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2340-2342 Delinquent Payment Enforcement: Certificate of Lien

2340. GENERAL APPLICATION
From the time of filing, the lien has the force, effect, and priority of a judgment lien and continues for ten years from the time the certificate is recorded, unless it is released or otherwise discharged before then. The lien is upon all personal and real property in the county owned by and then assessed to the assessee named in the certificate or acquired by him/her before the lien expires (Rev. & Tax. Code §2191.4) (form SCO 2-02).

The courts have held that a certificate of lien does not give preference over other liens that attached before the certificate was recorded and is not effective against an innocent or bona fide purchaser for value or an encumbrancer for value who acquires interest in the property without actual knowledge of the certificate of lien (Rev. & Tax. Code §2191.4).

The lien is also subordinate to preferences given to claims for personal services by Code of Civil Procedure sections 1204 and 1206 (Rev. & Tax. Code §2191.5).

2341. FILING A CERTIFICATE OF LIEN
When a delinquent tax becomes subject to unsecured collection procedures, or when an unsecured tax becomes delinquent, a certificate specifying the amount of tax due (including interest, costs and penalties) may be recorded in any county, without a fee being charged. This procedure extends to:

1) A possessory interest secured only by a lien on the interest itself;

2) Goods in transit, not secured by any lien on real property;

3) Improvements that have been assessed pursuant to Revenue and Taxation Code section 2188.2;

4) Off-roll taxes on escape assessments where the error was not the fault of the assessee and the escape taxes are being paid pursuant to Revenue and Taxation Code section 4837.5;

5) Unsecured property not secured by a lien on real property, where the tax has become delinquent or where there are prior unpaid and delinquent taxes on the property;

6) A tax entered on the unsecured roll pursuant to Revenue and Taxation Code sections 482, 531.2 or 4836.5; or

7) A tax transferred to the unsecured roll under any provision of law (Rev. & Tax. Code §2191.3) and (M-1720).

The filing of this certificate establishes priority of the county's lien over any subsequently recorded lien; therefore, the certificate should be recorded as soon as possible after delinquency.

NOTE: A certificate of lien must be recorded for each year of delinquency. The certificate of lien is NOT an "add-on" lien, i.e., taxes from a subsequent year cannot be added to an existing certificate of lien.

Filing the certificate does not prevent the tax collector from seeking to enforce the collection of unsecured delinquent taxes through the use of unsecured roll summary judgment (Rev. & Tax. Code §3101 et seq.), suit for taxes (Rev. & Tax. Code §3002 et seq.), or seizure and sale procedures (Rev. & Tax. Code §2951 et seq.; Attorney General Letter 12-11-62).

A certificate of lien is accepted for recording in the office of the county recorder in any county without fee. The certificate should specify the amount due, the name of the assessee, the Social Security number, if known, and the last known address of the assessee, and it should include a statement that the county is in compliance with all provisions of the Revenue and Taxation Code with respect to the computation and levy of the tax.

The procedure authorized is cumulative to the procedure provided by Revenue and Taxation Code sections 2951 and 3003. The county recorder shall, within 30 days after a filing, as described in this subdivision with respect to delinquent taxes on unsecured property, send a notice of the filing to the assessee at the assessee's last known address. The notice shall contain the information contained in the filing and shall prominently display on its face the following heading (Rev. & Tax. Code §2191.3):

THIS IS TO NOTIFY YOU THAT A TAX LIEN HAS BEEN FILED WITH RESPECT TO UNSECURED PROPERTY

2342. EXTENSION OF A CERTIFICATE OF LIEN
Within ten years from the date of certificate recording or within ten years from the date of the first lien extension, the lien may be extended for another ten-year period by re-filing (Rev. & Tax. Code §2191.4).

NOTE: Notwithstanding any number of extensions caused by filing a new certificate, the lien is conclusively presumed paid 30 years after the time when the tax became a lien (Rev. & Tax. Code §2195).