In North Carolina, if a contractor, subcontractor, laborer or materials provider has not been paid, they have the right to file a lien. A lien is a claim against either someone’s property or against money that someone is owed. In North Carolina, a person has 120 days from the last day they either worked or provided material to the job site. Filing a lien places other people on notice that you are not getting paid and protects your rights to recover before other people are paid. If gives you a priority when money is disbursed on the project. Filing a claim of lien is only one step in the process. Once a lien is filed, you must “perfect” the lien by filing a lawsuit to enforce the lien. While you have 120 days to file a lien from the date you were last on the job or provided materials – you have 180 days from those events to file a lawsuit to enforce the lien. If you fail to file the lawsuit within 180 days, you still have three years from the date you were owed the money to file a lawsuit to collect your money. However, you will have lost your priority to get paid before everyone else if the lien is not filed or perfected.