We are a manufacturing company that is supplying materials to a general contractor for a project in New Jersey. We are not clear on the rules in NJ for what is considered first labor/material furnishing date. From our own research, we found conflicting information that we would use the date material was first delivered as furnishing date. But also read that if we provide a substantial amount of labor prior to delivery, which we do as we are a manufacturing company, we would use the date we first provided labor on the job such as fabrication, design, etc. We understand that preliminary notice is based on this first labor/material furnish date and want to make sure we are using the correct date. Any advice would be much appreciated.
Ms. Tran,
Please take a look at this:
https://www.levelset.com/preliminary-notice/new-jersey-preliminary-notice-faqs/#:~:text=Generally%2C%20no%20Preliminary%20Notice%20is,file%20a%20lien%20if%20necessary.
The first question is what type of project was being built and who owns the real estate. NJ has separate statutes for public and private projects. If the project was included any type of residential purpose (apartments, condos, etc.), the Notice of Unpaid Balance (the "NUB") would need to be filed not later than 60 days since your company delivered materials to the property on which you are trying to file the lien claim. After filing the NUB, your company would then need to file for arbitration with the American Arbitration Association.
If the project did not involve a residential use, then the preliminary notice simply provides potential advantages in terms of the order/priority of the lien against the property title. If it's a public project, the NJ Municipal Mechanics Lien Law is not actually a lien. It's just a reservation of claim against the allotted public funds.
Please feel free to reach out, if I could be further assistance.
Thanks,
Colin Schmitt
cschmittlaw@gmail.com
609.400.1006
Thank you for the information and quick response! The project does not involve residential use. We custom fabricate displays and for this particular project, we were hired by general contractor that is working on a storefront in an airport. Is it correct to assume this is a public project. If so and its under NJ Municipal Mechanics Lien Law, what would we use as first labor/material furnish date on the preliminary notice? Thank you!
I am not sure. Keep in mind that's it not who owns the airport. It's determined by who owns the real property on which the airport is located. It might be easier for you to call or email me, so that our communications are not open to public access.
Thanks, Colin