Legal Question in Construction Law in California

Re: Petitioning Court for Release of Mechanic's Lien

Mr. Newton is quite right, but we're both assuming that the lien is somehow invalid. CC section 3154 does you no good if the lien is still valid.

You can do the petition on your own, but if you've never done such a thing before, you may find the paperwork daunting. Starting with Matthew Bender's Forms of Pleading and Practice is a good start. Another way to get an idea of how to draft the pleading is to go down to your local courthouse and see if you can find any similar pleadings. If the clerk files things electronically, then it shouldn't be too hard to find a Petition for Release of Mechanic's Lien. It may not be titled precisely that way, but you should be able to find one without too much trouble and a little help from the clerk.

I've found, however, that you often don't have to file these petitions. A letter to the contractor saying that they have to remove their stale lien or you'll petition the court and ask for attorney's fees often does it. Attorney's fees are, however, limited to $1000. Most experienced construction law attorneys should be able to do the petition and attend the hearing for about this amount. If you get a quote for much more than this, then I'd question their experience. You can also ask the Contractor's State License Board for some help. They may be willing to write the contractor and put some pressure on them to voluntarily release their stale lien.

Re: Petitioning Court for Release of Mechanic's Lien

You do not need an attorney to file the petition, however I'd recommend you engage counsel, simply to insure that the petition is properly prepared and service of process is handled properly.

To my knowledge there are no Judicial Council forms available for the petition. Accordingly, you'll need to draft the petition with all the information required by the code section. If you have a law library handy, you may be able to find a form in one of the "form books" such as Matthew Bender's Forms of Pleading and Practice. I can't recall if they have a 3154 petition or not, but, absent engaging counsel, that might be a good starting place.

Best of luck.

Now the inevitable caveat:

The foregoing information is provided as an accommodation only, and does not constitute specific legal advice or a biding legal opinion based on a comprehensive review of all relevant facts, nor can provision of such information be construed as creating an attorney-client relationship.