Legal Question in Construction Law in California

If they paid the full amount of the judgment you must release the lein. Failure to do so may be actionable as slander of title. If the judgment was for less than the bill, it was because the court found that the bill was higher than what was owed. That supersedes the bill. If they did not pay the full amount of the judgment, however, you would have to let us know what the final judgment says about the lein.

As to the amount paid and possible still owing, look at it this way: On a $100,000 bid, a complaint for failure to pay probably would be a somewhat smaller amount, either because the owner made an initial payment, or because you stopped work before the job was done because you weren't getting paid..........so perhaps your lawsuit only asked for $80,000 in damages. Then, at trial, you "won," but not completely, because the judge only gave you a judgment for $60,000. After trial, you obtained and recorded an Abstract of Judgment.

Your suit and your judgment will bar you from any additional attempt to collect on your mechanic's lien under the doctrine of "res judicata" - therefore your mechanic's lien is useless and probably doesn't have any effect on title, so you might as well release it.

But......you also have a valid judgment lien for $60,000. If and when you get full payment of the $60,000, with interest, you must record a satisfaction of judgment. If and when you get part payment of the $60,000, you should record a partial satisfaction.

As Mr. McCormick says, you should also note anything written into your judgment by the court respecting your mechanic's lien.