NATIONAL LIEN SERVICES — GET PROTECTED. GET PAID.
National Lien Services is a nationwide construction lien firm delivering preliminary notices, mechanic's liens, bond claims, stop notices, and waiver management for GCs, specialty trades, and material suppliers. With 45+ years of combined experience, 100,000+ projects researched, and more than $37 billion protected, NLS functions as a strategic partner embedded in the payment protection process — not a transactional filing service you call when things are already bad.
NLS is the only lien services firm SPM works with. When an SPM client cannot get paid, NLS is the call. When an SPM client wants to protect payment rights on a new project before a problem exists, NLS handles the prelien. And NLS is integrating directly into ControlQore — so lien rights protection becomes part of the same system that runs the financial control function.
THREE LAYERS OF PAYMENT PROTECTION.
NLS operates across three distinct functions that cover the full spectrum of construction payment rights — from protecting them before a project starts to enforcing them when a GC or owner stops paying. Most contractors only engage a lien service at the enforcement stage. The contractors who avoid write-offs engage at all three.
WHAT HAPPENS WHEN LIEN RIGHTS ARE NOT MANAGED.
In most states, a subcontractor's right to file a mechanic's lien depends on sending a preliminary notice within a specific window — often 20 to 60 days from first furnishing labor or materials, depending on the state. That window is not a suggestion. It is a statutory deadline. A subcontractor who starts a job, does not send a prelien, and then does not get paid 90 days later has no lien remedy in most jurisdictions — regardless of the amount owed, regardless of whether the GC is clearly at fault, regardless of what the subcontract says.
Most subcontractors do not send preliens on every project because it feels aggressive or because they have a relationship with the GC. That logic is understandable. It also means they have no leverage when the relationship breaks down — which is exactly when leverage matters. NLS handles preliens as a standard part of every project, not just the ones that look risky at the start.
An unconditional lien waiver releases lien rights absolutely — regardless of whether the check clears. A subcontractor who signs an unconditional waiver before confirming the payment has cleared has given up their lien rights on that payment with no recourse if the check bounces or the wire is reversed. This happens more often than it should, usually because the project manager is under pressure to sign and return the waiver quickly and does not know the difference between a conditional and unconditional waiver.
GCs sometimes request unconditional waivers on progress payments as a matter of course. A subcontractor who does not have a waiver management process signs what is put in front of them. NLS reviews every waiver before it is signed, ensures the type matches the payment, and flags non-standard language that attempts to expand the release beyond what the payment covers.
When a subcontractor is not getting paid, the natural response is to escalate communications — calls, emails, demand letters — while hoping the GC comes through. Those negotiations take time. Meanwhile the lien filing deadline — which runs from last furnishing in most states — is ticking. A subcontractor who spends 60 days in payment negotiations without filing a lien may wake up to find the deadline has passed and they have no escalation tool left. The GC knows exactly when the deadline is. The subcontractor often does not.
NLS tracks lien deadlines on every active project and files the lien before the deadline regardless of whether negotiations are still ongoing. The lien can always be released if payment comes through. It cannot be filed retroactively once the deadline passes.
On every project. For every client."
National Lien Services is building a direct integration into the ControlQore platform — the same platform SPM runs inside every client engagement. When that integration is live, prelien notices, lien filing tracking, and waiver management will be accessible from inside the same system that handles job costing, expense management, and financial reporting. The full financial and payment protection function in one place.
FREQUENTLY ASKED.
