Legal Question in Construction Law in California

I would have to review the contract to determine if you need a judicial lien or a trustee lien. I am assuming that you will need the judicial lien as the trustee lien documents are straightforward in that the homeowner grants the right to foreclose. Contact me directly.

It depends on what the lien is for. There is a Judicial Cousel form for filing a breach of contract claim, and if the lien arises out of a contract you could use that form, with some attachments to file a foreclosure action along with the breach of contract. Really, though, you'd have to fill in so much detail and attach so much, the form really won't get you anywhere. There is no standard form lis pendens. If you are very sophisticated about the law, you could probably find some examples of a complaint and lis pendens that you could use to figure out how to write your own, but realistically you should have an attorney do it. There are too many details and rules that you might not know about that could trip you up. If you have a mechanics lien you only have a very short time to file your foreclosure, so if your complaint got bounced on a technicality, and you had to refile, you could lose your rights entirely.

I think the first answer reflects a misunderstanding of the question. As I understand it, you already have a lien - probably a mechanic's lien - and now need to bring a judicial proceeding, i.e. a lawsuit, to enforce it against a delinquent owner.

So, on the Mr. McCormick's answer. I agree with what he says about preparing, filing and serving the summons and complaint to initiate foreclosure of a mechanic's lien. There is no helpful Judicial Council form. Perhaps contractors' trade associations have developed such forms for their members' use. If you are a contractor, you might also ask your wholesale suppliers or rental yards you patronize if they know of any forms available to you. Be sure to read any form fully so you don't use one that's inappropriate or fill it out wrong.

As to the lis pendens, again, no official form, but aside from getting the legal description of the affected property 100% accurate, drafting a lis pendens is easy. The problem arises when you want to RECORD it......first, your lawsuit must have been filed; next, the Code of Civil Procedure does not permit an unrepresented party to record a lis pendens without a judge's prior approval (ss section 405.21). Getting an audience with a judge for this purpose can be difficult and as with any contact made by a party with a judge, requires proper notice to all other parties to the suit.

I assume you are at least somewhat familiar with the sections of the Civil Code dealing with enforcement of mechanic's liens, 3143 through 3154.