The contractor did some work. We fired him. He did $3,000 worth of work. We paid $1,400 to get it corrected. The lien on our property is for $13,000. He charged us $2,160 to write an invoice and he charged us for other services he never preformed.
There is no easy way to get the lien removed before it expires. The lien will expire if the contractor fails to file a lawsuit to foreclose the lien within 90 days of recording the lien. If the lien expires, you can send a formal demand under California Civil Code Section 8482 et seq. that the contractor release the lien within 10 days. If the contractor fails to do so, you can file a petition to release the lien and be awarded the reasonable attorney's fees and costs required to do so. If the contractor does file a lawsuit to foreclose, then you will need to attack the lien on the merits in response to the lawsuit. You can do this through a Lambert Motion.