(a) If the enforcement agency, in accordance with Section 17980.1, shall desire that the receiver obtain a lien for costs incurred in connection therewith in favor of the enforcement agency, the enforcement agency, within five days after the service of the abatement order upon the owner, shall serve a copy of the abatement order upon the lienor and mortgagee of record personally or by registered mail, return receipt requested, at the address set forth in the recorded mortgage or lien. A notice addressed to the mortgagee and lienor shall be appended to the copy of the abatement order, stating that in the event the unsafe conditions are not removed or remedied in the manner and within the time specified in the abatement order, the enforcement agency may apply to the superior court for an order to show cause why a receiver shall not be appointed.
(b) The enforcement agency or a receiver appointed pursuant to this section and Section 17980.1 may record a lien against the real property on which the building is located for the expenses necessarily incurred in the execution of the abatement order, for work done in carrying out the abatement order, and for the costs incurred by the county recorder in recording the lien. Notwithstanding Section 6103 or 27383 of the Government Code, the county recorder may charge a fee to any party for the cost, incurred pursuant to this section, of recording the lien at the request of that party. Liens authorized by this subdivision shall specify the amount of the lien, the name of the agency or agencies on whose behalf the lien is imposed, the date of the abatement order or the order of the court which required the work to be done, the name of the receiver, if any, appointed pursuant to Section 17980.1, and the legal description assessor’s parcel number, and the record owner of the real property. The lien shall be recorded in the office of the county recorder of any county in which all or any portion of the real property is located, and from the date of recording shall have the force, effect, and priority of a judgment lien. The enforcement agency may defer payment of the lien until the property is sold or the enforcement agency may require that the lien be paid in installments. The amount of the lien authorized by this subdivision shall in no event exceed the reasonable costs of repair, as determined pursuant to Section 17980.3. Nothing in this section or in Section 17980.3 shall authorize the forced sale of the property to secure payment of the judgment lien.
(c) Whenever the enforcement agency has incurred expense for which payment is due under this section, Section 17980.3, or 17980.4, the enforcement agency may institute and maintain a suit against the owner of the building, and may recover the amount of that expense. In any case where expenditures have been made, or obligations incurred, by a receiver pursuant to Section 17980.3, and these are not paid or reimbursed from rents and income of the building, the receiver may institute and maintain a suit against the owner to recover the deficiency. Upon the awarding of a money judgment in any action authorized by this section, until the same is paid or discharged, the judgment shall be a lien like other judgments, pursuant to Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 697.010) of Division 2 of Title 9 of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
(d) Unless, within six months after actual notice, proceedings to discharge the lien are undertaken by the party against whom, or against whose premises, a lien is claimed, the filing shall, as to all persons having actual notice, become conclusive evidence that the amount claimed in the lien, with interest, is due, and is a just lien upon the premises.
(e) Where there is more than one owner, except as the owners may have otherwise mutually agreed, any owner who removes or remedies the unsafe condition shall be entitled to recover a proportionate share of the total expense of the compliance from all other owners to whom the abatement order was issued.
(Added by Stats. 1990, Ch. 192, Sec. 3.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018