Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Since you wrote the letter yourself, he knows you don't have an attorney, and he is laughing at you.

I would need to know surrounding facts. You may contact my office.

Daniel Bakondi, Esq. [email protected] 415-450-0424

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If your husband is building the house, that means it is not completed. Within 90 days of completetion means before 90 days after completion. A lien filed before completion is timely. You are right that a 20-day preliminary notice is required, but there are numerous exceptions and excuses that the courts have read into that requirement. So without all the details and facts it is impossible to know if the lien is void or not. Lastly, the lien amount does not have to be accurate, as long as it is not entirely fraudulent. It certainly can be the subject of a dispute. So if your husband has not paid the full amount due under the subcontract, regardless of any back-charges or deductions, then again the lien is valid. The only good thing in all this is that if the owner refuses to pay you $30,000.00 due to a $9,000.00 lien, the owner is in breach of the contract and you can file your own mechanics lien once you finish the job. If you cannot fund the job without payments that are now due and owing you can also suspend the job and file a lien.

Now that you know how you, the sub and the owner can make each other miserable, however, I suspect you would rather get this situation just to go away. I have 23 years experience in Construction Law. My last job for a paycheck was Construction Counsel in the General Counsel's Office at San Francisco International Airport. Now I settle construction disputes for people. If you would like to go over the details of this situation and discuss options for resolving it, please give me a call.

Advice? If you don't know how to protect yourselves or comply with the law on handling liens, you should hire a local attorney that does. Lien claimants have to prove the basis for the lien, but you're the one that has to take appropriate action to do so.