California Lien Laws

No-cost, free MCLE event

1 hour participatory California MCLE credit

Program Description

This webinar will discuss what a mechanic’s lien is, the requirements for recording and perfecting a mechanic’s lien, preliminary notices, waiver and release forms, what to do as a homeowner if a contractor or supplier liens your home, and how to get a mechanic’s lien off your property.

About the presenter

Cathleen M. Curl is the owner of the Law Office of Cathleen M. Curl, specializing in handling problems relating to the construction industry, including payment disputes, contract negotiations, contract preparation and revisions, stop payment notices, mechanic's liens, bonds, construction defect litigation, and other matters. She received her B.A. from Stanford University in 1974, and her law degree from the University of Santa Clara in 1978. She has been engaged in the construction industry exclusively for over forty years. She is a co-author of the CEB book California Mechanic’s Liens and Related Construction Remedies 4th Edition. She has given numerous construction law seminars for CEB, various Builders Exchanges, and other professional construction organizations throughout the State of California.

A member of the California Bar, she is also admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, and all of the various State, Appellate and Federal Courts in California.

She is also a member of the Construction Industry Section of the California Lawyers Association, San Mateo County Trial Lawyers, National Association of Women in Construction, is past president of the Peninsula Builders Exchange, and has served as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association, the California Contractors State License Board, the Arbitration and Mediation Association, Inc., and the San Mateo County Superior Court, and has been a Judge Pro Tem for the San Mateo County Superior Court.

She has been involved in many phases of construction law, representing owners, contractors, construction managers, suppliers, subcontractors, engineers, condominium associations, and sureties. She has prepared and negotiated claims and has prosecuted and defended suits before arbitration tribunals, state and federal courts, and various governmental agencies. She has given seminars for CEB, and many other professional organizations on construction claims, mechanic's liens, stop notices and contract performance.

Ms. Curl's clients include both large and small general contractors, subcontractors, homeowners, material suppliers, owners, condominium associations, and engineers.

She is and has been rated as a Super Lawyer@ by S.F. Super Lawyers Magazine & Thompson Reuters from 2010 to the present, which is an honor given to the top 5% of total lawyers in the state. She also has earned an AV Peer-Review rating (the highest rating) from Martindale Hubbell.