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Is it legal/enforceable for a contractor to file a lien for work performed that was not requested or authorized?

CaliforniaMechanics Lien

My residential tenant is a general contractor. His lease specifically states that he cannot make repairs and deduct the cost from the rent, he has repeatedly done so. Despite my reminding him that I have a home warranty service to cover many items and reminding him that this type of action on his part is not allowed, he has continued to take this action. He will be moving out the end of this month and has now emailed me that if I do not credit his outrageous bills toward unpaid rent, that he will file a mechanic's lien on me or the property. I do not believe this is possible as I have immediately protested and denied the invoices on his General Contractor letterhead. One invoice was for $880.00 for a roof issue that I paid a licensed roofer $150.00 to fix. Thank you for your attention to this question. The guy is making me crazy with wild assumptions and threats of what he can do.

2 replies

Feb 13, 2020

There are many different issues raised, but California's statutes provide a very specific definition of "Who is Entitled to Lien." California Civil Code §§ 8400-8404 provide that a person with lien rights must be a "person that provides work authorized for a work of improvement." And further define that "[w]ork is authorized for a work of improvement or for a site improvement in any of the following circumstances: (a) It is provided at the request of or agreed to by the owner. (b) It is provided or authorized by a direct contractor, subcontractor, architect, project manager, or other person having charge of all or part of the work of improvement or site improvement." In the absence of an authorized work of improvement, no lien rights exist. Tenants in California are only allowed to repair the property and withhold rent in the event that the issue is a serious repair or presents a serious habitability problem, and the landlord was informed of the problem and given a reasonable amount of time to fix it. Further, the "repair and deduct" remedy available to tenants in these circumstances may not be used more than twice in any 12-month period. However, the ultimate validity of any filed lien does not necessarily have anything to do with whether the lien could be filed, as a practical matter. County recorders do not act as gatekeepers for determining the validity of a lien filing, and many unenforceable liens may end up being filed. Liens must be enforced through a lawsuit, or they will expire. Additionally, property owners in California can make a claim for damages related to a fraudulently filed lien through a slander of title action.

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Feb 13, 2020

This was exactly the information I was seeking. Thank you so very, very much for you fast reply.

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