Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Hello,

I own a small property in which the tenant did some improvements for his business but failed to pay the construction company. The construction company has filed a mechanics lien against the property and a law suit.

The Construction company has brought myself and the tenant in the law suit.

I responded to the summon and complaint but the tenant has not, the tenant has been evicted.

I received from the plaintiff a judgement for the the tenant that has not responded. "Notice of Entry of Order on Stipulation and order for entry of judgement against Defendant"

I would imagine the tenant has agreed to stipulation of judgment, and will probably file for bankruptcy leaving me stuck with the bill.

+++Question i had is since the other defendant has taken the judgment will this case go on against me? or Since the judgement is against the tenant that the charges against me are dropped?

Also it indicates in their " This judgement shall be adjudged and decreed to be a lien against any interest that defendant has in real property"

Furthermore, "any interest of Defendant in said property may be adjudged and decreed to be sold by the Sheriff"

+++Since the the tenant does not own the property can they still sell the property without a judgement against me the landlord?


Asked on 9/16/09, 1:53 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

Yes, the case will go on against you.

No, they cannot sell the property until they have a judgment against you.

Additional info: If you haven't already, you should file a cross-complaint against the former tenant. If you have already answered the plaintiff's complaint, you may have to get leave of court to file it, but plaintiffs' counsel should stipulate to it, unless the case has been going on a long time. Otherwise leave is so routinely granted that a stipulation is almost automatic.

The reason you need to do this is unless you complied with all the requirements of a Notice of Non-responsiblity, or there is some fatal defect in the plaintiff's perfection of the lien, they will eventually be able to get a judgment for a lien against the property, and sell it if you don't pay it off. A cross-complaint against the tenant will either force them to pay the judgment if they aren't bankrupt, OR if they are you may be able to use the bankruptcy process to stay the state court case and buy time to explore other options.

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Answered on 9/16/09, 2:17 pm


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