California Code, Public Contract Code - PCC § 20855

If the contract price is not paid within 30 days from the date of the recording of the certificate, the contractor may file a sworn statement to that effect with the superintendent of streets, who shall record the same in his or her office in the book in which the certificate of acceptance has been recorded. The contractor shall thereupon have a cause of action against the person owning the tracks for the amount of the contract, together with a reasonable attorney's fee, and shall also have as security for the recovery of such amount, a first lien upon that portion of the track and franchises of the railroad, between whose rails or tracks the work has been performed, which is contained within the corporate limits of the city.