(a) Except as otherwise provided in this section, no writ shall be issued under this chapter except after a hearing on a noticed motion.
§ 512.020.Issuance After Hearing; Ex Parte Issuance
Title 7. Other Provisional Remedies In Civil Actions · Chapter 2. Claim and Delivery of Personal Property · Article 2. Writ of Possession · Enacted 1973 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 512.020 requires a noticed hearing before any writ of possession issues except in three narrow situations -- felonious taking, credit-card property, or commercial goods facing immediate danger of loss -- where the writ may issue ex parte on a heightened showing.
Full Text of § 512.020
(b) A writ of possession may be issued ex parte pursuant to this subdivision if probable cause appears that any of the following conditions exists:
(1) The defendant gained possession of the property by feloniously taking the property from the plaintiff. This subdivision shall not apply where the defendant has fraudulently appropriated property entrusted to him or obtained possession by false or fraudulent representation or pretense or by embezzlement.
(2) The property is a credit card.
(3) The defendant acquired possession of the property in the ordinary course of his trade or business for commercial purposes and:
(i) The property is not necessary for the support of the defendant or his family; and
(ii) There is an immediate danger that the property will become unavailable to levy by reason of being transferred, concealed, or removed from the state or will become substantially impaired in value by acts of destruction or by failure to take care of the property in a reasonable manner; and
(iii) The ex parte issuance of a writ of possession is necessary to protect the property. The plaintiff's application for the writ shall satisfy the requirements of Section 512.010 and, in addition, shall include a showing that the conditions required by this subdivision exist. A writ of possession may issue if the court finds that the conditions required by this subdivision exist and the requirements of Section 512.060 are met. Where a writ of possession has been issued pursuant to this subdivision, a copy of the summons and complaint, a copy of the application and any affidavit in support thereof, and a notice which satisfies the requirements of subdivisions (c) and (d) of Section 512.040 and informs the defendant of his rights under this subdivision shall be served upon the defendant and any other person required by Section 514.020 to be served with a writ of possession. Any defendant whose property has been taken pursuant to a writ of possession issued under this subdivision may apply for an order that the writ be quashed and any property levied on pursuant to the writ be released. Such application shall be made by noticed motion, and the provisions of Section 512.050 shall apply. Pending the hearing on the defendant's application, the court may order that delivery pursuant to Section 514.030 of any property previously levied upon be stayed. If the court determines that the plaintiff is not entitled to a writ of possession, the court shall quash the writ of possession and order the release and redelivery of any property previously levied upon, and shall award the defendant any damages sustained by him which were proximately caused by the levy of the writ of possession and the loss of possession of the property pursuant to such levy.
Plain-English Summary
The default rule is notice: no writ issues under this chapter without a hearing on a noticed motion. Subdivision (b) carves out three situations where the court can skip that hearing and issue the writ ex parte, each requiring probable cause that the specific condition exists.
The first is a felonious taking — the defendant took the property from the plaintiff through what amounts to theft, though this ground doesn't cover a defendant who fraudulently appropriated property already entrusted to them or obtained it through false pretenses or embezzlement. The second ground is narrow: the property is a credit card. The third covers commercial property acquired in the ordinary course of the defendant's trade or business, but only where three things line up — the property isn't necessary for the defendant's or the defendant's family's support, there's an immediate danger the property will disappear or lose value before a hearing could happen, and ex parte issuance is truly necessary to protect it.
That third, commercial-property path comes with its own built-in check. The plaintiff's application must meet § 512.010's ordinary requirements plus a showing that these added conditions exist, and the court must also find that § 512.060's usual writ-issuance findings are satisfied. If the writ issues this way, the defendant has to be served with the summons and complaint, the application and any supporting affidavit, and a notice meeting § 512.040's content requirements — and the defendant can then move by noticed motion to have the writ quashed and the property released, with § 512.050's hearing procedure applying to that motion.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a writ of possession issue in California without a hearing?
Only in three situations: the property was feloniously taken from the plaintiff, the property is a credit card, or the property is commercial goods facing an immediate danger of loss and not necessary for the defendant's support.
What happens after an ex parte writ issues based on the commercial-property ground?
The defendant must be served with the summons and complaint, the application and affidavit, and a notice under § 512.040, and may then move by noticed motion to have the writ quashed and any levied property released.
Does a defendant who defrauded the plaintiff out of property qualify for the felonious-taking exception?
No. Section 512.020(b)(1) expressly excludes a defendant who fraudulently appropriated entrusted property or obtained possession through false pretenses or embezzlement.
What must the plaintiff show for the commercial-property ex parte ground?
That the property isn't necessary for the defendant's or the defendant's family's support, that there's immediate danger it will become unavailable or impaired in value, and that ex parte issuance is necessary to protect it, in addition to the ordinary § 512.010 showing.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1973, Ch. 526.
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
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