Data updated August 27, 2026 · All 58 Counties
California Utility Lien List
As of August 27, 2026, California has 78,510 properties with open utility liens on record across all 58 counties.
A utility lien is recorded when a property's water, sewer, or other municipal utility bills go unpaid long enough that the provider attaches the debt to the property itself. The amounts are usually small — which is exactly why they matter as a signal. Nobody lets a few hundred dollars of water service become a recorded lien on their home unless something has gone wrong: the owner has left, the money has run out, or nobody is minding the property. Properant tracks recorded utility liens across all 58 counties and matches each one against recorded releases, so the list holds only debt that is still open.
How California's Numbers Are Moving
Change over the past week (since August 21), from Properant's daily snapshots of recorded county documents. The series grows every day.
Lien Activity In California
Live from recorded county documents, releases removed — the same records the list itself is counted from.
Top California Counties
| # | County | Count | Share of Statewide |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sacramento County | 50,784 | 64.7% |
| 2 | San Bernardino County | 8,343 | 10.6% |
| 3 | San Joaquin County | 4,526 | 5.8% |
| 4 | Riverside County | 3,847 | 4.9% |
| 5 | San Francisco County | 2,554 | 3.3% |
| 6 | Solano County | 1,487 | 1.9% |
| 7 | Alameda County | 1,080 | 1.4% |
| 8 | San Diego County | 938 | 1.2% |
| 9 | Tulare County | 730 | 0.9% |
| 10 | Fresno County | 557 | 0.7% |
| 11 | El Dorado County | 472 | 0.6% |
| 12 | Kern County | 402 | 0.5% |
| 13 | Contra Costa County | 400 | 0.5% |
| 14 | Tuolumne County | 373 | 0.5% |
| 15 | Stanislaus County | 275 | 0.4% |
Every County, Counted
The Profile
One click. The whole picture.
Every recorded lien
Tax liens, judgments, mechanics liens, HOA liens. Amounts, parties, and whether each one is still active — matched against recorded releases, so a lien on the profile is a lien that's really there.
What's on Every Property Record
Every property shows the recorded lien amount and date alongside the parcel's full picture — the owner's record and mailing address, open loans, other liens, tax status, foreclosure stage, and true equity. Utility liens stack tellingly with other quiet signals: utility lien plus tax-delinquent, or utility lien plus vacancy, is the profile of a property nobody is taking care of.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many properties with open utility liens are there in California?
Properant tracks 78,510 properties with open utility liens across California's 58 counties as of August 27, 2026, counted from recorded county documents with releases and cancellations removed.
Why is a small utility lien worth paying attention to?
Because of what it says about the owner, not the amount. Mortgage servicers and attentive owners never let a utility bill become a recorded lien — so when one records, it usually marks an empty house, an heir who walked away, or an owner in real financial trouble. It is one of the earliest recorded signs that a property has been abandoned in practice, well before any foreclosure filing.
Can I download the utility lien list?
Yes. Inside Properant you can filter by county, city, equity, owner type, and every other signal, save the list, and export it — or upload your own list and let the platform match and enrich it. The trial is free and requires no credit card.
Build Your Utility Lien List in Minutes
This page is one slice of it. Properant connects every parcel in California to its owner, open loans, liens and foreclosure stage — then scores and skip-traces the ones worth calling.
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