San Francisco County Preliminary Notice Form

Last validated July 20, 2026 by our Forms Development Team

San Francisco County Preliminary Notice Form

San Francisco County Preliminary Notice Form

Fill in the blank Preliminary Notice form formatted to comply with all California recording and content requirements.

Document Last Validated 7/20/2026
San Francisco County Preliminary Notice Guide

San Francisco County Preliminary Notice Guide

Line by line guide explaining every blank on the form.

Document Last Validated 7/16/2026
San Francisco County Completed Example of the Preliminary Notice Document

San Francisco County Completed Example of the Preliminary Notice Document

Example of a properly completed form for reference.

Document Last Validated 6/18/2026

All 3 documents above included • One-time purchase • No recurring fees

Immediate Download • Secure Checkout

Important: Your property must be located in San Francisco County to use these forms. Documents should be recorded at the office below.

Where to Record Your Documents

Assessor-Recorder's Main Office

Address:
City Hall - 1 Dr Carlton B Goodlett Pl, Rm 190
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:
  • Ensure all signatures are in blue or black ink
  • Check that your notary's commission hasn't expired
  • Leave recording info boxes blank - the office fills these
  • Request a receipt showing your recording numbers
  • Consider using eRecording to avoid trips to the office

Cities and Jurisdictions in San Francisco County

Properties in any of these areas use San Francisco County forms:

  • San Francisco

View Complete Recorder Office Guide

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.

4.8 out of 5 - ( 4763 Reviews )

paula b.

July 18th, 2022

Very helpful and easy to download, thankyou.

Reply from Staff

Thank you!

Joshua M.

March 15th, 2023

Fast service, very responsive. Thank you!

Reply from Staff

We appreciate your business and value your feedback. Thank you. Have a wonderful day!

Michael R.

July 5th, 2022

Very simple to use and everything included

Reply from Staff

Thank you for your feedback. We really appreciate it. Have a great day!

Elaine S.

April 19th, 2021

Being new at this, the system was somewhat difficult to understand at first. It took a couple of tries before I got it. It seems to be somewhat slow as well. However, it's a wonderful idea to have documents recorded from the comfort of your home, especially in the times that we are in with COVID19. I definitely don't mind paying the fee which I thought was reasonable.

Reply from Staff

Thank you!

Susan P.

May 25th, 2021

Very easy to use, responsive help when the document was initially rejected and very fast service (recorded the deed within 24 hours).

Reply from Staff

Thank you for your feedback. We really appreciate it. Have a great day!

Thomas W.

June 30th, 2020

Fast, efficient, and helpful. I don't often have documents that need recording but I found Deeds.com incredibly handy. It cost me no more and probably less than if I'd gone in to do it myself. It was especially helpful during this Covid-19 stay-at-home time. It all happened within a couple of hours and I had my recorded copies in my hands.

Reply from Staff

Thank you for your feedback. We really appreciate it. Have a great day!

Eileen C.

October 14th, 2020

Easy, fast, affordable. Satisfied customer

Reply from Staff

Thank you!

Anne B.

July 29th, 2020

Great experience! It was so easy and quick. We will definitely use the service again.

Reply from Staff

We appreciate your business and value your feedback. Thank you. Have a wonderful day!

Florentes P.

January 20th, 2019

The form is so limited in space that I can not fit the vesting information as well as the real property information. The property information, I could put it as Exhibit A. which is not the usual way. Not happy.

Reply from Staff

Sorry to hear that you are not happy with the available space on the document you received. Per your request we have canceled your order. We do hope you are able to find a solution that meets your needs and the recording/statutory requirements of the document. Have a great day!

Margaret L.

June 15th, 2026

I was not able to use the form after paying for it. The words in red would not let me type over them and I could not get a blank document. Useless.

Reply from Staff

Each forms package includes a blank form, a guide, and a completed example. The red text appears in the completed example to show how a finished document may look; the blank form is the editable document intended for customer use. Because our products are do-it-yourself legal forms, we canceled the order and payment when it was clear the customer was not able to identify and use the blank form included in the package.

Patricia R.

March 2nd, 2025

Very helpful. Worth the cost. Hopefully we will be able to proceed without expense of an attorney.

Reply from Staff

We are thankful for your continued support and feedback, which inspire us to continuously improve. Thank you..

ronnie y.

May 8th, 2019

nice to get everything I need for the county that the property is located.

Reply from Staff

Thank you for your feedback. We really appreciate it. Have a great day!

J O.

July 18th, 2020

It's okay, seems you need to make it easier to search deeds on properties without having to go through a lot of researching issues, make it simple!

Reply from Staff

Thank you!

FLORIN D.

December 3rd, 2020

Excellent service, will use in the future and will recommend to anyone that needs to record documents.

Reply from Staff

We appreciate your business and value your feedback. Thank you. Have a wonderful day!

FREDERICK T C.

November 8th, 2021

simple to follow and easy to use. Thanks

Reply from Staff

Thank you!