Title 9. Enforcement of Judgments · Division 4 · Chapter 4. Hearing on Third-Party Claim · Enacted 1982 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
This section tells the court what to treat as the pleadings once a third-party claim reaches a hearing -- there's no separate complaint and answer to file. Subdivision (a) makes the third-party claim itself stand in as the third person's pleading, and, when the claim is a secured party's claim under Chapter 3, makes the creditor's § 720.280 statement stand in as the creditor's pleading. The court can still permit amendments where justice calls for it, but absent that, these existing documents are what frame the dispute.
Subdivision (b) then supplies something the creditor doesn't have to do expressly: it deems any third-party claim of ownership, right to possession, or a lien controverted by the creditor automatically. In other words, the creditor's failure to address every point in a filed statement doesn't amount to conceding the claim -- the claim is treated as disputed by operation of law, and the third person still carries the burden of proving it under § 720.360.
The third-party claim itself is the third person's pleading, and, for a secured party's claim, the creditor's § 720.280 statement is the creditor's pleading.
Yes, subject to the court's power to permit an amendment in the interest of justice.
No. Section 720.350(b) deems a third-party claim of ownership, right to possession, or a lien controverted by the creditor automatically.
Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 1364, Sec. 2. Operative July 1, 1983, by Sec. 3 of Ch. 1364.