We have sent a demand letter - lien is in place. Is the only option court ?
You could send a demand letter from an attorney to the owner and notify them that you intend to file a lawsuit to foreclose your lien if not paid by a fixed date. You could also request that they extend the deadline to file a foreclosure action to give you more time to negotiate. That would require a written agreement. You could serve a bonded stop payment notice on the construction lender if there is one and the deadline has not passed. If none of those things work, be sure to file your foreclosure action before your 90-day deadline passes and record a lis pendens. You should also have a right to considerable interest on the unpaid amounts and recovery of your attorney's fees.
If I was retained, I would call the owner/GC (whoever owes you the money), and also send a demand letter. Then, file suit. Kevin Meade, Esq. - 949-502-7715 - kmeade@TALGlaw.com
You should allow a certified commercial collection agency licensed and bonded to collect in CA collect the account on a contingency bases; therefore, you're not wasting time and good money chasing after a bad debt. The collection agency has resources and abilities to collect as this is all we do. If for any reason the agency can not collect it then you can look into your suit options. Feel free to contact me with any specific questions. Best regards getting paid, Steve