SECTIONS 720.210-720.290 - California Statutes

CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE

SECTION 720.210-720.290

720.210. (a) Where personal property has been levied upon under a
writ of attachment, a writ of execution, a prejudgment or
postjudgment writ of possession, or a writ of sale, a third person
claiming a security interest in or lien on the personal property may
make a third-party claim under this chapter if the security interest
or lien claimed is superior to the creditor's lien on the property.
(b) A secured party claiming a security interest in fixtures may
make a third-party claim pursuant to this chapter if the security
interest claimed is superior to the creditor's lien on the property.
For this purpose, references in this division to "personal property"
shall be deemed references to fixtures.

720.220. A person making a third-party claim under this chapter
shall file the claim with the levying officer, together with two
copies of the claim, after levy on the personal property but before
the levying officer does any of the following:
(a) Sells the property.
(b) Delivers possession of the property to the creditor.
(c) Pays proceeds of collection to the creditor.

720.230. (a) The third-party claim shall be executed under oath and
shall contain all of the following:
(1) The name of the secured party or lienholder and an address in
this state where service by mail may be made on the secured party or
lienholder.
(2) A description of the personal property in which a security
interest or lien is claimed.
(3) A detailed description of the security interest or lien
claimed, including a statement of the facts upon which it is based.
(4) A statement of the total amount of sums due or to accrue under
the security interest or lien and the applicable rate of interest on
amounts due.
(b) In the case of a security interest, a copy of the security
agreement and any financing statement shall be attached to the
third-party claim. In the case of a lien, a copy of any writing upon
which the claim is based shall be attached to the third-party claim.
At a hearing on the third-party claim, the court in its discretion
may exclude from evidence any writing a copy of which was not
attached to the third-party claim.

720.240. (a) Not later than five days after the third-party claim
is filed with the levying officer, the levying officer shall serve
the following personally or by mail on the creditor:
(1) A copy of the third-party claim.
(2) A statement whether the third person has filed an undertaking
to release the property pursuant to Chapter 6 (commencing with
Section 720.610).
(3) If the third person has filed an undertaking to release the
property, a notice that the property will be released unless, within
the time allowed as specified in the notice, the creditor objects to
the undertaking.
(4) If the third person has not filed an undertaking to release
the property, a notice that the property will be released unless,
within the time allowed as specified in the notice, the creditor does
one of the following:
(A) Files with the levying officer an undertaking that satisfies
the requirements of Section 720.260 and a statement under Section
720.280.
(B) Deposits with the levying officer the amount claimed plus
interest at the applicable rate to the estimated date of tender to
the secured party or lienholder.
(b) The time allowed the creditor for objecting to the third
person's undertaking to release the property or for filing an
undertaking and statement or making a deposit pursuant to subdivision
(a) is 10 days after service under subdivision (a).
(c) Within the time allowed for service on the creditor under
subdivision (a), the levying officer shall serve a copy of the papers
specified in subdivision (a) on the debtor. Service shall be made
personally or by mail.
(d) The levying officer may serve the copy of the third-party
claim and the statement and notice pursuant to this section
notwithstanding any defect, informality, or insufficiency of the
claim.

720.250. (a) Except as otherwise provided by statute, if a
third-party claim is timely filed, the levying officer may not do any
of the following with respect to the personal property in which the
security interest or lien is claimed:
(1) Sell the property.
(2) Deliver possession of the property to the creditor.
(3) Pay proceeds of collection to the creditor.
(b) The interest of a secured party or lienholder in the property
levied upon is not affected by the failure of the secured party or
lienholder to file a third-party claim under this chapter.

720.260. (a) If the creditor within the time allowed under
subdivision (b) of Section 720.240 either files with the levying
officer an undertaking that satisfies the requirements of this
section and a statement that satisfies the requirements of Section
720.280 or makes a deposit with the levying officer of the amount
claimed under Section 720.230:
(1) The levying officer shall execute the writ in the manner
provided by law unless, in a case where the creditor has filed an
undertaking, the secured party or lienholder files an undertaking to
release the property pursuant to Chapter 6 (commencing with Section
720.610).
(2) After sale, payment, or delivery of the property pursuant to
the writ, the property is free of all claims or liens of the secured
party or lienholder for which the creditor has given the undertaking
or made the deposit.
(b) Subject to Sections 720.770 and 996.010, unless the creditor
elects to file an undertaking in a larger amount, the amount of the
undertaking filed by the creditor under this section shall be in the
amount of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) or twice the amount of the
execution lien as of the date of levy or other enforcement lien as of
the date it was created, whichever is the lesser amount.
(c) An undertaking given by the creditor under this chapter shall:
(1) Be made in favor of the secured party or lienholder.
(2) Indemnify the secured party or lienholder against any loss,
liability, damages, costs, and attorney's fees, incurred by reason of
the enforcement proceedings.
(3) Be conditioned on a final judgment that the security interest
or lien of the third person is entitled to priority over the creditor'
s lien.
(d) If the creditor is a public entity exempt from giving an
undertaking, the public entity shall, in lieu of filing the
undertaking, file with the levying officer a notice stating that the
public entity opposes the claim of the third person. When so filed,
the notice is deemed to satisfy the requirement of this section that
an undertaking be filed.

720.270. (a) In a case where the third person has not filed with
the levying officer an undertaking to release the property pursuant
to Chapter 6 (commencing with Section 720.610), if the creditor does
not within the time allowed under subdivision (b) of Section 720.240
file with the levying officer an undertaking (or file a notice if the
creditor is a public entity) that satisfies the requirements of
Section 720.260 and a statement under Section 720.280, or deposit
with the levying officer the amount claimed under Section 720.230,
the levying officer shall release the personal property unless it is
to be held under another lien or unless otherwise ordered by the
court.
(b) Except as otherwise provided in this section, release is
governed by Section 699.060.
(c) If property that has been taken into custody is to be released
to the debtor pursuant to Section 699.060 and the debtor has not
claimed the property within 10 days after notice was served pursuant
to Section 699.060, the levying officer shall release the property to
the secured party or lienholder making the claim.
(d) A hearing may be had on the third-party claim pursuant to
Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 720.310) notwithstanding the
release of the property pursuant to this section.

720.280. At the time the creditor files an undertaking with the
levying officer in response to a third-party claim by a secured
party, the creditor shall do all of the following:
(a) File with the levying officer a statement executed under oath
that the security interest is invalid, that the security interest is
not entitled to priority over the creditor's lien, or that the amount
demanded in the claim exceeds the amount to which the secured party
is entitled, for the reasons specified therein.
(b) Serve a copy of the statement on the secured party. Service
shall be made personally or by mail.
(c) Serve a copy of the statement on the debtor. Service shall be
made personally or by mail.

720.290. (a) If the levying officer receives a sufficient deposit
from the creditor, the levying officer shall promptly tender or pay
the deposit to the secured party or lienholder who made the
third-party claim except that, if the deposit is made by personal
check, the levying officer is allowed a reasonable time for the check
to clear.
(b) If the tender is accepted, the interest of the secured party
or lienholder in the property for which deposit is made passes to the
creditor making the deposit and, on distribution of any proceeds
under Section 701.810, the creditor who makes the deposit shall be
entitled to the proceeds to the extent of the deposit in the priority
of the interest for which the deposit is made.
(c) If the tender is refused, the amount of the deposit shall be
deposited with the county treasurer payable to the order of the
secured party or lienholder.