California’s mechanics lien laws changed on July 1, 2012. Over the past few days, Levelset has selected important components of the changes and published articles about each on its Construction Payment Blog. This is a summary of all those articles, and thus, a summary of the important changes to the mechanics lien laws in California.
1. New Terminology Hits California’s Mechanics Lien Law
First things first – before anyone in the construction industry walks the walk with California’s new mechanics lien law, they must talk the talk. This post breaks down the different terminology and language adopted by the new laws, comparing them to the older terms and discussing any important differences in definitions.
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2. How To Find The Lender On A California Construction Project (New Law)
All parties to a construction project must serve a preliminary notice on the construction lender…but who is the construction lender? This question has plagued contractors, subcontractors and suppliers for years. The new laws finally give them an avenue to get this answer, and this post explains how.
3. Best Practices For Sending California Preliminary Notice Under New Law
There are some subtle differences between the preliminary notice requirements of old and the most recently adopted requirements. This post examines those differences and establishes a few best practices to ensure you’re always getting your preliminary notice out right.
4. Levelset’s Resources, Forms & Service Updated For New California Mechanics Lien Laws
This post is simply an announcement that all resources, forms and elements of the levelset service has been updated to comply with the new California mechanics lien laws. It also points users to the right direction to find the new information.
5. Watch Out For Unexpected Mechanics Lien Deadlines Under New California Law
The new mechanics lien law in California may change what is meant by the term “completion,” since projects can have more than one completion date. So, subcontractors and suppliers might get surprised with a project that is “completed” before they expect, and thus, a lien deadline that expires before they expect. This post explains the issue.
6. 1 Thing California’s New Mechanics Lien Law Should Include, But Doesn’t
Ah, there is always a complaint to be made. The new California mechanics lien law cleans up a lot of issues, but it still leaves contractors, subcontractors and suppliers without any useful or reliable way of determining when a construction project is completed, and thus, when their mechanics lien deadlines begin.
7. California Law Makes Mechanics Lien Claims Stronger Than Ever?
An overlooked provision of the new law states affirmatively that mechanics liens should not be overturned for mistakes unless there is bad faith or some type of specifically demonstrated prejudice. This could have a big impact on these mechanics lien claims, making them harder to overturn in California than ever before.
8. General Contractors Must Now Send Preliminary Notice In California
Previously, “direct” or general contractors were exempt from sending notice. Now, they must send notice whenever there is a construction lender. This post examines what a construction lender is, when general contractors must send notice, and how to send preliminary notice in California.
9. Get Fined If You Don’t Send California’s Preliminary Notice
A new section in the California mechanics lien law actually subjects subcontractors to “disciplinary action” if they fail to deliver the California preliminary notice. This post examines when this applies and why it should be additional justification for subcontractors to send notices out every time.