Riverside County Recorder Mechanics Lien Filing

Riverside County is a fairly big county. It has recording offices across the county where you can file your mechanic’s lien in person, and if you need or want to file it through some mailing services, there are separate mailing locations.

Riverside Gateway (Main Office) Location
2724 Gateway Dr.
Riverside, CA 92507
(951) 955-6200
Counter Service: Monday thru Friday, 8:00 am-5:00 pm
Document Recording: Monday thru Friday, 8:00 am-5:00 pm

Riverside Downtown Location
4080 Lemon St
1st Floor
Riverside, CA 92501
(951) 955-6200
Document Recording: Monday thru Friday, 8:00 am-5:00 pm

Palm Desert Location
38-686 El Cerrito Road
Palm Desert, CA 92211
(951) 955-6200
Document Recording: Monday thru Friday, 8:00 am-4:30 pm

Temecula Location
41002 County Center Drive, #230
Temecula, CA 92591-6027
(951) 955-6200
Document Recording: Monday thru Friday, 8:00 am-4:30 pm

Hemet Location
880 N. State Street, Suite B-6
Hemet, CA 92543-1496
(951) 955-6200
Document Recording: Monday thru Friday, 9:00 am-4:00 pm

Blythe Location
270 N Broadway
Blythe, CA 92225
(951) 955-6200
Recorder Services: Monday through Wednesday
8:00 am-12:00 pm & 1:00 pm-4:00 pm

Recording sent by Regular USPS Mail
Documents submitted for recording should be mailed to the following address when sending through standard USPS:

Riverside County Recorder
P.O. Box 751
Riverside, CA 92502

Recording sent by overnight mail
When sending by overnight service (UPS, FedEx, etc), documents should be mailed to:

Riverside County Recorder
2724 Gateway Drive
Riverside, CA 92507

Riverside county does not publish its recording backlog. However, based on the most recent information from our correspondence with them, their mailing backlog is at least 3 days. According to Riverside County’s website:

Requests will be processed in the order in which they are received. Please allow 6-8 weeks to receive your original recorded document back in the mail.

It’s common for recording offices to have backlogs. You want to avoid sending your mechanics lien to Riverside County for recording by mail unless you know the backlog and what to expect.

Riverside County Recorder website has a lot of different requirements for recording documents. Here is a selection of those requirements that apply to a mechanics lien filing:

1. The property must be located in Riverside County.
2. The document must be authorized or required by law to be recorded.
3. The document must be submitted with the proper fees.
4. The document must be in compliance with state and local laws.
5. The document should name the person (or company) requesting recording.
6. The document should state the name and address to whom the document should be returned. Fill in “Recording Requested By and Mail To”.
7. The entire document…must be legible enough to produce a readable photographic record.
8. Signatures must be original unless the document is a certified copy issued by the appropriate custodian of the public record.
9. The document must be properly acknowledged, unless exempt. (California requires an all-purpose acknowledgment).
10. The Assessor’s Parcel Number and Tax Rate Area are required on all conveyances by local Ordinance.
11. Unless otherwise required to do so by a state or Federal law, a document shall not be presented for recording if it displays more than the last four digits of a social security number.

Paper Size: All documents must be on regular letter-sized paper: 8.5 by 11 inches. Other page sizes incur additional recording fees.

Margin: Except for the first page (see below), a minimum of 0.5 inches must be left blank on all sides of the document.

First Page:: 2.5 inches of margin must be left at the top of the first page.

On the left 3.5 inches across, put the name and address of the party requesting the recording, and the address where the document is to be returned following recording.

The remainder of this space (the right 5 inches) is reserved for use by the Registrar-Recorder to enter the official recording information.

Use A Cover Sheet If First Page Does Not Comply: If the first page of a document does not comply with these legal requirements, attach a separate page to the front of the document that meets these spacing criteria and which includes the title or titles of the document. Download the Riverside County Recorder’s Cover Sheet here, if needed.

The Riverside County Recorder’s “base fee” to file a mechanics lien is $89, and includes 1 page. Each additional page costs $3.00.

If your document does comply with margin and print requirements, you may also be charged one of the following penalties:

Page Size Fee: $3 per page that is not 8.5 by 11 inches in size.

Small Print: $1 for each page where there is “small” print, but what constitutes “small” is not defined by the county. Generally speaking, you want your print to be at least 12pt font type.

More Than 10 Names Fee: If your lien mentions more than 10 names that must be indexed, you will be charged $1 for each additional group of 10 names.

Fees to obtain a copy
There are also fees charged to get a copy back from the recorder.

Regular Copy
First page 6.50
Each additional page 1.00
Certification of complete copy 1.00.

When recording in person, the payment options are Cash, Check, Money Order, or Credit Card. When recording in person, payment should be made by check.

If submitting check or money order, please make it payable to the “Riverside County Recorder.”

The county does not accept temporary checks or altered money orders. Using a credit card carries a $6 credit card processing fee.

You can purchase copies of recorded documents (official records) by coming into the county’s main office (or select satellite offices) in person, or by mail, by fax, or online.

Getting copies in person
You can view or purchase a copy of a recorded document in person from any of the following offices:

• Main office – Riverside Gateway
• Riverside Downtown
• Hemet
• Palm Desert
• Temecula
• Blythe

All applicable fees must be paid before getting the document. You will receive your copy the same day.

Getting copies by Mail/Fax
You may submit a written request containing the following information:

• Document title and/or type of document.
• Complete name(s) of parties referenced on the document
• A time frame to be searched
• Additional information that might be helpful: document recording number, parcel number

Please include the application form (download Application for Copy Form for Riverside County here), and sufficient funds. If you are not sure of the exact amount, please enclose a NTE (not to exceed) check. To do so, simply write “NTE” on the memo line with a designated amount. On average, a safe amount to designate is $10.00 per document. Once the correct fee is established, Riverside County will fill in the amount on the check.

Requests should be mailed to:

RIVERSIDE COUNTY CLERK-RECORDER
ATTN: CERTIFIED SECTION
P.O. BOX 751
RIVERSIDE, CA 92502-0751

To submit by fax:
Fax to (951) 486-7050

To order via email, send your request to accrmail@asrclkrec.com. Include your telephone number. You will be contacted by the clerk for payment information.

Getting copies online
You can get copies of documents online through Riverside County’s LexisNexis VitalCheck Network Inc..

If you have the property’s address and location, you may be able to get the property’s legal description from the Riverside County Assessor’s office. Here are some free tools available from the County to find legal property descriptions:

Property Assessments

Records Search

The filing fee to record and file a California preliminary notice in Riverside County is $64. While you can file a CA preliminary notice in Riverside County, there is a question of whether you should.

We explored this in the Ultimate Guide to California’s Preliminary Notice, as well as in response to this question in our Expert Center: Am I required to record – or should I record – a California preliminary notice?.

Since filing a California prelim offers very little benefits, but is quite costly, it’s probably a good idea to NOT file it. And you don’t need to. You only need to send it. More about that on our guide and FAQs area, all linked to above.