How to Navigate Lien Rights in California to Get You Paid
Experts in this video
California’s mechanics lien laws provide substantial protection for contractors and suppliers. However, there are many requirements that must be followed in order for a construction participant to qualify for, maintain, perfect, and enforce lien rights. Whether you’re a GC, a subcontractor, or a material supplier, you’ll be able to walk away from this webinar with a better understanding of the statutory remedies that you can leverage to help you get paid on a construction job in California.
Join us for a free live webinar where we will cover all the ins and outs of California Lien Rights.
- Better understand complex CA Lien laws
- Learn how (and when!) to file a mechanics lien step-by-step
Speaker 1 (00:03):
My name is Amanda Alexander, and I’m a payment expert here at level set. I help businesses like yours get paid fast and without payment problems, um, hands down, this has been the favorite job of my entire life. I get to help nice people like yourself and talk to really interesting folks all over the country. Um, and really what we do here is really, and truly important to these teams of making sure that they’re able to keep their doors open, get home on time to their families, and it it’s remarkable to be able to help. Um, so that’s a little bit about me. Um, today we’re gonna be covering California’s lie laws here. And so California’s mechanics, lie laws provide substantial protections for contractors and suppliers. However, there are many requirements that must be followed in order to qualify for maintain perfect and enforce lie rights. We’ll break down this process in detail to help you understand what options you have.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
So for today’s agenda, we’re gonna cover five things that you need to know about lean rights in California, what to do when a payment’s late, how and when to file a California lien and the steps that are required, we’ll go through some FAQs and also some Q and as, and, um, we’re gonna have a great time. So what do we do here at level set level set is here to help you get paid and make sure it’s efficient. Our lean rights management software helps you track mechanics lanes and notice deadlines, verify job site information, and makes managing your lean rights paperwork easy. So that way your team can focus on other aspects of their jobs like growing the business. We also provide access to construction attorneys and other legal services. Plus we have all kinds of resources on our website from payment profiles about contractors like payment histories to educational guides.
Speaker 1 (02:12):
As we go into the presentation. We’d love to hear from you as well. So feel free to drop in the Q and a section, what you feel most unsure about when it comes to lean rights. I know like when I started working at level set, it was really overwhelming to learn this process. So if you’re new, I’m sure there’s gonna be a lot, but I talk to a lot of seasons folks as well. And there’s usually one or two things that they’re kind of unsure about and would like to improve for their business. So drop ’em in the Q and a and we’ll chat about ’em later.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
So first thing for the things that you need to know about California lie rights, preliminary notices are strictly required in order to file a valid lie claim, which means they should be sent on every job for most parties. If a preliminary notice is not delivered, the ability to file a valid mechanics lane is lost. A preliminary notice should be sent to the property owner general contractor and the construction lender. If there is one within 20 days of first furnishing labor or materials to the construction project, if you miss that deadline, don’t panic. This doesn’t kill your lie rights, but it does alter them a bit. A preliminary notice can be sent late. However, it will only be effective for labor or materials furnished for the 20 days prior to when the notice is sent. So if you miss your deadline, it’s better to send it sooner rather than later, the longer you wait, the more lean rights you will lose level set is able to help here by tracking your lean deadlines and your notice deadlines, and even automating your preliminary notices to prevent these things from falling through the cracks teams, get busy.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Other things are happening in the business. And it’s oftentimes that the one that you forgot to send a preliminary notice on is just so happens to be the one that you’re having a payment issue. And so that’s one thing that we’re able to simplify and streamline. We’re able to know what those requirements are in every state. And so we do that based on the role that you are on the project, the location, and the start date, it’s super dangerous to pick and choose which job that you’re gonna send out a preliminary notice on. I talk to contractors day in and day out, and this is pretty common. They say that they’re really comfortable with certain GCs. And so they don’t want to send out preliminary notices on those jobs, but the project always changes. You could have the best GCs that you work with, but if something happens on that project or if there’s an issue because a supply chain shortages or labor issues, there’s a whole host of reasons that could impact and delay a project to then when there’s payment being an issue. So it’s best to protect yourself the additional reason why it’s also important for subs and vendors on the job to send out preliminary notices is because it also helps prioritize your payment. And so it puts you in the stack to be paid first in a general contractor’s office. They’re gonna look at who has sent out that preliminary notice and prioritized their payment rather than the folks that haven’t sent out notices at all. They’re gonna get paid when paid or in some instances not paid at all.
Speaker 1 (05:34):
It’s important to request construction lender information when serving a mechanics lane or sending a preliminary notice, it’s important to include the construction lender. In fact, the construction lender is the only party GCs are specifically required to send a preliminary notice to failure to do so could affect the validity and power of a lean claim. This means that if the construction lender is unknown, companies should take efforts to determine the lender’s identity. I hear this all the time from subs and suppliers that I talk to of where, you know, they have delayed sending out a preliminary notice because they were trying to find out the lender and the GC may not be forthcoming, or it may not be on the job sheet. And so one of the ways that level set is able to help is to not only verify the information that you’ve provided on these documents, but we’re able to find missing information with our scout research team.
Speaker 1 (06:31):
And so we can find that missing information like a lender to make sure that these notices are airtight and protect your lean rights further on down the road. Something else that’s pretty commonly overlooked is that unpaid workers must be listed at the time. The preliminary notice is sent. This is the step that most people either don’t know about, or they forget about subcontractors who have unpaid workers or money owed to a union trust account. At the time they send the preliminary notice must include that information. It’s important to indicate that on the notice itself or at the very least attach unpaid payroll slips to the notice, the deadline to file a California lien runs from the completion of the entire project for general contractors. This is easy since they will be involved with the project or completion as for subs and suppliers. This can be a bit trickier, particularly if the labor or materials were provided early on in the project.
Speaker 1 (07:41):
The general rule is that the deadline to file a California mechanics lane is 90 days for all project participants. This sounds pretty cut and dry, but let’s say a notice of completion is filed, which formally announces the project completion. And this deadline is then significantly reduced for general contractors. The time to file a lien is shortened to 60 days. While the deadline for substance suppliers is reduced onto a mere 30 days. You’re probably thinking this all sounds great in theory, but how are you supposed to know when a project is completed, if you’ve been done with your role for weeks or even months, fortunately, the owner is required to provide a copy of the notice, but only if you sent a preliminary notice failure by the owner to provide a copy of the notice will render it ineffective to shorten the mechanics lane deadline level set is able to help here and a whole host of different reasons.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
But one particularly is that we’re able to monitor for notices of completion to help update your lean deadline and give you an alert within your level set account and via email. That action is required sooner, rather than later. We’re also able to give you insights as well on the project that’s displayed here on the right, if there’s been any other issue on that job. So it allows you to know if someone else on your project has filed a lien or notice of intent or even a bankruptcy. So you can start taking action sooner and really leverage your lean rights.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
The mechanics lie enforcement deadline comes fast. Again, the magic number in California is 90 to put it in perspective. Most states give a couple months to a year or even more in some instances. So level set will help track this enforcement deadline, which is 90 days from the time the lien was filed. Um, if you are coming up on that enforcement deadline, most contractors are going to get with a construction attorney to help enforce that mechanics lane. Um, if you need help, getting to an attorney in your area level set can make an, a connection with our legal guard program, uh, to help get you connected to a construction attorney that’s been vetted and will help represent your business and enforce that mechanics lane.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
So I know all of these steps may have you feeling a little bit overwhelmed. Don’t fraud level set has a streamlined process, so you can worry less about making sure you have the right dates and more on growing your business. Since you’re getting paid, we have a dashboard where we keep track of all the important dates, whether it’s your notice deadlines or your lean deadlines, enforcement deadlines, et cetera. And we’ll give you alerts and due dates. So that way you can focus on running your business with the confidence that your payment is being protected. We send you alerts not only within level set, but also via email as well. We know that you don’t live and breathe inside level set. And so one thing that stresses out my customers when I first talk to them is getting all of the information on the paperwork, correct? Thankfully level set provides job research so that you don’t have to chase down stakeholder information to protect yourself. I’m really curious here. I’ve been giving my Ted talk for a bit. So out of these five items, what do you struggle with the most chime in, in the Q and a section we’d love to find out?
Speaker 1 (11:25):
So how, and when do you file a lead in California? If you’re unpaid on a construction project, don’t worry. You’re not alone. Flow payment is a major challenge for contractors everywhere. Nearly $1 billion a year goes unpaid to contractors and suppliers on construction jobs. Filing a lien may be just what you need to help with a payment problem. California’s lie. Laws can get confusing before you fill out a lien. Let’s help you understand the process a little bit better. Nearly every party on a California construction project will need to send a preliminary notice within the first 20 days of furnishing labor or materials on the project to secure their lean rights. If it’s not a requirement, it’s certainly a best practice. This notice may be sent late, but it will only protect work or materials furnished in the 20 days preceding the notice if you’re required to do so, failing to send a preliminary notice will be fatal to your mechanics.
Speaker 1 (12:32):
Lie rights, tip contractors and vendors start thinking about next steps no later than 50 days past due the deadline to file a lie is 90 days after project completion. So acting early allows us to leverage other steps to hopefully avoid filing a lie, like sending out demand letters, no, and like notices of intent to lean. These are rather important because it communicates past just your customer. That there’s an issue. And oftentimes when I’m talking to subs or suppliers on a project, the property owner may have no idea that there’s an issue. And so it’s really, really important again, much like with the preliminary notice that we’re leveraging those relationships and looping everyone in to communicate that there’s an issue on the job. No one wants to file a lean on the job. It’s a bad outcome for everyone. And that’s why it’s so important to know what’s going on on the project.
Speaker 1 (13:28):
Especially if you’ve been off the job for weeks or even months, a lot of the customers for level set really, really value our job radar that allows you to know and have these insights on projects. If a contractor is having issues on other projects, uh, many times folks are Robin Peter to pay Paul. So it gives you some insight of why it’s starting to go past your payment terms. It’s not just business as usual. There may be a real issue at hand, even more so as someone on your job is filing something like, uh, a notice of intent or filing a lien, and you’re still waiting on retainage. It gives you more confidence to go ahead and start leveraging those lie rights. So that way you can protect yourself without damaging a relationship.
Speaker 1 (14:14):
So you’ve decided to file a lie. The first step is preparing the California lean form. One common mechanics, lean mistake is to start with the wrong form. There are a lot of forms out there claiming incorrectly to have compliant, California lean forms. Be careful to get your form from a reputable source information that is required to be on a California mechanics lane form would be the lean claim amount name of the property owner description of the work of materials you provided your hiring party’s information, property description, identifying yourself like name and address, um, including the warning statement and to sign and verify your California lie claim. That’s a lot. And this is why I tell folks all the time to work with a service like level set to not DIY they’re lean. When you have thousands and thousands of dollars at stake, you wanna make sure these things are airtight.
Speaker 1 (15:20):
So your lean isn’t invalidated a copy of the claim of mechanics lean, including the required notice of mechanics. Lean wording must be served on the owner or reputed owner of the property. Service may be accomplished by sending the lien by registered mail certified mail or first class mail to the owner’s residence place of business address, or the address shown on the build building permit. Once you’ve gotten all of this in order, you want to be aware of the recording requirements, which will vary by county California mechanics lane claims are documents recorded with the county recorder’s office for your mechanics lane, to be valid. You must record it. And the county where the job was physically located, California counties each have their own unique rules and requirements. One important requirement when filing your California mechanics lane is to make sure it’s filed on time. California has strict deadlines where if a lie isn’t filed on time, it could be completely invalidated and nothing’s going to extend those deadlines.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
So what’s next. Now that you’ve completed steps one through three, when it comes to filing a mechanics lane in California, you’re probably wondering what do I do now? Filing a lie is usually enough to get the property owner to pay you. Our research shows that the majority of mechanic lie filings get paid quickly without any further collection or legal efforts. But at this point we have three different options. We can extend your lien. This allows a claimant more time beyond the 90 day period to make collection attempts before needing to enforce a lien in California is rather tricky. The property owner must agree to the lean extension and sign the extension documents called a notice of credit. Therefore, you and the property owner must likely be a negotiations or on some kind of payment plan for the owner to agree to an extension.
Speaker 1 (17:42):
Secondly, we can enforce Alene, which would require an attorney to help you enforce a lie. During the enforcement deadline, you have 90 days to enforce your mechanics lane. Once it has been filed and typically a construction company or a supplier will get with a construction attorney to help enforce that mechanics lane or you’ve been paid, and we can release your lien. We’d really like you to avoid filing a lie, but that’s definitely a great outcome to have you be paid and the lie be released. So Y level set level set can streamline this process and manage your lie rights. We help protect your lie rights by setting things like your 20 day preliminary notices that are required. There’s automation available to help make sure that your team doesn’t have anything slip through the cracks and can reallocate that time to something else that’s fruitful for the business.
Speaker 1 (18:41):
We’re also able to help verify and find any missing information on these documents. And this is critical because anything that’s potentially wrong could invalidate your claim of lean. Sometimes I talk to folks that have bad information from job sheets. Not that people are trying to be malicious, but it happens. And so you want to have someone verifying that. I also talk to teams that are spending hours upon hours going to property owner and appraisal websites and trying to find this information themselves, hoping they get it right. And then sending out the prelim only to have it be returned to cinder because they had it wrong. You don’t wanna have the guest work and getting that research, right? And so that’s one way that we can help. We’re also able to help speed up slow payment. So once teams have sent out their preliminary notice, we’re often sending things like payment reminders and then escalating an aggression as appropriate.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
So sending things like demand letters, notices of intent and leveraging those relationships to help get you paid and save the relationship without having to file a mechanic claim. We’re also tracking your deadlines. And so that means your notice deadline, your lean deadline enforcement deadline. And so all of that’s to say like, you have multiple projects going on at one time. And every project has a different deadline and a different shot clock going. It can be hard for teams to keep up with that. And many times I hear from folks that are keeping up with this information via a like Google calendar or outlook calendar, and, you know, the best of intentions, but things get missed. And so it’s able to not only give you those deadlines and alert you inside and outside the platform, but we’re also able to monitor for things like notice as a commencement and completion.
Speaker 1 (20:34):
And that’s extremely critical, especially if you’re waiting for retainage and needing to know whether or not a project has been finished, we monitor for any issue on that project or issues with contractors that you’re associated to, to help reduce risk and get ahead of payment problems. And that’s really, really helpful whenever you wanna have the confidence to send an escalation document or start leveraging your lean rights. And don’t know if it’s the best Mo uh, like move. I talked to so many companies that had no idea that four other subs and vendors on that project had already started sending notices. And so they started getting the ball rolling too, to protect themselves and get ahead of any kind of slow payment. Um, and finally really important here. A lot of folks have a really hard time getting connected to a construction attorney. I can’t tell you how many times that someone has told me that they’ve been waitlisted, um, or hasn’t gotten a call back and has spent the day calling attorneys. Um, oftentimes it’s because, uh, you know, they want to make sure the project that they’re gonna be helping you with is over X amount of, you know, thousands and hundreds of thousands of dollars to make it worth their Y with legal guard. We’re able to give you something that’s reputable, that’s in your state, and that can be your go-to person to help with things like enforcement, um, attorney drafted letters and consultations to help further protect your business on top of your lean rights.
Speaker 1 (22:00):
So I know that was a lot of information. I wanna open it up to the Q and a portion of this webinar. Um, while you start to type your questions, I want to review some frequently asked questions that we get from folks that are in your shoes. So when’s the deadline. We covered this toward the beginning of our meeting today, but the deadline to file a lien against the property in California is different depending on the claimant’s role and whether a notice of completion or cessation is filed on that project, prime contractors or GCs who are contracted directly with the property owner have a 90 day window from the completion of the work. And if a notice of completion is filed, it’s shortened to 60 days for all other claimants, but window is also 90 days from completion of the project, but it is shortened to 30 days if a notice of completion or cessation is filed on that particular project. So it’s really, really important to know, especially on those commercial jobs, when you’re waiting on retainage to know when that notice of completion is filed, who can file a lie in California. This is really, really common. Um, and the answer is pretty vast direct contractors like prime contractors, GCs, uh, subcontractors, material, suppliers, equipment, lessers, laborers, design professionals, and any person providing work authorized for site improvement. So it’s a pretty, uh, broad definition on, on who may file in California.
Speaker 1 (23:44):
And lastly, do I need to send notice the lie was recorded? Yes. A copy of the claim of mechanics lie must be served on the owner or reputed owner of the property service may be accomplished by sending the lien by registered mail certified mail or first class. And it should be addressed at the owner or reputed owner to the owner’s residence place, a business, or the address shown on the building permit. So you’ll see a QR code here on the right hand side of the screen. If you’d like to further ask questions or, uh, book a meeting with us to talk about improving your, your payment process in managing your lean rights. That’ll give you a direct link there, but I wanna take this time to go through some questions that have come through chat. So please feel free to ask more questions and fire away.
Speaker 2 (24:42):
Hey, Amanda, um, it’s Daniela, there are a couple questions that I’m seeing come through here. Um, so from Trisha, she wants to know, um, do you have to release your lien with the county as well, or just the client?
Speaker 1 (24:54):
Oh, man. That is a great question. So you do have to release your lien with the, the county as well.
Speaker 2 (25:03):
Awesome. Thank you. Um, we’ve got, uh, another one from Louis Gonzalez. He wants to know when is it appropriate to provide a mechanics lean warning as opposed to a prelim?
Speaker 1 (25:15):
Mm. So that’s a great question. It really depends on the company and the scope of work. So oftentimes when I’m talking to someone like a restoration contractor, it may be at day 30 day 45, that they’re sending out something like a notice of intent to lean because they’re typically paid on completion or, or have a net 30 term. Um, for a lot of the commercial contractors that I work with, they are usually sending out something like a notice of intent to lean between day 50 and day 60. I tell folks, and not to be like a broken record here, but I tell folks, this is why something like job radar is so, so helpful because if you know, other contractors are also doing the same and you have something like a payment term where you’re paid on like net 30, but by the time you submit your pay app, you know, that it’s probably gonna be 45 days on a good month, um, that you’re paid. So you, you don’t have any suspicion when it’s starting to creep up to 60, but if you start having alerts that other folks are already sending out things like notices of intent or filing a lien, it gives contractors a lot more confidence to start sending that sooner rather than later. So, sorry for a little bit of the ambiguous, um, answer there, but it really depends on the situation and also like the type of work, but generally speaking 50 to 60 days would be what a lot of contractors would there.
Speaker 2 (26:46):
Awesome. Thank you so much. Um, we do have one more from Trisha, and then I’m seeing some in the chat that I’ll read, um, after this one. So, um, she’s asking, say you have multiple contracts and some are settled, um, meaning paid already. Can you start a lean letter as you move forward with the same client who is making new contracts for work or does the original contract hold priority?
Speaker 1 (27:12):
So I wanna make sure that I understand this fully because sometimes like where I’m coming from of the answer or hearing this question is like, I have more than one job with this particular contractor. Some of those jobs are paid, some of them aren’t. Um, and in that case, that’s up to you, if you wanna continue working with that person. Um, absolutely. I run into folks that are, uh, on more than one job with the same contractor. That’s slow paying them on one project. Maybe it is that particular customer of the GC, you know, and so that’s not the GCs fault, y’all have a great relationship. Um, that would definitely be something that I’ve seen before, where they are leveraging lean rights on, uh, a particular project where they haven’t been paid. Um, if it’s something where, uh, you are still on one job, cuz this is the second way I interpreted that question and, uh, say that you’ve been paid on some draws, but not on others. And they want you to continue work. Most contractors would definitely draw a line in the sand and start leveraging lean rights at that point.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
Great. Thank you. Um, got a couple more here. Um, we’ve got one from accounting. Um, they’re asking if they’re the GC and receive many prelim notices by certified mail from subcontractors. Can they scan and toss the original filing or keep the original until the project is complete?
Speaker 1 (28:41):
That is a great question. I’m not actually sure. Um, I would love to follow up, um, or asset and to our expert center. That’s our network of attorneys, uh, that will respond to best practice there. I’m not sure a hundred percent and I’m not an attorney, so I don’t wanna give legal advice. Um, so I’ll keep it at that, but a lot of folks do digitize them and, and put them in a file. Um, so I would just want to verify before tossing them.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
Awesome. I’ll send, um, in the chat, I’ll put a link to, uh, our expert center where you can always post questions as well. Yeah. Um, we’ve got one from Carmen here. She’s asking if, uh, their deadline to file suit, uh, to enforce a lean or release or file extensions is August 12th. Um, what is next?
Speaker 1 (29:37):
The deadline to file? The lie is August 12th.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
Yeah. I believe what she’s asking
Speaker 1 (29:43):
Then, you know, uh, I would’ve filed a lie, um, a while ago, but in this particular situation, um, if it’s possible to go to the county recorder in person that might be a best option level set has an ability to rush a lien, but it typically does take like 24 to 48 hours, um, to get that lean out of the door. And I’m sorry to look down, but I had to double check what date it was. Um, and so that puts you up quite a deadline, um, for contractors that have missed their lean deadline. Oftentimes they’ll still send an escalation document. Um, but all hopes not lost. Maybe there is an e-filing, um, uh, possibility there, but, uh, it would require immediate action.
Speaker 2 (30:39):
Great. Thank you. Um, we’ve got another one. Um, someone wants to know when a preliminary notice is filed. Is it best to issue a joint check?
Speaker 1 (30:54):
Um, not typically, like, are you gonna do a joint check to the sub and the supplier?
Speaker 2 (31:03):
We can give them a a minute to clarify.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
Yeah. Um, a lot of times like a joint check, isn’t really preferred in a lot of instances, but sometimes, you know, if they’re managing multiple subcontractors then maybe, so it really depends on the business, uh, when it comes to like a joint check. Um, but that’s a very interesting question.
Speaker 2 (31:28):
Great. Um, and then we’ve got one from Arnold here they’re asking, um, how can a subcontractor file a lien to collect retention when they finish work more than 90 days before the project is completed?
Speaker 1 (31:42):
Hmm. That’s a great question. And so many times a subcontractor, um, is waiting quite a long time for their retention and retainage to be paid out. And so typically like a subcontractor is definitely making sure that they are keeping up with the notice of completion, uh, date, because once that date starts, then they would be like needing to, to leverage your lean rights within 90 days, um, or, or shorter rather if it’s a subcontractor. Um, and so it depends on the contract as well. I would say, uh, sometimes like there’s gonna be language and contracts of paid when paid. Um, sometimes it gets a window. And so, um, usually like if it it’s outside of a normal scope, then you know, something like a notice of intent to lean is starting to be sent just to get some communication going and hopefully avoid to have to file like a lien and, and get the retainage paid out.
Speaker 2 (32:48):
Wonderful. And, um, going back to the joint check question, um, they were able to provide some clarity. They’re saying if a subcontractor filed a lien and their sub supplier did too. Um, do I issue a joint check or only to the subcontractor who the money is owed to?
Speaker 1 (33:05):
Hmm, that’s a great question. It really, it depends on the business, but I’m glad that the subcontractor and the supplier both protected to lean rights all too often, I hear subcontractors thinking their lie rights are protected because their supplier has leveraged them. It’s not the case. Uh, everyone has to leverage them appropriately. Um, because all too often I hear about situations where the supplier did, but the contractor didn’t send out notices or, or file a lien. And the supplier gets paid. Um, as far as to answer the question promptly, like that really depends on the business. Um, a lot of times companies will do either.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
Great. Um, and then going back to Carmen’s question about, um, the eight, 12 deadline, um, she clarified, they already submitted the lien mm-hmm <affirmative>, um, and, uh, they did it through level set actually. So, um, she’s saying the deadline is eight 12, um, and is asking for clarification if their choices are to extend, enforce or release, um, looks like the amount pending is only $7,400. So I don’t know if the cost of the process is worth it.
Speaker 1 (34:19):
Oh, to enforce the lie,
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Correct? Yeah.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
Okay. So I’m still a little bit unclear, like the lien was filed, but the deadline to enforce his eight, 12,
Speaker 2 (34:30):
Um, Carmen, if you can just clarify, we’re happy to get to that one.
Speaker 1 (34:34):
So I’ll, I’ll answer it in two D both different ways. Um, so if the enforcement deadline is eight, 12, it’s gonna be pretty challenging to extend that. Um, one, because you have to get the, the property owner to extend that, which is typically pretty difficult unless you’re negotiations. Um, and two, it’s hard to get an attorney to file the appropriate paperwork in that short timeframe. Um, if it is more so of like, Hey, they still haven’t paid us, we need to enforce a lie and it’s $7,000. Um, I work with a lot of people that will go ahead and try to enforce a lean. A lot of times it’s by principal. Um, but $7,000 is, you know, still $7,000. And so something like legal guard is really helpful then because you’re working with an attorney at a really reduced rate where, um, you know, most attorneys are gonna put a retainer of like 5k or 10 K on a particular job just to, to get it done. Whereas like, you know, legal, guard’s like a, a fit that, that costs. So, um, it’s really helpful in that regard to, to help start the enforcement process. Um, sometimes too, if you’re trying to get some kind of communication, some folks will go ahead and send something like a notice of intent to foreclose. Um, but typically contractors would wanna consult an attorney before doing so
Speaker 2 (36:04):
Great. Thank you so much, Amanda. Um, I know we’re a little overtime here. Um, I’ll read out one more question. Um, here, just to recap, Vivian, she joined a little late and she was just wondering at what time during the project, do you, uh, file a lie?
Speaker 1 (36:20):
Oh, so typically like the, the deadlines that you need to, to keep in mind, Vivian is like one, the very beginning of the project we’re sending out that preliminary notice, ideally in the first 20 days of the project of giving labor materials, as the project goes on and you finish the project, typically someone would file a lie within 90 days. Now, if you’re a subcontractor and substantial completion of the project, hasn’t begun. Like typically that’s when they’re starting to, uh, leverage their lean rights if they are still waiting and it’s outside their payment terms and they wanna get some attention. Um, but typically it’s 90 days of completion of the project, unless a notice of completion has been filed in which case it shortens it by 30 days for a prime contractor. And it shortens it down to 30 days. Uh, if it’s a sub or supplier.
Speaker 2 (37:20):
Thanks, Amanda. I think that covers all the questions for now. Um, we did make sure to share the lengths for, um, our help center. And, uh, I know we’ve got our QR code here, if anybody wants to scan this. And, um, if you have any more specific questions, um, feel free to just scan this and Amanda will be sure to follow up with you directly.
Speaker 1 (37:40):
Yeah. Thanks so much for everybody coming out today. I really enjoyed the conversation. Um, feel free to reach out. Um, and if you have any questions about how level set can help you manage your lean rights, we’re happy to provide a customized demo for you or anyone on your team. Just scan the QR code on the screen and I’ll reach out to you as soon as I’m able. Um, and if you have any additional questions that are specific to your job, please also reach out to us and, and we’ll be happy to help. And I really appreciate everyone joining, um, take care. Bye.