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| Q. What does Easy Law do? |
A. We are a national construction notice service. Since 1985 we have been helping our clients Secure and Collect what they earn, by completing, mailing and/or recording professionally prepared Preliminary Notices, Notices to Owners, Miller Act Notices, Mechanics Liens, Stop Payment Notices, Payment Bond Claims, California Small Claims Complaints, and Collection Letters in all 50 states.
Our staff goes to work for you to be sure that your Pre-Lien notices are properly prepared and submitted. All information is verified in a variety of ways to insure accuracy and to be certain that the notices are sent to the appropriate parties. Our sophisticated computer system helps us track all pertinent information and see to it that your notices are submitted on a timely basis. Our legal advisors monitor statutes to be sure that the language and content of your notices are in accordance with current state laws.
Our standard processing time is (5) working days to research and process your requests. However, for requests which need to be expedited, we offer express (3) day service for an additional fee. |
| Q. I just signed up to become a client, what is this charge for $100 on my credit card?
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| A. Upon signing up Easy Law authorizes your credit card for $100. We only authorize your card, it is not charged. |
| Q. How does your billing work or why did you need a credit card when I signed up? |
A. We bill once a month for your pre-lien notices (refer to price list for exact amount) and all collection services are charged when we receive them.
At the end of each month you'll receive an invoice listing your charges for the month and asking for a check from you if you prefer to pay by check, otherwise your credit card will be charged on the 10th of the month. |
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| Q. How do I submit my Pre-Lien online? |
A. Go to Easy Law’s Website
At the top of the page, on the toolbar, click the tab labeled Client Services
Login to your account
Click on Pre-Lien Request Form
Enter the information regarding the Pre-Lien in the given spaces.
Please Note: All bold fields are required.
Under job type, select one of the following:
Under the "Job Site" information box, please provide as much information as possible.
In the box labeled "Request For Other Services" please indicate "Yes" or "No" in all fields.
In the following sections, if you have the information of the other named parties, please enter it, doing so will build a rolodex for your later use as well as speeding up the processing time of your Pre-Lien.
Please Note: Clicking on the binoculars  next to each named parties box will pull up all information previously entered.
When your Pre-Lien has been completed, please click the submit button at the bottom of the page to review your Pre-Lien for accuracy.
When you are finished, please click the submit button at the top of the page to submit the Pre-Lien.
Once submitted, you will receive an E-mail confirmation. |
| Q. How do I review or track my Pre-Lien? |
A. Go to Easy Law’s Website
Select Client Services from the tool bar.
Enter your e-mail address and password & then click the submit key.
Select Review Job History on the box.
Please Note: The preliminary notices are automatically shown, from newest to oldest up to two months back. If you need to review a preliminary notice that was submitted prior to the dates listed above, change the date in the “From” box, to the date you believe your preliminary notice was submitted and then click “Search”.
You can click on any of the column titles to group them numerically or alphabetically for your convenience.
On the far right you will see the status of your request(s):
Once your request has been mailed and the certified mail numbers are retrieved, you will see a printer icon  on the far right. Click the icon to open a separate window to view or print your preliminary notice.
You can track your notice through the United States Post Office (USPS) by clicking on the order number, and then clicking on the green certified mail number and this will produce a track & confirm search result, for your record.
Please Note: Please print a copy of your track and search results for your records, because USPS does not keep information past a certain date. (Dates vary per post office.) |
| Q. I received a fax saying my Pre-Lien is unclaimed? |
A. Despite our best efforts a certain number of preliminary notices are going to be returned by the Post Office for various reasons. Our CEO and corporate attorney Scott Green advises us that when preliminary notices are returned by the Post Office stamped "unclaimed" that as long as the address we used for the party was correct; the envelope with the Post Office's "unclaimed" stamp is acceptable evidence of delivery of the preliminary notice. For information about Scott Green and his experience as a construction law attorney, see his firm's website at The Green Law Group.
Practically speaking however, we know that even if the "unclaimed" notice is legally sufficient to prove delivery of the preliminary notice in accordance with California law, the party we mailed the preliminary notice to did not get the benefit of the notice and as a result may not ensure that our client is paid. Therefore, we adopted a policy of advising our clients when we receive an "unclaimed" preliminary notice from the Post Office and giving them the option of sending an additional notice via first class mail so that the party who failed to "claim" the certified mail notice will get actual notice of their status as a potential claimant. Our experience is that the clients who take advantage of the opportunity to send a follow up notice via first class mail reduce the times that they have to record mechanics' liens and/or follow up with expensive collection efforts including litigation to secure payment. This is because even though the "unclaimed" notice is legally sufficient, practically speaking the owner, general contractor, and/or construction lender who failed to sign for the legally required certified mailed notice, did not get actual notice of your potential claim. If they do not get actual notice of your potential claim, you might not get paid. Hence, the supplemental first class mail option.
Please read the excerpt below from the Terms and Conditions posted on our website. Our commitment is to help all our clients Secure and Collect what you Earn.
Also if you have any questions regarding the legal sufficiency of the "unclaimed" notice, please send them to Scott Green.
Below is an excerpt from our Terms and Conditions:
RETURNED PRE-LIEN NOTICES - REPRINT POLICY
10. Pre-Lien notices are returned by the USPS for a number of reasons, many of which do not invalidate the legal effectiveness of the notice. Whether or not the notice is legally valid as delivered, if you have not been paid we recommend sending returned notices again to an alternative address, or, in the case of unclaimed or refused deliveries, by first class mail.
Why Notices are Returned:
Unclaimed. One or more addressees did not sign the certified mail receipt acknowledging receipt of the mail.
Refused. One or more of the addressees refused to sign the certified mail receipt.
No mail receptacle. The mailing address listed does not have a mail box.
Invalid address. This happens when the USPS cannot locate the address indicated on the notice.
No forwarding address. Addressee moved without a forwarding address, or the forwarding address has expired.
Lack of postage. Insufficient postage was used on the mail.
Mail was damaged. USPS cannot deliver because the mail was damaged.
11. Easy Law's Policy for Returned Pre-Lien Notices When a notice is returned to our office by the USPS we determine why the notice was returned and if the notice was returned because of our error, we correct the error and re-mail the notice via certified mail at no charge. If the notice was correctly addressed but is returned by the USPS we provide our clients with written notice and the option to have a copy of the original notice along with a letter of explanation mailed to the original addressee(s) via first class mail. Please see our price list to determine the charge for this service. |
| Q. My client is requesting a Pre-Lien release? |
A. If you did your Pre-Lien with Easy Law
Easy Law is now delighted to supply all states with "Generated" forms.
To access the forms login to your account.
Go to Client Services .
On the right side box, click Generate Statutory Release Forms.
Enter your Pre-lien number(click binoculars to look it up if you don't know it).
Choose your state.
Choose your form.
Click load.
This will automatically generate your form for you, simply fill in the rest of the fields, verify it is correct and then click generate form at the bottom of the page.
If you did not do your Pre-Lien with Easy Law
Login to your account, and go to the Download section.
Choose your state
Choose your correct form.
Download and print it out. |
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| Q. How do I file my Mechanics Lien? |
A. Go to Easy Law’s Website
If you are not logged on, please do so now.
From the Client Services Page, select Collection Service Request Form.
Answer the following three (3) questions:
- Is the jobsite inside or outside of California (defaults to California)?
- Did Easy Law prepare your pre-lien notice?
If no, tab through this question.
If yes,
1) Click the box and enter the pre-lien number in the appropriate space.
2) If you do not know the pre-lien number, click the binoculars and a pop-up window will appear where you can then look up the jobsite and pre-lien number.
3) Expand the date range to include the date your pre-lien was submitted.
4) Click search.
5) Select your order number and your pre-lien will be imported automatically.
- Select private then click continue (Mechanics Liens are only available for private projects).
Select Mechanics Lien and click continue.
Proceed to Section B if you did your pre-lien notice with Easy Law and Section C if you did not.
SECTION B: If you did your pre-lien notice with Easy Law, the fields will be populated automatically. Select continue at the bottom of the page. Please review the information, edit as necessary, and then print. When ready, click continue at the top of the page to proceed.
SECTION C: On the Collection Service Information page, you will be asked for information regarding the project (any section that is bold denotes a mandatory field.) After you have filled in the information, click continue. Please review the information, edit as necessary, and then print. When ready, click continue at the top of the page to proceed.
If you prepared your own pre-lien notice please fax a copy to 805-306-0040 or you can email a copy to staff@easylawinc.com.
Complete all section(s) that are bold. Upon completion check the box giving Easy Law authorization to sign on your behalf.
PLEASE NOTE: The interest rate automatically defaults to 10% if you do not indicate otherwise.
Payment Information: Check to use the current credit card on file, or to use a different credit card, enter the new information here. When you are finished click submit at the bottom of the page. Be sure you receive an email confirming receipt of your request. If you do not receive a confirming email, please contact us to verify that your request was received.
PLEASE NOTE: Our standard processing time is five (5) business days to research and process your requests. However, for requests which need to be expedited, we offer Express Service. Refer to the Price Sheet for more information on our Express Service and Express Recording fees. |
| Q. How do I release my lien? |
A. To request a lien release, send an email to your account manager or to customerservice@easylawinc.com and be sure to include
Lien releases are typically prepared and sent for recording within 3 business days. Please note however that the time to obtain a stamped copy of a release varies greatly from one public agency to another. Some recording agencies can take several weeks. If your request is time sensitive, ask about our Express Recording Service. |