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is 20 days preliminary notice must be filed within 20 days of work start ?

I am GC in southern califonia I have started a job that involved an insurance claim who wrote their checks to mortgage company and the owners name lender involvement, I have recorded am prelim 20 days notice after the 20 days is my prelim illegal ? I was fired from the job 90 days passed (the job was not completed by me) is my lien illegal ? If the lien is legal I must file a law suite within 180 days or my lien expires ? Thank you

9 replies

Apr 3, 2020

A GC, or direct contractor, does not need to serve a preliminary notice. Though I'm not clear on some of your facts, so long as you timely recorded your lien , and so long as you file suit within 90 days of recording your lien, you should be fine.

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Apr 3, 2020

My question is what if i filed the lien pass 90 days from the last day I did any work on the property is my lien illegal ? I thought that for a lien to be legal it has to be filed within 90 days from the last day i have performed work on the site

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Apr 3, 2020

You have 90 days after the entire project is complete - not just the completion of work, but all the work of all the various contractors on the project. So long as you did that, your lien should be fine.

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Apr 3, 2020

I meant to say: not just the completion of your work, but all the work of all the various contractors on the project

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Apr 3, 2020

the home owner has fired me as the GC, along with all my subs she doesn't let me go back to the site how would I know what has happen in these 90 days or when ever this job will be completed ?

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Apr 3, 2020

I don't know - maybe call your subs? Maybe record a lien and put the burden on the owner to show the lien is untimely?

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Apr 3, 2020

I generally check the Building Dept. on-line records to see if the project has passed final inspection. If so, that date is generally accepted to be the completion date. If not, the the project is probably still ongoing and you are probably within the window to record a lien. Other events could trigger the completion date as well, such as occupancy. It's best to consult an attorney about this.

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Apr 4, 2020

The agreement with the owner was that they’ll pull and owner builder permit and that they’ll be responsible for all permits and inspections and the honest truth is I believe that they didn’t keep their end of their deal, for all I know they took occupancy or I should say they have never moved out so they could always claim that the job was completed over 90 days ago cause they have been using the kitchen even though it was not completed yet

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Apr 4, 2020

I agree with Ms. Curl - check with the building department. Also, and again, if it's a close call, there is no harm in recording the lien and then figuring it out. Good luck.

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