How to Conduct a Sheriff’s Sale of Real Property to Collect a Judgment in California – Part 2

If you want to collect your judgment by forcing the sale of the debtor’s real property, and if you have instructed the sheriff to levy on the real property, the next step is to determine whether the real property is a “dwelling.”  If the real property is a “dwelling,” the sheriff cannot sell the property unless the court enters an order authorizing the sale of the real property. 

CCP § 704.740(a) states as follows, in pertinent part:

“… the interest of a natural person in a dwelling may not be sold under this division to enforce a money judgment except pursuant to a court order for sale obtained under this article and the dwelling exemption shall be determined under this article.”

CCP § 704.710(a) defines “dwelling” as follows:

““Dwelling” means a place where a person resides …”

If the debtor’s real property is a dwelling, a court order for sale is necessary.  To obtain the necessary court order, the judgment creditor must file an Application for Order of Sale of Dwelling.  The process to do so will be explained in a future post.