If the levying officer obtains custody of an instrument levied upon and serves the obligor under the instrument pursuant to the levy, the obligor shall make payments to the levying officer as they become due. Payments made to a person other than the levying officer do not discharge the obligation of the obligor to make payments as required by this section if the payments are made after the obligor has received notice of the levy.
§ 701.060.Duties of Obligor Under Instrument Levied Upon
Title 9. Enforcement of Judgments · Division 2 · Chapter 3. Execution · Article 5. Duties and Liabilities of Third Persons After Levy · Enacted 1982 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 701.060 requires an obligor under an instrument that the levying officer has taken into custody and served under a levy to make payments to that officer as they fall due, and provides that payments made elsewhere after receiving notice of the levy do not discharge the obligation.
Full Text of § 701.060
Plain-English Summary
An instrument here means something like a promissory note or a negotiable document, and this section covers what happens once a levying officer has taken physical custody of one and served the obligor — the person who owes payment on it — under the levy.
From that point on, the obligor pays the levying officer as payments come due, not the judgment debtor and not anyone else. And the statute makes the consequence of ignoring that explicit: a payment made to someone other than the levying officer does not discharge the obligor's duty under the instrument, so long as that payment was made after the obligor received notice of the levy.
This mirrors the treatment given to account debtors under § 701.050 and final money judgment debtors under § 701.070 — all three sections push payments toward the levying officer once notice has been given, and all three refuse to let a misdirected payment count as satisfying the obligation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who does this section apply to?
An obligor under an instrument that the levying officer has taken into custody and served the obligor with, under a levy.
Where must payments on the instrument go once this levy takes effect?
To the levying officer, as payments become due.
Does paying the judgment debtor instead of the levying officer satisfy the obligation?
No, not if the payment is made after the obligor received notice of the levy — that payment does not discharge the obligation.
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
Also known as: obligor instrument levy californialevy on negotiable instrument california