(a) Except as provided in subdivision (b), at the conclusion of a proceeding pursuant to this article, the court may order the judgment debtor's interest in the property in the possession or under the control of the judgment debtor or the third person or a debt owed by the third person to the judgment debtor to be applied toward the satisfaction of the money judgment if the property is not exempt from enforcement of a money judgment. Such an order creates a lien on the property or debt.
§ 708.205.Order Creating Lien; Order Forbidding Transfer Or Payment
Title 9. Enforcement of Judgments · Division 2 · Chapter 6. Miscellaneous Creditors' Remedies · Article 2. Examination Proceedings · Enacted 1982 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 708.205 lets the court, at the end of an examination proceeding, order a debtor's non-exempt property or a third person's debt applied toward the judgment and create a lien on it, unless a third person's adverse claim or denial of debt was raised and never resolved, in which case the court is limited to a forbidding-transfer order instead.
Full Text of § 708.205
(b) If a third person examined pursuant to Section 708.120 claims an interest in the property adverse to the judgment debtor or denies the debt and the court does not determine the matter as provided in subdivision (a) of Section 708.180, the court may not order the property or debt to be applied toward the satisfaction of the money judgment but may make an order pursuant to subdivision (c) or (d) of Section 708.180 forbidding transfer or payment to the extent authorized by that section.
Plain-English Summary
This section is where an examination proceeding can end with real teeth. If the property in question — whether in the debtor's own possession or held by a third person — or a debt a third person owes the debtor isn't exempt from enforcement, the court can order it applied toward satisfying the judgment. That order itself creates a lien on the property or debt.
That power has a limit tied directly to § 708.180. If a third person examined under § 708.120 claimed an adverse interest in the property or denied owing the debt, and the court never resolved that dispute the way § 708.180(a) allows, the court cannot order the property or debt applied to the judgment. Instead, it's limited to the forbidding-transfer relief available under § 708.180(c) or (d), preserving the status quo until the underlying dispute gets sorted out elsewhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can the court order at the end of a debtor's examination?
If the property or debt at issue isn't exempt, the court can order it applied toward satisfying the judgment, and that order creates a lien on the property or debt.
What if a third person claimed the property or denied the debt during the examination?
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: lien from debtor examination californiaorder applying property to judgment california