Doesn't the law automatically give you a contractor's lien on his property - or at least the right to file one?

It technically does, and I intend to go and file one - only here's the thing. I can only file one after he's defaulted on the payment which is 30 days, and I still then don't have my cash - then there's the court appearance, bla bla bla.

Meanwhile, my subs need paying and he knows it. They're all desperate for cash so I need to pay them and I don't have that kind of liquidity. Most of my cash goes into purchasing materials in advance for projects. For example, we just built a redwood and ipe deck. material costs were $9,000. I have to front that. So I rely on my clients paying on time.

Andrew