Follow the money · California
How homeowners end up paying twice
One remodel, one unpaid lumber bill. Scroll to see what happens.
You hire a contractor for a $185,000 kitchen remodel.
Licensed, good reviews, a written contract. You're doing everything right.
A lumber yard delivers $18,000 of materials to your home.
You never deal with them. Your contractor ordered the materials and is supposed to pay for them.
You pay your contractor $46,000 for the framing.
The work is done, so you pay. That should include the lumber.
Your contractor doesn't pay the lumber yard.
Maybe cash got tight, maybe it went to another job. You have no way to know.
The lumber yard files a lien on your home for $18,000.
In California, anyone who supplies work or materials to your home can do this, even though you already paid your contractor.
Now you pay twice, or the lien stays on your house.
You can pay the $18,000 again. Otherwise the lien blocks a sale or refinance, and the lumber yard can go to court to force a sale of your home.
Now, the same job with protection
Same job. This time, before you pay…
When the lumber yard delivered, it had to mail you a Preliminary Notice. We track every notice, so we know exactly who could file a lien.
…you collect lien releases from your contractor and the lumber yard.
A release is a signed form saying they've been paid for the work up to this payment. We prepare them; they sign from a link.
Everyone's paid. No lien. You pay once.
That's the whole idea: your money only goes out when the paperwork says you're protected.
Most homeowners never hear about lien releases until it's too late.
We prepare the releases, track every supplier and sub, and show you what to collect before every payment. Built by a general contractor.
An example to explain how liens work in California, not legal advice. Amounts are illustrative.