Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

There is a legal procedure for recovery of personal property that's fallen into someone else's possession. In California, it's called "Claim and Delivery," although elsewhere usually known as "Replevin." The procedure involves filing a complaint in court, usually accompanied or closely followed by a writ of possession for the judge to review and perhaps sign, ordering the delivery of the property to the owner-plaintiff. The process is described in the Code of Civil Procedure in sections 511.010 through 516.050. This is several pages of fine print. You can probably also get some basic information via a search engine such as Google by entering search terms "claim and delivery" and "replevin." Be careful that any advice you get on line is specific to California. Most "claim and delivery" plaintiffs are going to need the assistance of a lawyer to prepare, file, serve and prosecute the suit, and unless you are lucky enough to find one with recent experience in the area and the basic paperwork already in his or her word processor, you're probably looking at an initial fee request upwards of a thousand bucks.