When, in an action for the recovery of real or personal property, or to determine conflicting claims thereto, a person not a party to the action but having an interest in the subject thereof makes application to the court to be made a party, it may order him to be brought in by the proper amendment.
§ 389.5.Person Making Application to Be Made Party Brought In By Proper Amendment
Title 3. Of the Parties to Civil Actions · Chapter 8. Compulsory Joinder · Enacted 1957 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 389.5 lets a nonparty with an interest in real or personal property at stake in an action for its recovery, or to determine conflicting claims to it, apply to the court to be made a party, and lets the court bring that person into the case by proper amendment.
Full Text of § 389.5
Plain-English Summary
Section 389.5 addresses a narrower situation than § 389’s general compulsory-joinder framework: an action to recover real or personal property, or to sort out conflicting claims to it, where someone who is not yet a party has an interest in the property at stake.
That person may apply to the court to be made a party. If the court agrees, it orders the person brought in by proper amendment, folding the new party into the existing action rather than requiring a separate lawsuit over the same property.
The section works from the applicant’s side rather than the court’s own initiative — it is the interested nonparty who comes forward and asks in. That makes it a practical companion to intervention under § 387, offering a property-specific route into a pending property dispute.
Frequently Asked Questions
What kind of case does § 389.5 apply to?
An action for the recovery of real or personal property, or to determine conflicting claims to that property.
Who can apply to be added as a party under this section?
A person who is not a party to the action but has an interest in the property that is the subject of it.
How does someone get added under § 389.5?
They make an application to the court, and if the court grants it, the person is brought into the case by proper amendment.
Is § 389.5 the same as intervention under § 387?
They serve a similar purpose — letting an outsider join a pending case — but § 389.5 is narrower, limited to actions over real or personal property, while § 387 covers intervention generally.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1957, Ch. 1498.
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the Deering's California Codes Annotated / vLex. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 28, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: joining a property dispute californiaadding a party to a california lawsuit over propertynonparty claim to property in lawsuit california