Article 2 - Manner of Service Generally - California Code of Civil Procedure

Sections (5)

Amended by Stats. 2012, Ch. 484, Sec. 6. (AB 2364) Effective January 1, 2013.

(a)(1) Subject to subdivisions (b), (c), and (d), if legal process is required to be personally served under this title, service shall be made in the same manner as a summons is served under Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 413.10) of Title 5.

(2)For purposes of this title, the term “legal process” shall

refer to each and all of the writs, notices, orders, or other papers required or permitted to be served pursuant to this title.

(b)If the legal process is required to be personally served under this title and service on an attorney is required under Article 1 (commencing with Section 684.010), service shall be made on the attorney in the manner provided in Section 684.040.

(c)If the legal process is required to be personally served on (1) a financial institution in connection with a deposit account or with property held for safekeeping, as collateral for an obligation owed to the financial institution or in a safe-deposit box, (2) a title insurer (as defined in Section 12340.4 of the Insurance Code) or underwritten title company (as defined in Section 12340.5 of the Insurance Code), or (3) an industrial loan company (as defined in Section 18003 of the Financial Code), service

shall be made at the office or branch that has actual possession of the property levied upon or at which a deposit account levied upon is carried and shall be made upon the officer, manager, or other person in charge of the office or branch at the time of service. For purposes of this section, the office or branch at which a deposit account levied upon is carried shall mean the branch, office, or other location where the financial institution maintains the account.

(d)Notwithstanding subdivision (c), with respect to legal process served on a financial institution, if the financial institution has designated a central location for service of legal process pursuant to Section 684.115, unless the financial institution elects to treat legal process served at a branch or office as effective, that legal process so served on the branch or office will not reach those accounts or property and need not be reported on the financial institution’s

garnishee memorandum.

(e)Notwithstanding subdivision (c), a financial institution, title insurer, or industrial loan company, in its discretion and without violating any obligation to its customer, may act upon service of legal process at any of its offices or branches, whether or not the office or branch is the location wherein accounts or property that may be reached by the process is or are maintained or located.

§ 684.115

Amended by Stats. 2024, Ch. 222, Sec. 2. (AB 2067) Effective January 1, 2025.

(a)A financial institution may, and if it has more than nine branches or offices at which it conducts its business within this state shall, designate one or more central locations for service of legal process within this state. Each designated location shall be referred to as a “central location.” A financial institution may designate a third-party agent as a central location for service of legal process. If a financial institution designates a third-party agent as a central location, the financial institution shall designate at least one additional central location that is not located in the same county as another designated central location. The financial institution may designate the same third-party agent as multiple central locations

for service of legal process if the third-party agent maintains physical locations in multiple counties.

(b)If a financial institution elects or is required to designate a central location for service of legal process, pursuant to subdivision (a), the financial institution shall file a notice of its designation with the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation which filing shall be effective upon filing and shall contain all of the following:

(1)The physical address of the central location.

(2)The days and hours during which service will be accepted at the central location and, if the central location is a third-party agent, the name of the third party agent.

(3)If the central location will not accept service of legal process directed at deposit accounts maintained or property held at all of the financial institution’s branches or offices within this state, or if the service accepted at the central location will not apply to safe-deposit boxes or other property of the judgment debtor held by or for the judgment debtor, the filing shall also contain sufficient information to permit a determination of the limitation or limitations, including, in the case of a limitation applicable to certain branches or offices, an identification of the branches or offices as to which service at the central location will not apply and the nature of the limitation applicable to those branches or offices. If the limitation will apply to all branches or offices of the financial institution within this state, the filing may indicate the nature of the limitation and that

it applies to all branches or offices, in lieu of an identification of branches or offices as to which the limitation applies. To the extent that a financial institution’s designation of a central location for service of legal process covers the process directed at deposit accounts, safe-deposit boxes, or other property of the judgment debtor held by or for the judgment debtor at a particular branch or office located within this state, the branch or office shall be a branch or office covered by central process.

(c)Should a financial institution required to designate a central location fail to do so, each branch of that institution located in this state shall be deemed to be a central location at which service of legal process may be made, and all of the institution’s branches or offices located within this state shall be deemed to be a

branch or office covered by central process.

(d)Subject to any limitation noted pursuant to paragraph (3) of subdivision (b), service of legal process at a central location of a financial institution shall be effective against all deposit accounts and all property held for safekeeping, as collateral for an obligation owed to the financial institution or in a safe-deposit box if the same is described in the legal process and held by the financial institution at any branch or office covered by central process and located within this state. However, while service of legal process at the central location will establish a lien on all property, if any property other than deposit accounts is physically held by the financial institution in a county other than that in which the designated central location is located, the financial institution shall

include in its garnishee’s memorandum the location or locations of the property, and the judgment creditor shall obtain a writ of execution covering the property and directed to the levying officer in that county to accomplish the turnover of the property and shall forward the writ and related required documentation to the levying officer in the county in which the property is held.

(e)A financial institution may modify or revoke any designation made pursuant to subdivision (a) by filing the modification or revocation with the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation. The modification or revocation shall be effective when the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation’s records have been updated to reflect the modification or revocation, provided that the judgment creditor may rely upon the superseded designation during the 30-day

period following the effective date of the revocation or modification.

(f)(1) The Department of Financial Protection and Innovation shall update its online records to reflect a filing by a financial institution pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) or a modification or revocation filed by a financial institution pursuant to subdivision (e) within 10 business days following the filing by the financial institution. The Department of Financial Protection and Innovation’s internet website shall reflect the date its online records for each financial institution have most recently been updated.

(2)The Department of Financial Protection and Innovation shall provide any person requesting it with a copy of each current filing made by a financial institution pursuant to

subdivisions (a) and (b). The Department of Financial Protection and Innovation may satisfy its obligation under this subdivision by posting all current designations of a financial institution, or the

pertinent information therein, on an internet website available to the public without charge, and if that information is made available, the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation may impose a reasonable fee for furnishing that information in any other manner.

(g)As to deposit accounts maintained or property held for safekeeping, as collateral for an obligation owed to the financial institution or in a safe-deposit box at a branch or office covered by central process, service of legal process at a location other than a central location designated by the financial institution shall not be effective unless the financial institution, in its absolute discretion, elects to act upon the process at that location as if it were effective. In the absence of an election, the financial institution may respond to the legal

process by mailing or delivery of the garnishee’s memorandum to the levying officer within the time otherwise provided therefor, with a statement on the garnishee’s memorandum that the legal process was not properly served at the financial institution’s designated location for receiving legal process, and, therefore, was not processed, and the address at which the financial institution is to receive legal process.

(h)If any legal process is served at a central location of a financial institution pursuant to this section, all related papers to be served on the financial institution shall be served at that location, unless agreed to the contrary between the serving party and the financial institution.

(i)This subdivision shall apply whenever a financial institution operates within

this state at least one branch or office in addition to its head office or main office, as applicable, or a financial institution headquartered in another state operates more than one branch or office within this state, and no central location has been designated or deemed to have been designated by the institution for service of legal process relating to deposit accounts maintained at the financial institution’s head office or main office, as applicable, and branches located within this state. If a judgment creditor reasonably believes that, pursuant to Section 700.140 and, if applicable, Section 700.160, any act of enforcement would be effective against a specific deposit account maintained at a financial institution described in this subdivision, the judgment creditor may file with the financial institution a written request that the financial institution identify the branch or office within this state

at which a specified account might be maintained by the financial institution. The written request shall contain the following statements or information:

(1)The name of the person reasonably believed by the judgment creditor to be a person in whose name the specified deposit account stands.

(2)If the name of the person reasonably believed by the judgment creditor to be a person in whose name the specified deposit account stands is not a judgment debtor identified in the writ of execution, a statement that a person reasonably believed by the judgment creditor to be a person in whose name the specified deposit account stands will be appropriately identified in the legal process to be served pursuant to Section 700.160, including any supplementary papers, such as a court

order or affidavit if the same will be required by Section 700.160.

(3)The specific identifying number of the account reasonably believed to be maintained with the financial institution and standing in the name of the judgment debtor or other person.

(4)The address of the requesting party.

(5)An affidavit by the judgment creditor or the judgment creditor’s counsel stating substantially the following:

“I hereby declare that this deposit account location request complies with Section 684.115 of the Code of Civil Procedure, that the account or accounts of the judgment debtor or other person or persons appropriately

identified in the legal process and specified herein are subject to a valid writ of execution, or court order, that I have a reasonable belief, formed after an inquiry reasonable under the circumstances, that the financial institution receiving this deposit account location request has an account standing in the name of the judgment debtor or other person or persons appropriately identified in the legal process, and that information pertaining to the location of the account will assist the judgment creditor in enforcing the judgment.”

(j)The affidavit contemplated by subdivision (i) shall be signed by the judgment creditor or the judgment creditor’s counsel and filed at the financial institution’s head office located within this state or, if the financial institution’s head

office is in another state, at one of its branches or offices within this state. Failure to comply with the requirements of subdivision (i) and this subdivision shall be sufficient basis for the financial institution to refuse to produce the information that would otherwise be required by subdivision (k).

(k)Within 10 banking days following receipt by a financial institution at the applicable location specified in subdivision (j) of a request contemplated by subdivision (i), as to each specific deposit account identified in the request contemplated by subdivision (i), the financial institution shall respond by mailing, by first-class mail with postage prepaid, to the requester’s address as specified in the request a response indicating the branch or office location of the financial institution at which the specified deposit account

might be maintained, or, if the specified deposit account, if it exists, would not be maintained at a specific location, at least one place within this state at which legal process relating to the deposit account should or may be served. The response to be furnished pursuant to this subdivision shall not require the financial institution to determine whether an account exists or, if an account does exist, whether it would be reached by the legal process, rather, the branch or office location shall be determined and reported by the financial institution based solely upon its determination that an account with the identifying number provided by the requester would be maintained at that branch if an account did exist, and the response shall not contain any information about the name in which the account stands or any other information concerning the account, if it exists. If more than one account number

is specified in the request, the financial institution’s responses as to some or all of those account numbers may be combined in a single writing.

(l)A response furnished in good faith by the financial institution pursuant to subdivision (k) shall not be deemed to violate the privacy of any person in whose name the specified deposit account stands nor the privacy of any other person, and shall not require the consent of the person in whose name the account stands nor that of any other person.

(m)A financial institution shall not notify the person in whose name the specified deposit account stands or any other person related to the specified account of the receipt of any request made pursuant to subdivision (i) and affecting that person’s or persons’ accounts at the

financial institution, provided that the financial institution shall have no liability for its failure to comply with the provisions of this subdivision.

(n)For purposes of this section, “third-party agent” means a non-financial institution entity, such as a corporation, that is in the business of accepting service of legal process on behalf of financial institutions and other businesses. Third-party agent does not include a licensed attorney or law firm acting on behalf of a financial institution.

§ 684.120

Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 1364, Sec. 2. Operative July 1, 1983, by Sec. 3 of Ch. 1364.

(a)Except as otherwise provided in this title, if a writ, notice, order, or other paper is to be served by mail under this title, it shall be sent by first-class mail (unless some other type of mail is specifically required) and shall be deposited in a post office, mailbox, sub-post office, substation, mail chute, or other like facility regularly maintained by the United States Postal Service, in a sealed envelope, with postage paid, addressed as follows:

(1)If an attorney is being served in place of the judgment creditor or judgment debtor as provided in

Section 684.010 or 684.020, to the attorney at the last address given by the attorney on any paper filed in the proceeding and served on the party making the service.

(2)If any other person is being served, to such person at the person’s current mailing address if known or, if unknown, at the address last given by the person on any paper filed in the proceeding and served on the party making the service.

(3)If the mailing cannot be made as provided in paragraph (1) or (2), to the person at the person’s last known address.

(b)Service by mail is complete at the time of deposit; but, unless the court prescribes a shorter period of time, any prescribed period of notice and any right or duty to do any act or make any response within any prescribed period or on a date certain after a paper is served by mail is

extended:

(1)Five days if the place of address is within the State of California.

(2)Ten days if the place of address is outside the State of California but within the United States.

(3)Twenty days if the place of address is outside the United States.

(c)The writ, notice, order, or other paper served by mail under this section shall bear a notation of the date and place of mailing or be accompanied by an unsigned copy of the affidavit or certificate of mailing. This subdivision is directory only.

§ 684.130

Amended by Stats. 2025, Ch. 708, Sec. 1. (AB 774) Effective January 1, 2026.

(a)If the levying officer is required by any provision of this title to serve any writ, order, notice, or other paper on any person, the judgment creditor shall include in the instructions to the levying officer the correct name and address of the person. The judgment creditor shall use reasonable diligence to ascertain the correct name and address of the person.

(b)(1) Where the judgment upon which the writ is issued is for personal debt, as defined in subdivision (d) of Section 683.110, this subdivision shall apply.

(2)The judgment creditor shall also provide the levying officer with a declaration stating that the judgment creditor has verified using reasonable diligence

within the past 12 months that the judgment debtor’s address is correct to the best of the declarant’s knowledge, and describing the verification dates and the methods used, which may include, but are not limited to, the following methods:

(A)Receipt of correspondence from the judgment debtor, dated no more than 12 months before the execution of the declaration, that includes a return address or other comparable verification of the judgment debtor’s address.

(B)Transmittal of a letter or legal pleading by certified mail, or other method of transmission through the United States Postal Service providing a return receipt, to the judgment debtor’s address, with a return receipt dated no more than 12 months before the execution of the declaration that is signed by the judgment debtor.

(C)Verification of the judgment

debtor’s current address by a commercial address verification service, including skip-tracing, or, if reasonably available, a public record database, followed by dispatch of a letter or legal pleading, by first-class mail to the verified address, that was not returned to sender.

(3)The levying officer shall not accept or serve any writ, order, notice, or other paper on any person if the judgment creditor fails to provide a declaration as described in paragraph (2).

(4)Upon notice by the judgment debtor that the requirements of this section have not been met, the court shall stay the notice of levy or earnings withholding order until the requirements of this section have been satisfied.

(5)The judgment creditor’s cost of verification of the judgment debtor’s address is not recoverable.

(6)The judgment creditor shall file with the court the signed declaration within 10 business days after delivering the declaration to the levying officer.

(7)The declaration required by this section may be signed by any individual with adequate knowledge of the verification, including, but not limited to, a custodian of records. If the judgment creditor is represented by an attorney, the declaration may be signed by any employee of the attorney or the attorney’s law firm with adequate knowledge of the verification, including, but not limited to, a custodian of records.

(c)Unless the levying officer has actual knowledge that the name or address included in the instructions is incorrect, the levying officer shall rely on the instructions in serving the writ, order, notice, or other paper on the

person.

§ 684.140

Added by Stats. 1982, Ch. 1364, Sec. 2. Operative July 1, 1983, by Sec. 3 of Ch. 1364.

If a provision of this title provides for service by the levying officer of an order, notice, or other paper that runs in favor of a particular person, personal service of the paper may be made by the person or the person’s agent if the levying officer gives permission. The levying officer’s permission may be evidenced by a certificate signed by the levying officer. This section does not authorize the levying officer to give permission to serve a writ or notice of levy. If service is made by a person or the person’s agent pursuant to this section, the cost of the service is not a recoverable cost. Nothing in this section limits the authority of a

registered process server provided in this title.