Last updated on March 5, 2020
When it comes to enforcing a mechanics lien on any type of privately-owned construction job or project anywhere in within the United States is going to be a process that will essentially be the same. First, you will need to serve some type of pre-notice (if required), which will be followed by preparing the lien and then recording the lien. The next step, if it is still necessary, is going to be to take legal action in order to enforce the mechanics lien that you have filed. The last step will be to release the lien after you have been paid the money that you are owed.
While the process is going to be very similar no matter what state you are actually in, each state is going to have its own requirements and lien laws that you will need to follow depending upon what state the project you did was actually in. California, however, is going to have a lien process that is varied enough from the above-mentioned formula, so here is everything that you need to know about how to file a mechanic’s lien in California.
Serve the Preliminary Notice
When it comes to serving the Preliminary Notice, it is going to need to be done within the first 20 days of when you first furnished labor or materials to the project that you didn’t get paid for. It is going to be this Preliminary Notice that will preserve your right to file a mechanics lien in the case that you are not paid. It is possible to serve a Preliminary Notice after the first 20 days of furnishing either materials or labor for the project. With that being said, it is important to know that only the work that was completed in the first 20 days prior to when you have served the notice that will be allowed to be included in your mechanics lien.
Record Your Lien at the Right Time
If you remain to be unpaid after the Preliminary Notice, the next thing that you are going to do is to actually record the lien. While the timing of when you record the lien is going to be dependent upon the completion of the work that you have provided, you essentially are going to have 90 days to not only record the lien, but to also serve it to the property owner as well. With that being said, the property owner can shorten that time frame if they have filed a Notice of Cessation or Completion. If this does happen, you will only have 30 days to record your lien. But not to worry as if you do serve an owner with a Preliminary Notice, they must inform you that they have recorded a Notice of Cessation or Completion on that particular project.
Take Legal Action
After you have recorded the lien, you will have a total of 90 days to enforce it. Be sure that you include all of the interested parties in the lawsuit and that you follow all deadlines as closely as possible.
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