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Lee, San Diego homeowner, fraudulent lien headed to trial.

In 2017, $32,530 fraudulent lien filed. Now that we have proof, verified by contractor, that his costs were $134,000 and we paid $147,000 he is claiming it is lost profits and overhead. Attorney has charged us almost $60,000 and we are headed to trial. The complaint is unverified, but Lis pendens was filed. Attorney has refused to file motions and wants to take it to trial. Wasn’t the complaint supposed to be verified? Is there no way to get it removed before trial? This is a nightmare we can’t wake up from. Thank you

2 replies

Feb 27, 2020

Under § 8416(a) of the California Civil Code, a mechanics lien must be signed and verified by the lien claimant. So, a failure to have the lien claim verified may well result in an invalid or unenforceable lien - and an issue on the face of the lien should help to get the lien tossed aside without having to pursue full blown litigation. Though, at the same time, not all issues with a lien claim will work to get it thrown out. Regarding the lien amount - note that a California mechanics lien is limited to the lesser of the following amounts: (1) The reasonable value of the work provided by the claimant; or (2) The price agreed to by the claimant and the person that contracted for the work. So, even if a contractor claims that their costs exceed the contract price, if no change orders were issued or if the contract wasn't otherwise adjusted, then the price on the contract should be the maximum amount of a potential lien claim. Finally, regarding the litigation strategy - unfortunately, I don't personally have experience litigating California mechanics lien disputes. So, if you're uneasy about your attorney's plan for bringing forward your claims, it might be helpful to reach out to another local CA construction attorney to see how they'd pursue the relevant claims. Notably, though, a prevailing owner will often end up being awarded costs and attorney fees - so, if the case is strong, that might provide some hope.

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Feb 27, 2020

Thank you. The claim of lien was verified, the quiet title action complaint was not and they filed a lis pendens based on the complaint. I thought I read somewhere the lis pendens could not be filed on an unverified complaint. Kind regards

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