On July 1, 2012, a whole host of changes to California’s mechanics lien law went into effect. Given the substance of these changes and new requirements, the Lien blog published a series of articles describing the modifications to California’s mechanics lien law. But have the changes actually led to any change in the number [...]
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California Lien Law: New Case Law Update
A recent decision out of a California appellate court upholds the California lien law standard by which a mechanics lien is valued by the lesser of the contract amount or the value of the work performed. Logically this makes sense, but the Appel v. Superior Court, 214 Cal. App. 4th 329 (Cal. App. 2d Dist. 2013) clarified some [...]
California Mechanics Lien: Court Rules on Important Lien Amount Case
A basic feature of a mechanics lien is that a lien enables an unpaid contractor or subcontractor to receive the money that he or she is owed. Unfortunately, determining exactly how much a lien claimant is owed is anything but a simple task. Should the amount be determined by how much the party was supposed [...]
California Preliminary Notice: Should I Add 20% To The Estimated Contract Value?
Short Answer: No. Long Answer: This is a question we get a lot related to the California and Arizona preliminary notice requirements. Unfortunately, however, it’s all related to a misunderstanding of the “20% Rule.” The first misunderstanding is that the rule applies to California and Arizona (it only applies in Arizona). The second misunderstanding is [...]
California Preliminary Notice: The General Contractors Requirement
I received an interesting telephone call from a client recently, which caused me to dig a bit deeper into California’s recent mechanics lien law changes with respect to the “new” requirement that general contractors send preliminary notices. As you’ll see from this post, general contractors certainly have a preliminary notice requirement under the new law, [...]
California Notices and Liens: Researching the Property Owner
When beginning work on a construction project, many states require a preliminary notice to be delivered within a certain time frame. States that require preliminary notice to be sent include Washington, Oregon, California, and Ohio. The idea behind the preliminary notice is that since a mechanics lien encumbers the title of the property, the property [...]
California Mechanics Lien: The Resources, Forms & Information You’ll Need
We’ve published a mountain of information and resources on the California mechanics lien over the years. This post packages it all for you in one location, and explains what you’ll need to know and have to get your mechanics lien claim filed. Zlien’s California Mechanics Lien Law Resource Center Zlien publishes a mechanics lien law [...]
California Preliminary Notice: A Very Important Document
The preliminary notice requirement is an important factor that is often over looked by many in the construction industry. Here at Zlien we have educated our readers and customers about preliminary notices. They are important in credit policy and also a vital link to filing a valid lien. This blog post is intended to be [...]
California Mechanics Lien: New Service Requirement Explained
The California mechanics lien law has always required claimants to deliver a copy of any filed liens to the property owner. Prior to the recent 2012 amendments, however, there was very little detail about how and when to do this. California’s recent mechanics lien law changes is now pretty specific on these points, but it [...]
California Mechanics Lien: 5 Biggest Mistakes You Can Make
The California mechanics lien laws are the same as every other state, in that they are complicated and leave a lot of room for mistake. In the mechanics lien universe, one small mistake can invalidate your entire claim. Therefore, pay very close attention to this article, which outlines the five most common (and tragic) mistakes [...]
California Mechanics Lien: 4 Gray Areas In The Lien Law
Do you have mechanics lien rights? This is a very complex question in any state as all lien legislation is riddled with gray areas and legal rule exceptions. The California legislature just finished two years of amendments to the state’s mechanics lien laws in an effort to stamp out confusion, yet there are still ambiguities [...]
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Scott Wolfe Jr., JD
CEO of Zlien, and a licensed attorney in six states, he's experienced in construction & corporate credit management laws....Read More
Nate Budde, JD
Zlien's Chief Legal Mind and licensed attorney. Nate is a Stanford & Tulane Grad, a Jeopardy! alumni and more....Read More
Seth Smiley, JD
Construction attorney in California & Louisiana, Seth is an experienced construction litigator and Zlien's COO....Read More
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Gretchen Lynn
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Jason Bull
Zlien's Research Giant - He shares tips and info on how to confirm project, surety or construction party data.Read More
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