​It is an all-too-common scenario in California construction:  Nine and a half years after completion of a major California construction project, immediately before the 10 year “statute of repose” for suing on “latent” construction defects expires, a lawsuit claiming damages for “recently discovered” latent construction defects is filed.  The property owner sues the contractor for the alleged defects.  The direct contractor sues all its subcontractors for indemnity and defense.  The attorneys spontaneously generate.  Experts proliferate.  Claimed defects are extrapolated.  Four or five years later, after a few dozen attorneys earn a small fortune in fees, the insurance companies make payments.   Attorneys collect more fees.  The owners take what remains.  They repair nothing . . . and buy vacation homes.

​The “Notice of Non-Responsibility” is one of the most misunderstood and ineffectively used of all the legal tools available to property owners in California construction law. As a result, in most cases the answer to the above question is “No”, the posting and recording of a Notice of Non-Responsibility will not prevent enforcement of a California Mechanics Lien.