How to Conduct a Sheriff’s Sale of Real Property to Collect a Judgment in California – Part 3

If the judgment creditor has levied on the debtor’s real property, and if the real property is a “dwelling,” the judgment creditor must file an Application for Order of Sale of Dwelling with the court.  The Code of Civil Procedure sets forth a detailed process which must be followed precisely by the judgment creditor.

CCP § 704.750(a) states as follows, in pertinent part:

“Promptly after a dwelling is levied upon … the levying officer shall serve notice on the judgment creditor that the levy has been made and that the property will be released unless the judgment creditor complies with the requirements of this section…  Within 20 days after service of the notice, the judgment creditor shall apply to the court for an order for sale of the dwelling and shall file a copy of the application with the levying officer.  If the judgment creditor does not file the copy of the application for an order for sale of the dwelling within the allowed time, the levying officer shall release the dwelling.”

In other words, after the levy instructions have been delivered to the sheriff, the sheriff will levy on the real property.  Then the sheriff will send a notice to the judgment creditor instructing the judgment creditor to file an application with the court.  The judgment creditor must then file the requisite application within 20 days of the sheriff’s mailing of this notice.

If the judgment creditor does not timely file the application and provide evidence of the filing to the sheriff, the sheriff will “release” the levy, which means that the sale will not take place.

It is critical that judgment creditors be prepared to quickly file the Application for Order of Sale of Dwelling.