{"data":{"id":"us-ca/civ-8818","jurisdiction":"us-ca","citation":"CIV § 8818","heading":"","body":"If an owner or direct contractor does not make a retention payment within the time required by this article:\n(a) The owner or direct contractor is liable to the person to which payment is owed for a penalty of 2 percent per month on the amount wrongfully withheld, in place of any interest otherwise due.\n(b) In an action for collection of the amount wrongfully withheld, the prevailing party is entitled to costs and reasonable attorney’s fees.","path":["Civil Code - CIV","DIVISION 4. GENERAL PROVISIONS [3274. - 9566.]","PART 6. WORKS OF IMPROVEMENT [8000. - 9566.]","TITLE 2. PRIVATE WORKS OF IMPROVEMENT [8160. - 8851.]","CHAPTER 8. Prompt Payment [8800. - 8851.]","ARTICLE 2. Retention Payment [8810. - 8822.]"],"source_url":"https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zip","current_through":"2026-09-13","vintage":"","retrieved_at":"2026-09-14T05:56:33Z","sha256":"5a2096cf3e073b081779c07ed91810dd495fd24498ecbfd2dae51cceeccdab9c","source_id":"us-ca","stale":false,"prev":"us-ca/civ-8816","next":"us-ca/civ-8820"},"notice":"GroundRules: Original legal text. Not legal advice."}