The levying officer may not be a purchaser or have an interest in any purchase at a sale.
§ 701.610.Levying Officer May Not Be Purchaser
Title 9. Enforcement of Judgments · Division 2 · Chapter 3. Execution · Article 6. Sale and Collection · Enacted 1982 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 701.610 prohibits the levying officer from purchasing property at the sale, or from holding any interest in a purchase, ensuring the officer conducting the sale has no personal stake in its outcome.
Full Text of § 701.610
Plain-English Summary
The officer running an execution sale has to stay neutral, and § 701.610 makes that concrete with a flat prohibition: the levying officer may not be a purchaser at a sale conducted under this article, and may not hold any interest in a purchase someone else makes.
The rule guards against the obvious conflict of an officer steering a sale, setting its terms, or exercising the discretion this article gives over grouping and timing, while also standing to benefit personally from the outcome.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can the levying officer buy property at the sale they're conducting?
No, § 701.610 bars the officer from being a purchaser at all.
Can the officer have a partial interest in someone else's winning bid?
No, the prohibition extends to having any interest in any purchase at the sale.
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: levying officer purchaser prohibition california