FAQ

Anyone who contributes value to a construction project, including contractors, engineers and architects, can record a mechanics lien to ensure they get paid. Please check out our blog on the subject at the following link…

It depends on the lawsuit. If a lawsuit is over $35,000, it has to be filed in Superior Court as an unlimited jurisdiction matter. Such matters can take up to two years from inception to trial and usually at least a year. Smaller amounts are filed in limited jurisdication for $12,500 to $35,000. These take less time. Any thing less than $12,500 at issue should be filed in small claims court and the parties represent themselves.

In most instances, with some exceptions, you can record a mechanics lien within 90 days of the time your work ends on a project or the project itself ends. You then have another 90 days from the date of recording to foreclose on the lien, which requires a lawsuit. If you do not file the lawsuit, the lien will be invalidated. In addition, if you are a subcontractor, you have a 20-day time limit from the start of your work to give a preliminary notice about your lien to the general contractor and owner, or you will not be able to recover on a mechanics lien. There are some exceptions and you should talk to an attorney about these time limits.

In California, anyone can file a lawsuit by some just putting some allegations in a complaint. However, there are ways to minimize your exposure to a lawsuit. Buying the proper amount of liability insurance works in some instances. Legally, however, the answer depends on what you are trying to protect. Business entities can offer protection to a person’s personal assets when the owner incorporates the business or sets up an LLC or another type of entity that would be suitable for their business. A good business attorney can further explain all of these options.

A lot less than ignoring it!!! Depending on the amount you have been sued, or are suing, for, it can cost anywhere from a few thousand dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars. A competent attorney can look at your lawsuit or why you want to file one and give you an idea.

You have to file a response in court within 30 days from the time you get served with a lawsuit. If you do not, the other party can ask the court to enter your default and get a judgment against you. Then they can come after your assets, meaning your home, bank account and other belongings. It is NEVER a good idea to ignore a lawsuit.

It depends on the lawsuit. If a lawsuit is over $35,000, it has to be filed in Superior Court as an unlimited jurisdiction matter. Such matters can take up to two years from inception to trial and usually at least a year. Smaller amounts are filed in limited jurisdication for $12,500 to $35,000. These take less time. Any thing less than $12,500 at issue should be filed in small claims court and the parties represent themselves.

Contact an attorney immediately. You usually have only 30 days from the time you get served, meaning when you received the lawsuit to file a response in court. If the amount you have been sued to is less than $12,500 you will need to go to small claims courts and then you can represent yourself.

HOAs have broad powers arising from your CC&R (Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions). The CC&R for each development is a document drafted by the developer when they first develop a project to sell. In almost all HOA developments, your purchase agreement binds you to the CC&R for that development. The HOA board has to apply the rules stated in the CC&R as well as California Codes and cases to come to a proper decision. A decision that does not seem fair and you do not like, can be checked by your attorney against these rules and laws and you may be able to appeal such a decision. Consulting with a real estate attorney about such an issue can help you preserve your property rights.

There are several ways to protect your real estate investments from lawsuits. One way is to transfer ownership of the property to an LLC. You should contact your attorney to find out how your personal situation can change based on such a transfer. You should also discuss this with your tax advisor because such transfers may have tax consequences.

It depends on the lawsuit. If a lawsuit is over $35,000, it has to be filed in Superior Court as an unlimited jurisdiction matter. Such matters can take up to two years from inception to trial and usually at least a year. Smaller amounts are filed in limited jurisdication for $12,500 to $35,000. These take less time. Any thing less than $12,500 at issue should be filed in small claims court and the parties represent themselves.

In California, anyone can file a lawsuit by some just putting some allegations in a complaint. However, there are ways to minimize your exposure to a lawsuit. Buying the proper amount of liability insurance works in some instances. Legally, however, the answer depends on what you are trying to protect. Business entities can offer protection to a person’s personal assets when the owner incorporates the business or sets up an LLC or another type of entity that would be suitable for their business. A good business attorney can further explain all of these options.

A lot less than ignoring it!!! Depending on the amount you have been sued, or are suing, for, it can cost anywhere from a few thousand dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars. A competent attorney can look at your lawsuit or why you want to file one and give you an idea.

You have to file a response in court within 30 days from the time you get served with a lawsuit. If you do not, the other party can ask the court to enter your default and get a judgment against you. Then they can come after your assets, meaning your home, bank account and other belongings. It is NEVER a good idea to ignore a lawsuit.

It depends on the lawsuit. If a lawsuit is over $35,000, it has to be filed in Superior Court as an unlimited jurisdiction matter. Such matters can take up to two years from inception to trial and usually at least a year. Smaller amounts are filed in limited jurisdication for $12,500 to $35,000. These take less time. Any thing less than $12,500 at issue should be filed in small claims court and the parties represent themselves.

Contact an attorney immediately. You usually have only 30 days from the time you get served, meaning when you received the lawsuit to file a response in court. If the amount you have been sued to is less than $12,500 you will need to go to small claims courts and then you can represent yourself.

It depends on the lawsuit. If a lawsuit is over $35,000, it has to be filed in Superior Court as an unlimited jurisdiction matter. Such matters can take up to two years from inception to trial and usually at least a year. Smaller amounts are filed in limited jurisdication for $12,500 to $35,000. These take less time. Any thing less than $12,500 at issue should be filed in small claims court and the parties represent themselves.

In California, anyone can file a lawsuit by some just putting some allegations in a complaint. However, there are ways to minimize your exposure to a lawsuit. Buying the proper amount of liability insurance works in some instances. Legally, however, the answer depends on what you are trying to protect. Business entities can offer protection to a person’s personal assets when the owner incorporates the business or sets up an LLC or another type of entity that would be suitable for their business. A good business attorney can further explain all of these options.

A lot less than ignoring it!!! Depending on the amount you have been sued, or are suing, for, it can cost anywhere from a few thousand dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars. A competent attorney can look at your lawsuit or why you want to file one and give you an idea.

You have to file a response in court within 30 days from the time you get served with a lawsuit. If you do not, the other party can ask the court to enter your default and get a judgment against you. Then they can come after your assets, meaning your home, bank account and other belongings. It is NEVER a good idea to ignore a lawsuit.

It depends on the lawsuit. If a lawsuit is over $35,000, it has to be filed in Superior Court as an unlimited jurisdiction matter. Such matters can take up to two years from inception to trial and usually at least a year. Smaller amounts are filed in limited jurisdication for $12,500 to $35,000. These take less time. Any thing less than $12,500 at issue should be filed in small claims court and the parties represent themselves.

Contact an attorney immediately. You usually have only 30 days from the time you get served, meaning when you received the lawsuit to file a response in court. If the amount you have been sued to is less than $12,500 you will need to go to small claims courts and then you can represent yourself.

It depends on the lawsuit. If a lawsuit is over $35,000, it has to be filed in Superior Court as an unlimited jurisdiction matter. Such matters can take up to two years from inception to trial and usually at least a year. Smaller amounts are filed in limited jurisdication for $12,500 to $35,000. These take less time. Any thing less than $12,500 at issue should be filed in small claims court and the parties represent themselves.

In California, anyone can file a lawsuit by some just putting some allegations in a complaint. However, there are ways to minimize your exposure to a lawsuit. Buying the proper amount of liability insurance works in some instances. Legally, however, the answer depends on what you are trying to protect. Business entities can offer protection to a person’s personal assets when the owner incorporates the business or sets up an LLC or another type of entity that would be suitable for their business. A good business attorney can further explain all of these options.

A lot less than ignoring it!!! Depending on the amount you have been sued, or are suing, for, it can cost anywhere from a few thousand dollars to hundreds of thousands of dollars. A competent attorney can look at your lawsuit or why you want to file one and give you an idea.

It depends on the lawsuit. If a lawsuit is over $35,000, it has to be filed in Superior Court as an unlimited jurisdiction matter. Such matters can take up to two years from inception to trial and usually at least a year. Smaller amounts are filed in limited jurisdication for $12,500 to $35,000. These take less time. Any thing less than $12,500 at issue should be filed in small claims court and the parties represent themselves.

Contact an attorney immediately. You usually have only 30 days from the time you get served, meaning when you received the lawsuit to file a response in court. If the amount you have been sued to is less than $12,500 you will need to go to small claims courts and then you can represent yourself.

If you have been sued individually, you can certainly represent yourself in a lawsuit but the question is should you? Probably not unless you are an experienced construction law attorney and even then the old addage is that “An attorney who represents himself (or herself) has an idiot for a client.” This is true because even an attorney who can represent himself (or herself), would probably be too emotionally involved to do it properly. On the other hand if your corporaqtion or LLC has been sued, then you cannot represent the company yourself in court and have to have an attorney.

A motion is a writing by which you communicate something about your case to the court. It has to be in a certain format according to California law before the court would accept it. It also has certain rules about timing, notice on the other parties and format that have to be properly abided by or it will be rejected by the court. The only way a court will hear you is through a scheduled hearing or in very urgent circumstances through a process of ex parte application that has to satisfy all the requirements for urgency before the court agrees to hear but you still have to file it according to specific rules and in a special format.

Must be included with an initial answer to the complaint or you lose the opportunity to do so.

An answer or another type of responsive pleading has to be filed within 30 days from the date of service of summons. An attorney can request an extension to prepare the response. A two week extension is customary but any additional time has to be agreed upon by the parties. An attorney will have to review the complaint of the other side to determine if it is proper to file an answer or another form of responsible pleading.

When someone is Served, they are handed a document (or later mailed) that has legal significance. Service of the Summons and Complaint have to be in person by handing the document to someone personally or to someone over 18 at their known place of business. The person who does this is a process server and they have to draft a proof of service which is a document showing the time and date when they served the person and attesting to the truth of that document under oath.

A summons is a document issued by the court and served on you by someone hired by the person or company that has sued you.

A Complaint is a document filed with the court by someone who wants to sue another person or company, which explains why they want to sue. It has to be in a specific format and the reasons for the lawsuit have to fall within specific categories defined by the law and properly presented to the court.

Step #1: Don’t Panic or Make Things Worse!
Step #2: Review Documents & Calendar Response Deadlines
Step #3: Preserve All Evidence
Step #4: Consult Early With A Knowledgeable Attorney
Step #5: Respond to the Lawsuit

There are a lot of technical issues and expertise needed to defend against a lawsuit. You would not do surgery on yourself, so do not do legal surgery and call an attorney who can help properly defend you. Trying to deal with intricacies of a lawsuit by yourself is like doing surgery and could cause dire consequences.

Smaller contractors who are bidding a public project for the first time, a lot of times do not know that by bidding on the project, they are bound by the terms of the contract documents that were given to them by the public entity or a general contractor. The reason behind this is that the public entity or the general contractor are relying on their bid in finalizing the contracts. Just submitting the bid is equal to signing the contract.

In order to bid on any public work contract, contractors and subcontractors must register with the Department of Industrial Relations and pay an annual registration fee. This is also true just to be listed in a bid proposal, or engage in the performance of a public contract. Labor Code §1725.5.

To register, contractors and subcontractors must demonstrate under Lab C §1725.5(a) that the contractor or subcontractor

(a) carries the required workers’ compensation coverage;
(b) is properly licensed under the Contractors’ State License Law (Bus & P C §§7000–7191);
(c) does not have any delinquent liability to an employee or the state for back wages or related damages, interest, fines, or penalties pursuant to any final judgment, order, or determination by a court or any federal, state, or local administrative agency;
(d) is not currently debarred under Lab C §1777.1 or under any other federal or state law providing for the debarment of contractors from public works; and
(e) has not bid on a public works contract, been listed in a bid proposal, or engaged in the performance of a contract for public works without being lawfully registered within the preceding 12 months, provided that if disqualification is based on the final factor, the period of disqualification shall be waived if the contractor has not previously been found to be in violation within the preceding 12 months and the contractor pays an additional nonrefundable penalty registration fee of $2000.

Limited exceptions exist: joint venture contractors and federally funded projects. Lab C §1771.1(a).

The registration requirement applies to bid proposals submitted on or after March 1, 2015, and any contract for a public work (as defined under the Prevailing Wage Law) entered into on or after April 1, 2015. Lab C §§1725.5(e), 1771.1(g).
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In order to bid on any public work contract, contractors and subcontractors must register with the Department of Industrial Relations and pay an annual registration fee. This is also true just to be listed in a bid proposal, or engage in the performance of a public contract. Labor Code §1725.5.

A private contract is formed by a mutual agreement, and for written contracts when the contract specifies it is formed, usually when it is signed by the parties or as of a certain date.

The duty to sign the contract is purely ministerial, and you are presumed to have accepted the contract when you put your bid in.

The contract is formed when it is awarded and cannot be changed at the option of the public agency or of the bidder.

A contract awarded under competitive bidding which is effective when awarded. Transdyn/Cresci v City & County of San Francisco (1999) 72 CA4th 746.

California Public Contracts Code section 22002(c)(1): “Public project” means any of the following:
(1) Construction, reconstruction, erection, alteration, renovation, improvement, demolition, and repair work involving any publicly owned, leased, or operated facility.

(2) Painting or repainting of any publicly owned, leased, or operated facility.

(3) In the case of a publicly owned utility system, “public project” shall include only the construction, erection, improvement, or repair of dams, reservoirs, powerplants, and electrical transmission lines of 230,000 volts and higher. Examples include government buildings, schools, roads, and other infrastructure projects. ”

According to California law every contractor who has employees, is required to have Workers Compensation insurance. In addition they have to have a $25,000 bond to qualify as a licensed contractor. Although liability insurance is not required under California law, because this is the only insurance that can protect the owner and contractor alike, before the start of the project and at the time of signing the contract, we recommend that a contractor get their own liability insurance and an owner ask their contractor to provide them a copy of their certificate of liability insurance.

In California, a written home improvement contract is needed for all projects over $500 in combined labor and materials costs. There are laws that specify exactly what should be in such contracts and the rights and responsibilities of the parties. It always makes sense to have a written contract for any construction projects because it can help define what the parties should do and expect from each other as well as help resolve any issues that arise later on.

A contractor may be sued for construction defects if their work does not comply with the plans or building codes or is not up to the standards expected of a contractor within that community. There are time limits on when defect lawsuits can be filed in courts, which can not be more than 10 years from the completion of the project but get shorter depending on when the defects are discovered and the type of defect involved.

Whether someone can be sued for delaying a construction job depends on the contract and their role in the construction of the job. Sometimes there are delay clauses in a construction contract which control what is considered a delay and what are the penalties for such delays.