Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Expired mechanic's lien removal

We have a mechanic's lien on our home that has passed it's 100th day with no action to enforce it on the part of the person who placed it upon our home and he is not willing to even now remove it. We have all evidence necessary to prove it illegal, invalid, fraudulent and un-enforceable but we are not sure how to go about having a court remove it for us. Any suggestions or inputs would be much appreciated!


Asked on 3/04/09, 7:57 pm

3 Answers from Attorneys

Benjamin Berger Berger-Harrison, A Professional Corporation

Re: Expired mechanic's lien removal

You need to file a petition to remove the lien. Theoretically, you could do it yourself, but it is somewhat complicated. A lawyer could probably do it for about a grand.

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Answered on 3/04/09, 8:12 pm
Scott Linden Scott H. Linden, Esq.

Re: Expired mechanic's lien removal

He had 90 days to foreclose. You can now file with the court for removal of the lien as well as demand damages for slandering the title.

If you need assistance, please feel free to contact me directly at the email provided by LawGuru.

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Answered on 3/04/09, 8:22 pm
Bryan Whipple Bryan R. R. Whipple, Attorney at Law

Re: Expired mechanic's lien removal

The first question to be asked here is, "Why bother?" Old mechanic's liens are expired and dead as doornails or as useless as losing tickets on yesterday's horse races.

If you want to pursue removal of the lien, please dig up and read a copy of Civil Code section 3154. You will see that the Court can award up to $2,000 in attorney fees to a successful petitioner. If your case looks strong, an attorney experienced in such matters should be willing to take the case on contingency, i.e. at zero risk to you - but even if there is no cost, working with the attorney will take time and energy.

If the lien was REALLY malicious, fraudulent, ill-intentioned, etc., you can go beyond CC 3154 and ask for heavy-duty relief including money damages, but I don't see a high percentage of these cases being won. The process of filing a lien is rather well protected by public policy and it is hard, I think, to establish that the filing contractor was sufficiently evil-minded.

I hope these conflicting views are of some help.

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Answered on 3/05/09, 12:52 am


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