Senate Bill 189 Amendments Made This Happen.
Every practitioner involved with mechanic’s liens should hopefully know, by now (or by reading this blog), that there are many changes made to the mechanic’s lien law by Senate Bill 189, some taking effect this year and some on July 1, 2012.
One of July 1, 2012 effective changes involves Civil Code section 3154, which is a statutory provision allowing owners to petition the court to expunge a mechanic’s lien that has become stale because the claimant did not timely file a lien foreclosure suit. Prior to July 1, 2012, the most a prevailing party could recover in this expungement proceeding was $2,000. (Civ. Code, § 3154(g).) Now, this capped limitation has been lifted so that the attorney’s fees can be whatever amount the court determines to be reasonable in nature.