I'm a general contractor that finished a job in January at a hotel in Palm Springs, I never got paid. How does filing a lien mean that I will get paid? I don't understand how it works.
2 replies
Mar 23, 2021
Recording a mechanic's lien places a "claim" on the owner's property. If you file a lawsuit within 90 days of recording the lien, you can move to foreclose on the lien. The prospect of having the property sold in a public sale to pay off your lien is a pretty big incentive to an owner to resolve payment claims. If you do pursue a lawsuit and you are successful, you have the ability to have the property sold in a public sale and get paid for the amount you are awarded by the Court. This very rarely happens. The real objective of a mechanic's lien is to provide very strong encouragement to an owner that the owner needs to make payment to you a priority.
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Helpful
Mar 25, 2021
The lien process works by allowing the property to be sold to satisfy your debt. Since the property is almost always worth more than the lien, the owner generally pays the debt because they don’t want the property sold. Your mechanic’s lien must be filed within 90 days of substantial completion of the project (assuming no notice of completion was recorded). And you must perfect your lien by filing a lawsuit to foreclose the lien within 90 days of the lien recording date. I’m happy to answer any questions you have about this.
Cathleen M. Curl, Esq.
Law Office of Cathleen M. Curl
700 El Camino Real, Suite 200
Millbrae, CA 94030
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