All known defendants shall be served in the manner provided by law for the service of a summons in a civil action. All unknown defendants shall be served by publication as provided in Section 750.
§ 801.8.Service On Defendants
Title 10. Actions In Particular Cases · Chapter 4.6. Actions Concerning Real Property Titles Affected by Public Improvement Assessments · Last amended 1969 · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 801.8 requires known defendants to be served the way summonses are served in any civil action, and unknown defendants to be served by publication under § 750.
Full Text of § 801.8
Plain-English Summary
Service splits along the line already drawn by §§ 801.3 and 801.4. Every known defendant — the named claimants, the payee, the owner of the assessment or certificate, and the custodian official — gets served the same way any defendant in a civil action gets served.
Unknown defendants, described under § 801.4's catch-all formula, can't be served personally. Instead, they're served by publication under § 750, the mechanism this chapter relies on to bind claimants whose identities the plaintiff couldn't determine despite the diligence § 801.9 requires.
Frequently Asked Questions
How are known defendants served?
The same way a summons is served in any civil action.
How are unknown defendants served?
By publication, as provided in § 750.
Amendment History
Amended by Stats. 1969, Ch. 1611.
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 summons assessment action californiaservice by publication assessment california