How to get paid in California: the mechanic's lien guide

The four tools, and when each one fits

California does not give you one way to get paid. It gives you four, and the right one depends on who hired you, what kind of work you did, and whether the project is private or public.

The hard truth most trades learn the hard way: not every kind of work carries lien rights. Liens attach to work that improves real property. Building, framing, plumbing, electrical, landscape installation, painting, concrete, all qualify. Routine janitorial, recurring maintenance, and junk hauling usually do not. If that is your trade, skip to the small claims section. It is your main lever.

Step 1: The 20-day preliminary notice (Civil Code §8200–8216)

This is the step that quietly kills more lien rights than any other, because contractors do not know it exists until they need a lien and find out they never preserved the right to one.

The California preliminary notice is a written notice you serve near the start of a job that tells the property owner, the direct contractor, and any construction lender that you are on the project and may claim a lien if you are not paid. It is not a threat. It is a routine, expected document. General contractors and lenders see them constantly.

Who has to send one: subcontractors and material suppliers almost always do. A direct contractor who contracts straight with the owner usually does not need one for the owner, but still must serve it on any construction lender. The safe move for everyone: send it on every job. There is no downside to serving a notice you did not strictly need.

How to serve it: by first-class certified or registered mail with a certificate of mailing, to each required party. Keep proof. The proof of service is what makes the notice count.

Step 2: Filing the mechanic's lien (Civil Code §8400–8494)

If the work is done and you still have not been paid, the lien is the pressure. A recorded mechanic's lien attaches to the property's title. The owner cannot easily sell or refinance until it is cleared, which is exactly why most owners pay once a real lien hits the record.

The deadline math:

• If the owner records a notice of completion or cessation: a direct contractor has 60 days from that recording, everyone else has 30 days.
• If no notice of completion is recorded: 90 days after the work of improvement is actually complete.

These are hard deadlines. A day late and the lien is void. Calendar the date the moment a job goes sideways.

What the lien has to contain (§8416): the amount owed, the owner's name, a description of the work, the address and legal-enough description of the property, your name and address, and a statutory notice to the property owner. Get the form right. A defective lien is a void lien, and the owner's attorney will look for the defect first.

You record the lien at the county recorder for the county where the property sits, then serve a copy on the owner. Recording without serving the owner can invalidate it.

Step 3: After the lien, the 90-day foreclosure clock (§8460)

This is where contractors who win the first round still lose. Recording the lien is not the finish line. You have 90 days from the recording date to file a lawsuit to foreclose on the lien. If you do not sue within 90 days, the lien expires on its own and becomes worthless.

In practice, most disputes settle inside that window precisely because the clock is ticking for both sides. The owner wants the cloud off their title. You want your money. The lien plus the looming lawsuit is the leverage that gets a check cut.

Public works: stop notices and payment bonds (§9300+)

You cannot record a mechanic's lien against a school, a city building, or any public property. On public works the tools are different:

• Stop payment notice: served on the public agency, it forces them to withhold money owed to the prime contractor to cover your claim. Deadlines mirror the private-lien timeline but the target is the agency's funds, not the land.
• Payment bond claim: most public projects over the statutory threshold require the prime to post a payment bond (often around 100 percent of the contract). If you are not paid, you make a claim against that bond. The surety pays, then chases the prime.

If you bid public work, knowing these rules cold is part of the job. The same is true of knowing who you are bidding against and what the winning numbers actually were, which is the other half of what we do.

When you have no lien rights: small claims and collections

For janitorial, hauling, maintenance, and other service trades without lien rights, California small claims court is your workhorse. As of 2024 the limit for individuals and sole proprietors is 12,500 dollars (lower limits apply to corporations and LLCs). No lawyers are allowed, filing is cheap, and hearings happen fast.

Before you file: send a clear written demand letter with the amount, the work, and a deadline. A lot of non-payers pay the moment a real demand arrives, because it signals you are actually going to court. If they still do not pay, you file, you show up with your contract and invoices, and you ask for judgment.

Winning a judgment is not the same as collecting it. California gives you enforcement tools: wage garnishment, bank levy, an abstract of judgment that liens their real property, and a debtor's examination to find their assets. The realistic collection rate is far from 100 percent, which is why screening customers and getting a deposit up front beats chasing money after the fact.

Build protection into every job

The contractors who rarely get stiffed are not lucky. They layer protection in from day one:

1. Written contract before any work starts, with payment terms and a deposit.
2. Preliminary notice served within 20 days, every job, no exceptions.
3. Progress billing, not one balloon invoice at the end.
4. Conditional lien releases tied to payments actually clearing.
5. Calendar the completion date and the lien deadline the moment a job turns slow-pay.

Each layer is cheap. The lawsuit you avoid is not.