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Can I file a mechanics lien?

CaliforniaMechanics Lien

I am walking into this AR role at this company, we did work a while back for a contractor and I've done everything in my power to resolve the situation amicably but have had no success. We worked on a private job in Indian Wells, California where we have the prelim information but it looks like the last time we were on site was 9/30/2022... Could we file a lien on this property to ensure we get paid the almost $40k that we are owed?

5 replies

Jun 7, 2023

Did your company timely serve a preliminary notice in 2022? If not, you likely do not have lien rights. If your company did timely serve a preliminary notice, then your company's ability to now record a mechanics lien may turn on the status of the project as a whole (i.e., was the project completed more than 90 days ago assuming no notice of completion was properly and timely served and recorded).

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Jun 7, 2023

Hello Chris, 

Yes we served the client and owner a preliminary notice when we started on the project back in 2022. I was looking for a notice of completion on the county register and did not find one. I will utilize levelsets services to verify this and hopefully file a mechanics lien. 

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Jun 7, 2023

Nice! Let's hope the mechanics lien gets you paid!

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Jun 8, 2023

Even if you cannot record an enforceable Mechanic's Lien, you have other claims you can pursue for Breach of Contract and other causes of action. Kevin Meade, Esq. 949-502-7715 - kmeade@TALGlaw.com

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Jun 14, 2023
Your lien period is based on completion of the project as a whole, not just your work. So you need to know when the project was completed. If there’s no Notice of Completion recorded (usually on public jobs), a sub has 90 days from completion of the project to record their lien. If there was a Notice of Completion recorded, then you have 30 days from the recording date of the NOC to file your lien. I like to use the date the project passed final inspection from the building department. Most of the time that information is on the building department’s website. Of course even without the lien, you can still sue the GC that hired you for your money. I’m happy to answer any questions you have about this.
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