Where the property taken is claimed by a third person, the rules and proceedings applicable in cases of third-party claims under Division 4 (commencing with Section 720.010) of Title 9 apply.
§ 514.050.Third Person Claiming Property Taken
Title 7. Other Provisional Remedies In Civil Actions · Chapter 2. Claim and Delivery of Personal Property · Article 4. Levy and Custody · Last amended 1983 · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 514.050 applies the third-party claim rules from the judgment enforcement law whenever someone other than the parties claims ownership of property taken under a writ of possession.
Full Text of § 514.050
Plain-English Summary
The levying officer sometimes seizes property that a third party, not the plaintiff or defendant, claims to own. Rather than building a separate procedure for that situation, this section borrows one already in place: the rules and proceedings applicable to third-party claims under Division 4 (commencing with § 720.010) of Title 9, the judgment enforcement law's own third-party claim article.
That cross-reference means a person who isn't a party to the underlying action, but who believes the seized property is theirs, gets the same established mechanism for asserting that claim as a third party would when property is seized to satisfy a judgment.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if someone who isn't a party to the case claims the seized property is theirs?
The third-party claim procedure in Division 4 (commencing with § 720.010) of Title 9 applies, the same procedure used when property is seized to enforce a judgment.
Why doesn't this chapter have its own separate third-party claim procedure?
Section 514.050 borrows the existing judgment-enforcement procedure instead of duplicating it, since the underlying problem — a stranger to the case claiming ownership of levied property — is the same.
Amendment History
Amended by Stats. 1982, Ch. 497, Sec. 33. Operative July 1, 1983, by Sec. 185 of Ch. 497.
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: third party claim writ of possession california