Upon presentation of a notice of judgment lien on personal property for filing and tender of the filing fee to the office of the Secretary of State, the notice of judgment lien shall be filed, marked, and indexed in the same manner as a financing statement. The fee for filing in the office of the Secretary of State is the same as the fee for filing a financing statement in the standard form. A notice shall not be filed if it is presented for filing more than 10 days after the date of the notice.
§ 697.570.Filing Notice
Title 9. Enforcement of Judgments · Division 2 · Chapter 2. Liens · Article 3. Judgment Lien on Personal Property · Enacted 1982 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 697.570 requires the Secretary of State to file, mark, and index a notice of judgment lien the same way it handles a UCC financing statement, charges the same filing fee, and bars filing any notice presented more than ten days after the date on the notice.
Full Text of § 697.570
Plain-English Summary
Once a notice of judgment lien is presented for filing and the fee is paid, the Secretary of State processes it exactly the way it processes an ordinary UCC financing statement — filing, marking, and indexing it in the same system, at the same fee. That parallel treatment is what lets creditors, secured parties, and searchers rely on a single, familiar filing system to check for both judgment liens and security interests.
Timing matters here in a way it doesn't for financing statements. A notice of judgment lien carries a date on its face, and the Secretary of State cannot accept it for filing if it's presented more than ten days after that date. A creditor who prepares the notice and then sits on it risks having to redo the notice with a current date before it can be filed.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the Secretary of State process a notice of judgment lien?
The same way it processes a UCC financing statement — filing, marking, and indexing it, for the same fee.
Is there a deadline for filing the notice after it's dated?
Yes. Section 697.570 bars filing a notice presented more than ten days after the date it bears.
What fee applies to filing a notice of judgment lien?
The same fee that applies to filing a financing statement in the standard form.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 1364, Sec. 2. Operative July 1, 1983, by Sec. 3 of Ch. 1364.
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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