Except to the extent provided in Section 1908, the judgment does not affect a claim in the property or part thereof of any person who was not a party to the action if any of the following conditions is satisfied:
§ 874.225.Effect On Person Not Party to Action
Title 10.5. Partition of Real and Personal Property · Chapter 9. Judgment · Enacted 1984 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 28, 2026
In one sentenceSection 874.225 shields a nonparty's property claim from a partition judgment's binding effect, apart from what § 1908 separately provides, if the claim was already of record, or known to the plaintiff in fact, or reasonably apparent from inspecting the property, by the time the lis pendens or, absent one, the judgment was recorded.
Full Text of § 874.225
(a) The claim was of record at the time the lis pendens was filed or, if none was filed, at the time the judgment was recorded.
(b) The claim was actually known to the plaintiff or would have been reasonably apparent from an inspection of the property at the time the lis pendens was filed or, if none was filed, at the time the judgment was entered. For the purpose of this subdivision, a "claim in the property or part thereof" of any person means the interest of the person in the portion of the property or proceeds of sale thereof allocated to the plaintiff. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to impair the rights of a bona fide purchaser or encumbrancer for value dealing with the plaintiff or the plaintiff's successors in interest.
Plain-English Summary
This section is the carve-out § 874.210(c) points to — the protection for nonparties whose claims deserve to survive a partition judgment rather than be wiped out by it. A claim escapes the judgment's binding effect if either of two conditions is met: it was of record when the lis pendens was filed or, if none was filed, when the judgment was entered, or it was known to the plaintiff in fact, or reasonably apparent from inspecting the property, at that same point in time.
Subdivision (b) gives that second condition a specific, narrower meaning: a "claim in the property or part thereof" refers to the person's interest in whatever portion of the property or sale proceeds ended up allocated to the plaintiff. That subdivision also makes clear it doesn't disturb the protections a bona fide purchaser or encumbrancer for value has when dealing with the plaintiff or the plaintiff's successors in interest.
Frequently Asked Questions
When is a nonparty's claim protected from a partition judgment?
If it was of record when the lis pendens (or judgment) was filed or entered, or was known to the plaintiff in fact, or reasonably apparent from inspecting the property, at that time.
Does this protection hurt someone who later bought the property from the plaintiff in good faith?
No. Section 874.225(b) says nothing in the subdivision impairs the rights of a bona fide purchaser or encumbrancer for value dealing with the plaintiff or the plaintiff's successors.
Amendment History
Added by Stats. 1984, Ch. 20, Sec. 7.
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: nonparty claim protected partition judgment californiaunrecorded interest partition judgment