Corona del Mar, California · For Contractors & Construction Businesses

You did the work. Now you are fighting to get paid for it.

You built it right, on a coastal bluff above the harbor entrance, and the money has stopped. The owner is slow, the GC is pointing upstream, or a change order everyone agreed to on site is suddenly disputed. Meanwhile payroll and your suppliers do not wait.

The question is not whether you are owed. It is which tool collects fastest, and whether you act before a deadline quietly closes one of them.

You have strong options, if you move in time.

(949) 331-1937

What this looks like for contractors working in Corona del Mar

• An unpaid balance on a Corona del Mar job gets pursued through the right tool, a lien, a stop notice, or a contract claim, before the deadline passes.
• A disputed change order gets tied back to the contract terms and what was actually authorized.
• A defect or delay claim from an owner gets a precise, documented defense.
• Your license and bond get protected when a dispute escalates.

Getting paid on a Corona del Mar job is its own kind of problem.

High-end clients and their representatives know how to slow a payment and how to build a file against you. The work is visible, the expectations are exacting, and a single dispute here can follow your name to the next job.

What is at stake is your receivable, your bond, your license, and your reputation with the owners, architects, and GCs who hire in Newport Beach. Handling a dispute correctly is how you protect all four at once.

It usually starts with a friendly delay. Then the pay app goes unanswered, the retention conversation stalls, and you are carrying the cost of a finished scope while someone decides whether to honor it.

The deadlines do not care that you are busy. A missed preliminary notice or a late lien can forfeit the strongest tool you have. Knowing the clock, and starting it, is what keeps every option open. If you are facing a payment dispute or need help protecting your rights on a construction project, a Corona del Mar, CA Contractor Construction Lawyer can help you understand your options and important deadlines.

What you are really protecting

This is about specific things your business cannot afford to lose. Naming them is where the strategy starts.

• The receivable itself, collected through the remedy with the most leverage.
• Your mechanics lien and stop-notice rights, preserved before the deadlines run.
• Your contractor’s license and your bond, kept clear of an avoidable claim.
• Your standing with the owners, architects, and general contractors who hire in Corona del Mar.
• Your time, so a payment fight does not swallow the next project.

These are solvable problems with the right approach. The sooner someone maps them, the more leverage you keep.

What your case will actually involve

Large, multi-party construction cases in Orange County are handled at the Orange County Superior Court’s Civil Complex Center in Santa Ana. Most Corona del Mar owners never see a full trial. Resolving this well is less about the courtroom and more about knowing exactly what is on the table before anyone sits down.

Choosing the remedy that collects. Whether the leverage is a mechanics lien, a stop notice, a bond claim, or a straight breach-of-contract action depends on the project and the timeline. Picking the right one, early, is most of the battle.

Hitting the deadlines. Lien and notice rights run on strict clocks. The first task is calendaring every deadline so none of your remedies quietly expire.

Defending the work. When an owner claims a defect or delay, the case turns on the contract, the plans, the change orders, and what the evidence shows about causation. A documented, precise defense is what protects you.

Protecting the license and bond. A dispute can reach the CSLB and your bond, not just your bank account. Handling it correctly keeps a payment fight from threatening the business itself.

Why contractors bring this to Mahyar

Mahyar Ghassemian has spent more than twenty-five years in these courts on exactly this kind of case. This is the work, not a sideline.

She came to law from physics, and it shows in how she treats a matter. The pattern is precision, not sympathy. She wants the contract, the documents, and the timeline nailed down before anyone talks numbers, because that is what decides who pays.

I do not measure a result by how fast we closed it. I measure it by what the client’s home and life look like after we are done.

This is a small firm on purpose. When you call, you work with a senior attorney, not an intake screener passing you along.

25+ years in these courts95% settlement rate100+ years combined experiencephysics-trained technical analysis

Questions Corona del Mar contractors ask first

A Corona del Mar owner or GC will not pay me. What can I do?

You have strong tools, if you move in time.

When you have not been paid, you generally have three ways to enforce your right to payment: a mechanics lien on private jobs, a stop notice on public jobs, and a contract claim, but each runs on a tight clock, so moving quickly preserves them.

How long do I have to record a mechanics lien?

Not long, so the clock matters.

Record the lien within 90 days of completion, a general has 60 days after a recorded notice of completion and a sub 30, and then file to foreclose within 90 days of recording; subcontractors must also give a 20-day preliminary notice at the outset.

A homeowner is suing me over the work. What now?

Do not go it alone, and do not ignore the deadlines.

A defect, delay, or breach claim from a Corona del Mar owner can put your receivable, your bond, and your license at risk, but these cases turn on the contract, the plans, the change orders, and what the evidence shows about causation. Early, precise defense is what protects you.

The owner refuses to pay for change-order work. Do I have a claim?

Often yes.

Extra work outside the original scope is one of the most common disputes on high-end builds. Whether you recover turns on the contract’s change-order terms and what was authorized, in writing or by the parties’ conduct.

It is a public project and I have not been paid. Is a lien enough?

No. On public work you use a stop notice, not a mechanics lien.

For public work the remedies shift: a stop notice takes the place of a mechanics lien, and a payment-bond claim often runs alongside it, each on its own timeline.

Can a dispute really threaten my license or bond?

It can, which is exactly why the response matters.

Your license and bond can both be in play when a dispute arises, because owners can file with the CSLB and against the bond, so early, precise handling limits that exposure.

You do not have to have it figured out before you call. That is what the call is for.

You did the work.
Let us get you paid, and protect the business.
Call me.

Contact Ghassemian Law Group by the end of the call you will know which remedy fits, what the deadlines are, and what the next move looks like.

(949) 331-1937

Confidential. No pressure. No obligation. Serving Corona del Mar, Newport Beach, Newport Coast, and the surrounding communities.

Ghassemian Law Group, APC
27405 Puerta Real, Suite 250, Mission Viejo, CA 92691
Approximately 20 to 25 minutes from Corona del Mar via State Route 73.
(949) 331-1937

Construction LitigationReal Estate LitigationBusiness Litigation25+ years experience