Home>Levelset Community>Legal Help>PRIOR TO SENDING A PRELIMINARY NOTICE TO MY CLIENT, DO I FIRST FILE AT THE COURTHOUSE OR CAN I SEND THE NOTICE AND THE N
PRIOR TO SENDING A PRELIMINARY NOTICE TO MY CLIENT, DO I FIRST FILE AT THE COURTHOUSE OR CAN I SEND THE NOTICE AND THE N
PRIOR TO SENDING A PRELIMINARY NOTICE TO MY CLIENT,
DO I FIRST FILE AT THE COURTHOUSE OR CAN I SEND THE NOTICE
AND THE NEXT DAY FILE AT THE COURTHOUSE?
RICHARD
1 reply
Oct 25, 2019
In California, preliminary notices are required from all parties other than wage laborers, and must be sent within 20 days from first furnishing labor or material is first delivered in order to fully protect the party giving the notice. The notice is not required to be filed - it is sufficient to deliver the notice through certified mail, by personal delivery, or by overnight delivery from an express service carrier.
If a construction participant wants to file the preliminary notice, as well, s/he can do so. Section 8214(a) of California Civil Code states that: "[e]ach person who has served a preliminary notice may file the preliminary notice with the county recorder." The benefit of filing the preliminary notice as well as sending it to the required parties, is that the county recorder is then supposed to send a copy of any filed notice of cessation or completion to the party who filed the preliminary notice.