San Francisco County Preliminary Notice Form
Last validated June 18, 2026 by our Forms Development Team
San Francisco County Preliminary Notice Form
Fill in the blank Preliminary Notice form formatted to comply with all California recording and content requirements.

San Francisco County Preliminary Notice Guide
Line by line guide explaining every blank on the form.

San Francisco County Completed Example of the Preliminary Notice Document
Example of a properly completed form for reference.
All 3 documents above included • One-time purchase • No recurring fees
Immediate Download • Secure Checkout
Additional California and San Francisco County documents included at no extra charge:
Where to Record Your Documents
Assessor-Recorder's Main Office
San Francisco, California 94102-4698
Hours: Monday through Friday 8:00am - 5:00pm / Recording until 4:00pm
Phone: (415) 554-5596
Recording Tips for San Francisco County:
- Bring your driver's license or state-issued photo ID
- Check margin requirements - usually 1-2 inches at top
- Avoid the last business day of the month when possible
- Request a receipt showing your recording numbers
- Bring extra funds - fees can vary by document type and page count
Cities and Jurisdictions in San Francisco County
Properties in any of these areas use San Francisco County forms:
- San Francisco
Hours, fees, requirements, and more for San Francisco County
How do I get my forms?
Forms are available for immediate download after payment. The San Francisco County forms will be in your account ready to download to your computer. An account is created for you during checkout if you don't have one. Forms are NOT emailed.
Are these forms guaranteed to be recordable in San Francisco County?
Yes. Our form blanks are guaranteed to meet or exceed the applicable formatting requirements used for recording in San Francisco County, including margin requirements, font requirements, and other layout standards. This guarantee applies to formatting, not to the legal sufficiency of information entered by the user or the suitability of a form for a particular transaction.
Can I reuse these forms?
Yes. You can reuse the forms for your personal use. For example, if you have multiple properties in San Francisco County you only need to order once.
What do I need to use these forms?
The forms are PDFs that you fill out on your computer. You'll need Adobe Reader (free software that most computers already have). You do NOT enter your property information online - you download the blank forms and complete them privately on your own computer.
Are there any recurring fees?
No. This is a one-time purchase. Nothing to cancel, no memberships, no recurring fees.
How much does it cost to record in San Francisco County?
Recording fees in San Francisco County vary. Contact the recorder's office at (415) 554-5596 for current fees.
Questions answered? Let's get started!
A claimant other than a laborer or direct contractor must serve preliminary notice under Civ. Code 8200 in order reserve the right to to claim a future mechanic's lien on a property. The notice must be served to the owner, direct contractor, and construction lender, if any.
California law requires notice to be served within 20 days of first furnishing labor, materials, services, or equipment in a work of improvement. A claimant may give late notice, but this limits the claimant's lien to only work performed within 20 days prior to giving the late notice, and work from that point forward (Civ. Code 8204).
Notices in relation to mechanic's liens must follow requirements under Civ. Code 8102, which include the names and addresses of the owners, direct contractor, and construction lender, if any, a description of the job site and job site address, and the name, address, and relationship to the parties of the claimant providing notice.
In addition to these requirements, the preliminary notice under Civ. Code 8200 requires a general description of the work provided by the potential claimant, an estimate of the total price of the work, and a verbatim notice to the property owner established by statute. If a preliminary notice is given by a subcontractor who has not paid all compensation due to a laborer, the notice also requires the name and address of all laborers to whom payment is due (Civ. Code 8202).
Pursuant to Civ. Code 8106, notice can be served by personal delivery, mail (as provided by Civ. Code 8110), or leaving a notice and mailing a copy according to the Code of Civil Procedure for service of summons in a civil action.
While this notice is typically not recorded, it may be filed with the county recorder for the limited purpose of facilitating the recorder's mailing of notices. When recorded, the preliminary notice does not constitute a recorded document and is maintained in a separate index. It does not function to provide constructive notice to third parties (Cal Civ. Code 8214).
Consult a lawyer with questions about preliminary notices, mechanic's lien laws, or any other issues related to real property in the State of California.
Important: Your property must be located in San Francisco County to use these forms. Documents should be recorded at the office below.
This Preliminary Notice meets all recording requirements specific to San Francisco County.
Our Promise
The documents you receive here are guaranteed to meet or exceed the applicable San Francisco County recording format requirements. If there is a rejection caused by our formatting, we will correct the issue or refund your payment. This guarantee applies to document formatting only and does not extend to information entered by the user, the selection of the form, or the legal effect of the completed document.
Save Time and Money
Get your San Francisco County Preliminary Notice form done right the first time with Deeds.com Uniform Conveyancing Blanks. At Deeds.com, we understand that your time and money are valuable resources, and we don't want you to face a penalty fee or rejection imposed by a county recorder for submitting nonstandard documents. We constantly review and update our forms to meet rapidly changing state and county recording requirements for roughly 3,500 counties and local jurisdictions.
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October 15th, 2024
Although I didn't get what I needed, the customer service is outstanding. I got a text asking if I needed any help. He canceled my subscription right away and was very helpful. He responded quickly each time.
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John B.
December 20th, 2025
I purchased the Notice of Completion form because the City of Chula Vista did not have a "fillable" version of this form on their website. The Deeds.com version of this form is somewhat different than the City's version (8 numbered paragraphs vs. 11 numbered paragraphs.) However, it contains the same information in a different format. This form provided more blank space to fill in important items- like a long ownership name- than the version on the City's website. The recorder's office was satisfied with this form as I hand-delivered it to the Recorder's Office and they approved it for recording. Overall, I found this form easy to use and found the extra blank space for writing on the form helpful. My one comment for possible improvement is: it would be even more helpful (particularly for attorney users) to have strike-out capability. I would have liked having the ability to strike-out inapplicable portions of long awkward sentences. Still, I would use this form again.
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Kelly W.
March 26th, 2020
Great resource! Wish you could expand to more than just deeds, but then you would have to rename it. :) Thanks! Kelly
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September 16th, 2021
Useless for me. My deed could not be pulled. After investigation, I got a copy online directly from WV for $3. No one but editors of this will ever see this. Shame.
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June 18th, 2022
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August 19th, 2021
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March 29th, 2019
Thank You!
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Elijah H.
December 24th, 2018
Deeds.com worked very well for me. Very Simple packet. And my County uses the same website
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December 6th, 2021
The Quit Claim Deed for the state of Ohio worked for me, saving me the cost of an attorney doing it. O.K., maybe that wouldn't have amounted to more than a few hundred dollars, but anywhere I thought I could save money (and learn something new on top of it) is something I want to do. That said, be forwarned. While I'm not an attorney I'm not averse to spending many hours researching the lingo found in this kind of form and thoroughly understanding exactly how everything has to be filled in. I should add that my ex-wife and I remain friends and she was the one giving me the property/house (thus, technically I filled out the forms on her behalf). Because there was no personal conflict, it made it easier to undertake. Lastly, what others have said about the county office where you must file a Quit Claim Deed not being helpful, that's true in the sense that they do not want to be instructing non-attorneys on filling out the necessary forms. I did take a preliminary draft set of the forms to the county office but was VERY CAREFUL about explaining that I only needed a couple of questions answered about procedure for submitting the final documents. They were helpful once I made it clear I wasn't asking them for "legal advice". And their help was critical as the final submittals requires stopping at three different offices (MapDocuments, Auditor and finally the Recorder's office). So I say thank you to Deeds.com. Their service for the Quit Claim Deed was invaluable.
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May 22nd, 2021
I thought the forms were reasonably priced, the instructions included in the packet were thorough, and the examples helpful. Thank you for the additional CDR forms too. I contacted the Recorder's office via email with a question and Jennifer Bowser answered promptly. Job well done! However, when I delivered the deed and Real Property Transfer Declaration to the Clerk's office in Lafayette, the clerk was unfamiliar with the Declaration document being submitted and it took some time to convince her to submit the form without charging the recording fee. She even tried to phone the recorder's office for clarification, but no one answered. There then was an additional form at that office that I had to complete called Recording Request/Transmittal Form. I would suggest including that form with instructions in your on-line packet to speed up the process when a Deed is delivered to the County Clerk's satellite office. I do not expect every clerk to know all the particulars of recording requirements but a little knowledge wouldn't hurt.
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February 19th, 2019
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