Koudmani

Assignee of Ford Wholesale Company (Ford), Ogle Enterprises, Inc., doing business as Advanced Roofing Concepts (Advanced), appeals a judgment releasing Rabee Koudmani’s real property from a mechanic’s lien under Civil Code section 3154. Advanced’s appeal presents the following issues: (1) if a claimant fails to commence an action to foreclose a mechanic’s lien within 90 days after the recording of the claim of lien, is the claimant’s inchoate right to a mechanic’s lien automatically extinguished under section 3144, subdivision (b), and (2) does a claimant’s release of a specific claim of lien recorded on a particular date automatically operate to extinguish the claimant’s inchoate right to record subsequent claims of lien for the same work or materials? We answer these questions in the negative, reverse the judgment in part, and remand with directions.

Factual and Procedural Background

The relevant facts are undisputed. On August 5, 1993, Ford recorded a mechanic’s lien against Koudmani’s property in the amount of $4,241.06 for roofing materials Ford supplied to Advanced and which Advanced incorporated into Koudmani’s residence. On November 1, Koudmani recorded a notice…