Napa County Recorder Mechanics Lien Filing

You can file your mechanic liens in person at the Napa County Clerk/Recorder’s office located at:

1127 1st Street
Ste A
Napa, CA 94559

Phone: 707-253-4105

Recording Hours
Monday – Friday
8 a.m. – 3 p.m.

Research Hours
Monday – Friday
8 a.m. – 5 p.m.

The Napa County Clerk/Recorder does not publicly disclose information on recording backlog. But you can give them a call at 707-253-4105 to see how long it would take them to record your lien.

If the project is located in Napa county, then yes, you will want to record your lien with the Napa County Recorder’s office.

All documents submitted for recording must comply with the Napa County Clerk/Recorder’s basic requirements. They are as follows:

1. Original Signature (GC 27201 (b)1) – Required Requires original signatures on all instruments, papers or notices presented for recording except as otherwise provided by law. A certified copy is also acceptable.

2. All-Purpose Acknowledgement (CC 1188 and CC 1189) – Any California notary public or other officer taking acknowledgements in California must complete the California all-purpose notary acknowledgment.

3. Legibility (GC 27361.6 ) – Documents presented for recording must be sufficiently legible to reproduce a readable photographic copy. This includes notary seals and any attachments or exhibits.

4. Font/Print Size (GC 27361) – Nine lines per vertical inch and 22 characters and/or spaces per horizontal inch for not less than three
inches.

5. Cover Page (GC 27361.6) – If the first page of the document does not have required space for the recording information, a separate page or cover sheet must be attached to the front of the document. This cover sheet must show the name of the party requesting the recording, where to mail the document after it is recorded and the title
or titles of the document. Recording fees will be charged for this page.

6. Document Titles (GC 27324) – All documents submitted for recording must indicate the title or titles of the documents contained therein.
Titles should appear on the first page, directly below
the space reserved for the Recorder.

7. Additional Titles Indexed (GC 27324) – The Recorder is required to index all titles shown on the first page. Additional titles may also be identified and indexed at the discretion of the Recorder. Additional titles indexed by the Napa County Recorder include, but are not limited to: Assignment of Rents and Leases found in the body of the document. When a document contains more than one title to be indexed, the recording fee will increase $15.00 for each additional title to be indexed.

8. Recording Reference Number Required (GC 27361.6) – Any document that modifies, releases or cancels the provisions of a previously recorded document must contain the recording reference number of that prior document.

All documents must comply with the 8 1/2 “x 11” standard page size and not to exceed 8 1/2” x 14”. If any part of a document does not measure 8 1/2” x 11” or if the document has anything taped, passed or stapled to an individual page, an additional nonconforming fee of $3.00 will be charged for each page of the document.

All documents submitted for recording must have at least a 1/2” margin along each vertical side. In addition, the top 2 1/2” of the first page or sheet must be reserved for recording information. The left 3 1/2” of this space is used to show the name of the party requesting the recording and where to mail the document after it is recorded.

You can make payment to the Napa County Recorder in person and pay by cash, check, and most major credit cards. All recording fees are due at the time of recording. 

The Napa County Clerk/Recorder’s regular recording fee is $15.00 for the first page and $3.00 for each additional page.

Additional Recording Fees

Non-conforming fee: $3.00 for each page of entire document that does not measure 8 1/2” x 11” or if the document has anything taped, passed orstapled to an individual page

Penalty print: $1.00 per page

Indexing fees: $1.00 for each additional document reference
$1.00 each additional group of 10 or more names

Release of State Liens: $11.00

Copy Fees

Official Copy: $2.00 per page
Certification: $5.00 for entire document
Conformed Copy charge: $1.00 per document

You can obtain a recorded copy of your lien in person at the Napa County Clerk/Recorder’s office located at the following address from 8am – 5pm:

1127 1st Street
Ste A
Napa, CA 94559

Records are made available to the public for property searches.  Note that public access allows the limited index display of official records only. Access to a copy of a lien may require paying a fee.

You can also give the Napa County recorder’s office a call at 707-253-4105 to try and get a copy mailed to you.

To get the property’s legal description, you can visit the Napa County Recorder’s office. All records are made public but you may need to pay a fee to access the information. The research fee in Napa County is $90 per hour. You can learn more about accessing legal descriptions in Napa County here.

Determining whether you do or do not have a mechanics lien right can be tricky. Generally speaking, every state gives those who have furnished labor and/or materials to a construction project the right to file a mechanics lien if unpaid for the furnishing. The same is true in California. However, there are some state-specific limitations as to who is qualified to file a mechanics lien that is important when considering whether you have the right to file a mechanics lien in Napa County, California.

Great and detailed information about this is available on our California Mechanics Lien Resources Page.

The fee to file a California Preliminary Notice in Napa County is $35.00.