(a) If the undertaking to release property is filed with the levying officer at the time the third-party claim is filed, the levying officer shall serve a copy of the undertaking on the creditor and on the debtor with the notice of the filing of the third-party claim served pursuant to Section 720.140 or 720.240.
§ 720.640.Service of Copy
Title 9. Enforcement of Judgments · Division 4 · Chapter 6. Third-Party Undertaking to Release Property · Enacted 1982 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 720.640 requires the levying officer to serve a copy of the undertaking on the creditor and debtor along with the third-party claim notice if filed together, or within five days along with an objection notice if the undertaking is filed later, using personal service or mail.
Full Text of § 720.640
(b) If the undertaking to release property is filed with the levying officer after the third-party claim is filed, not later than five days after the undertaking is filed, the levying officer shall serve a copy of the undertaking on the creditor and on the debtor with a notice that the property will be released unless, within the time allowed as specified in the notice, the creditor objects to the undertaking. Service shall be made personally or by mail.
Plain-English Summary
Once the undertaking exists, both the creditor and the debtor need to know about it, and this section makes sure they do. If the undertaking is filed at the same time as the third-party claim, the levying officer serves a copy on both the creditor and the debtor bundled with the notice of the third-party claim's filing under § 720.140 or § 720.240 — one service event covers both documents.
If the undertaking instead comes in later, after the third-party claim was already filed, the officer has a firm deadline: serve a copy on the creditor and the debtor within five days, this time paired with a notice that the property will be released unless the creditor objects within the time stated in that notice. That pairing gives the creditor a real chance to challenge the undertaking's sufficiency before the property goes free — a challenge the rest of Chapter 7's Bond and Undertaking Law procedures, including §§ 720.760 and 720.770, carries forward.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is the undertaking served if filed with the third-party claim?
What's the deadline if the undertaking is filed later?
Not later than five days after the undertaking is filed, the levying officer must serve a copy on both the creditor and the debtor.
What does the notice say when the undertaking is filed after the claim?
That the property will be released unless the creditor objects to the undertaking within the time stated in the notice.
How is this service accomplished?
Personally or by mail.
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: service of third party undertaking californianotice of undertaking to creditor and debtor