Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>do we have to wait a certain amount of time to put a mechanic's lien on record? Can we remove a mechanic's lien the same day we sent it?

do we have to wait a certain amount of time to put a mechanic's lien on record? Can we remove a mechanic's lien the same day we sent it?

Hello, so after I mailed the mechanic's lien notice to the homeowners how long do I have to wait to record it to the county? because they don't want to pay the due amount we sent them emails, phone calls and they never replied back. so that's is why we are putting a mechanic's lien to the property.

1 reply

Jun 13, 2018

That's an interesting question. That might depend on which notice you're referring to - a preliminary notice or a Notice of Intent to Lien. Since a preliminary notice is sent at the start of the project, typically, a claimant won't make a lien claim immediately after sending a preliminary notice. At any rate, after a preliminary notice is sent, a lien may be claimed at any time before the mechanics lien deadline. In California, if a party was hired directly by the property owner, a mechanics lien must be filed before the earlier of either 90 days after completion of the work of improvement; or 60 days after the owner records a Notice of Completion or Cessation. A claimant other than a direct contractor must record his mechanics lien after the claimant ceases to provide work, and before the earlier of either: 90 days after completion of the work of improvement; or, 30 days after the owner records a Notice of Completion or Cessation. If you were referring to a Notice of Intent to Lien being sent to property owners (and being ignored), a mechanics lien filing may be more imminent. The above deadlines for filing a mechanics lien will still apply, but typically, a Notice of Intent to Lien will prescribe some amount of time (often, 10 days) that an owner can make payment before a lien filing will be commenced. As long as that timeframe does not interfere with the ability to file a lien, it's often wise to allow an owner some time to make payment before filing. Ultimately, when to file a lien claim is up to the discretion of the claimant. However, mechanics lien deadlines are very strict - so if the deadline is right around the corner, there may not be time to resolve the dispute without a lien filing.

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