The complaint shall also include, as defendants, unknown persons owning or claiming an interest in such bond, special assessment or certificate of sale and they may be described in the complaint as: "Also the owner or any person claiming an interest (here describe the bond, special assessment or certificate of sale as it is described in the office in which it was issued)."
§ 801.4.Unknown Persons Included As Defendants
Title 10. Actions In Particular Cases · Chapter 4.6. Actions Concerning Real Property Titles Affected by Public Improvement Assessments · Enacted 1949 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 801.4 requires the complaint to also name, as defendants, unknown persons owning or claiming an interest in the bond, assessment, or certificate of sale, described using a statutory formula that identifies the interest without identifying the person.
Full Text of § 801.4
Plain-English Summary
Beyond the known claimants named under § 801.3, the complaint has to reach anyone whose interest exists but whose identity the plaintiff doesn't know. Section 801.4 supplies the description to use: “Also the owner or any person claiming an interest” in the bond, assessment, or certificate of sale, described the way it was described in the office where it was issued.
That formula lets the action bind people the plaintiff couldn't otherwise name, setting up the publication and diligence requirements that follow in §§ 801.8 and 801.9.
Frequently Asked Questions
How are unknown claimants named in the complaint?
As “Also the owner or any person claiming an interest” in the bond, special assessment, or certificate of sale, described as it appears in the office where it was issued.
Why does the complaint need this catch-all description?
To bind unidentified claimants to the outcome, since the plaintiff cannot name every person who might hold an interest in an old assessment or certificate of sale.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1949, Ch. 1108.
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: unknown defendants assessment action california