no smaller than that used in providing the information required by subdivisions (1)(a) through (1)(g) of this subsection:
Warning. If you did not contract with the person giving this notice, any future payments you make in connection with this project may subject you to double liability.
(2) A claimant may notify the contracting owner, either in the notice of the right to assert a lien or separately, that the claimant must be notified of the recording of any termination of the notice of commencement. The notice to the owner must be in writing and, if not part of the notice of the right to assert a lien, shall contain the information specified in subdivisions (1)(a) through (1)(e) of this section. In addition, the notice shall state that a written notice of the recording of any notice of termination must be given to the claimant at least three weeks before the effective date of the notice of termination.
(3) The claimant shall send a copy of a recorded lien to the contracting owner within ten days after recording, and the recording shall be within the time specified for the filing of liens under section 52-137 .
(4) If the contracting owner has held out another person as contracting owner, either by naming that person in the notice of commencement or otherwise, a notice directed to and received by that person is effective against the contracting owner.
(5) If the contracting owner has held out a fictitious or nonexisting person as contracting owner either by naming that person in the notice of commencement or otherwise, a notice to that fictitious or nonexisting person delivered at an address held out by the contracting owner as the address of the fictitious or nonexisting person is effective against the contracting owner.
(6) This section shall apply to a lien claimant only when the contracting owner is a protected party.

Legislative History

Source: Laws 1981, LB 512, § 11; Laws 2003, LB 655, § 6. Annotations: This section applies only to protected parties, and although a party that may eventually claim a lien may, if it so desires, give notice of lien liability to the contracting owner, such notice is not required. Midlands Rental & Mach., Inc. v. Christensen Ltd., 252 Neb. 806, 566 N.W.2d 115 (1997).