CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE: NEW REQUIREMENTS FOR JUDGMENT CREDITOR PURSUING A LEVY

Effective January 1, 2025, the legislature has updated Civil Code Section 684.130 to include new requirements for the judgment creditor. Under the revised code, levies cannot be accepted by the levying officer without the declaration outlined in subsection (b).

Given the investigation and preparatory steps required to complete this declaration, First Legal strongly recommends preparing it before requesting a writ from the court. (Our reading of this new statute indicates that the address on the writ will need to be the address verified.) If you need assistance completing the verification requirements, contact our Investigations Team at investigations@firstlegal.com.

Once you have your declaration prepared (note the court filing provision in this statute), First Legal’s Writ Team (writs@firstlegal.com) can assist you with the remaining steps necessary for executing a California levy.

§ 684.130. Furnishing of name and address by judgment creditor [Effective January 1, 2025]

(a) If the levying officer is required by any provision of this title to serve any writ, order, notice, or other paper on any person, the judgment creditor shall include in the instructions to the levying officer the correct name and address of the person. The judgment creditor shall use reasonable diligence to ascertain the correct name and address of the person.

(b)

(1) Where the judgment upon which the writ is issued is for personal debt, as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 683.110, this subdivision shall apply.

(2) The judgment creditor shall also provide the levying officer with a declaration stating that the judgment creditor has verified using reasonable diligence within the past 12 months that the judgment debtor’s address is correct to the best of the declarant’s knowledge, and describing the verification dates and the methods used, which may include, but are not limited to, the following methods:

(A) Receipt of correspondence from the judgment debtor, dated no more than 12 months before the execution of the declaration, that includes a return address or other comparable verification of the judgment debtor’s address.

(B) Transmittal of a letter by certified mail, or other method of transmission through the United States Postal Service providing a return receipt, to the judgment debtor’s address, with a return receipt dated no more than 12 months before the execution of the declaration that is signed by the judgment debtor.

(C) Verification of the judgment debtor’s current address by a commercial address verification service, including skip-tracing, or, if reasonably available, a public record database, followed by dispatch of a letter, by first-class mail to the verified address, that was not returned to sender.

(3) The levying officer shall not accept or serve any writ, order, notice, or other paper on any person if the judgment creditor fails to provide a declaration as described in paragraph (2).

(4) Upon notice by the judgment debtor that the requirements of this section have not been met, the court shall stay the notice of levy or earnings withholding order until the requirements of this section have been satisfied.

(5) The judgment creditor’s cost of verification of the judgment debtor’s address is not recoverable.

(6) The judgment creditor shall file with the court the signed declaration within five business days after delivering the declaration to the levying officer.

(c) Unless the levying officer has actual knowledge that the name or address included in the instructions is incorrect, the levying officer shall rely on the instructions in serving the writ, order, notice, or other paper on the person.

History

Added Stats 1982 ch 1364 § 2, operative July 1, 1983. Amended Stats 2024 ch 514 § 1 (AB 2837), effective January 1, 2025.