Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>A lien claimant did work on a property thinking they would be appointed to adminster the estate and/or win the will contest. They didnt. Now they want money from the estate for work performed that was never requested nor contracted for by the administator. Under California law is the filing of that lien actionable or illegal?

A lien claimant did work on a property thinking they would be appointed to adminster the estate and/or win the will contest. They didnt. Now they want money from the estate for work performed that was never requested nor contracted for by the administator. Under California law is the filing of that lien actionable or illegal?

Thinking that they were going to be appointed to administer property that was to go through a probate, lien claimants did work clearing out house cleaning back yard etc without ever being asked or requested or contracted for by the person who came to be the administrator, me. They filed an improper lis pendens which the probate court removed and the next day, through a straw man filed a mechanics lien. I never agreed, contracted or in any way requested them to undertake any work on the property, which has now been sold to a third party with court approval. Now, In order for escrow to close I have to remove this mechanics lien and potentially pursue a claim against them on behalf of the estate Whats involved to remove the lien (as I can not and will not pay it) and what remedies do I have against these scammers who have filed a false legal document

1 reply

Dec 11, 2017

In California, lien rights are only available when authorized work of improvement has taken place. Under § 8404 of the California lien statute, work is authorized for a work of improvement or for a site improvement where the work has been provided at the request of or agreed to by the owner or certain other parties authorized to provide work to the project. Further, under § 8422, erroneous information in a lien claim will invalidate a lien claim when made with the intent to slander title or defraud. To have the lien removed under § 8480-8488 of the California mechanics lien statute, the property owner must provide notice to the claimant demanding the lien be released. That demand must comply with notice requirements found in Chapter 2, Title 1 of the lien statute and must state the grounds for the demand of removal. If the lien has not been removed within 10 days, then the property owner may petition the court for a release order (which must then comply with § 8484 of the lien statute). Alternatively, a lien may be bonded off pursuant to § 8424 of the lien statute. Providing a bond to remove the lien might not be ideal, but the property title could at least be cleared up. As far as penalties for false or fraudulent mechanics lien, knowingly filing a false or forged document could result in a felony in California.

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