Blog

Hooray a judgment as been entered! However, just because a decision has been made, the battle is not over yet. Now the phase of enforcing and collecting on that judgment begins. In many cases, a judgment debtor will never willingly satisfy a judgment. For this reason, a post-judgment Receivership is a great judgment enforcement remedy that can help recover money to pay the judgment. A post-judgment Receiver is appointed by the court and, for example, may be granted the authority to manage and take possession of the judgment debtor’s real and personal property to collect, lease, repair, or sell as the court directs. Courts have interpreted that a post-judgment Receiver is in fact working for the benefit of the judgment creditor that sought the appointment of the Receiver.

A Health and Safety Receivership can successfully rehabilitate distressed properties within a community. A receiver can be appointed by the court to manage the renovation of properties that have been seriously neglected by property owners. A receivership is very effective to bring a property into compliance with code enforcement and the city while also providing residents and neighborhoods safety and security. Receivership actions oftentimes deal with extreme hoarding and/or contaminated living conditions unsafe to the community. Receivers may face challenges specifically when dealing with animal hoarding property owners. In these cases, teamwork is key to bring the property into compliance and guide the property owner to the services they may need.

In California, a Health and Safety Receivership is an effective option to resolve code enforcement issues with residential and commercial properties. Health and Safety Receiverships commonly deal with substandard or abandoned properties when property owners fail to comply with code enforcement or when there is a threat to the health and safety of residents or the surrounding community. While receivership may not initially sound like a resource for illegally-operating marijuana facilities, the illegal sale of marijuana likely constitutes a nuisance pursuant to the California health and safety code and can be a threat to the health and safety of the surrounding community and/or businesses. The Receivership Remedy can resolve complex issues that arise with rogue marijuana dispensaries as dispensaries become more and more common and the industry continues to inflate.

The partition remedy in California addresses disputes between co-owners of property. Any person with an interest in real property in California may bring a partition action against a co-owner. The partition remedy is necessary when co-owners cannot decide how to handle jointly-owned property. Properties subject to partition include, but are not limited to, single-family residences, vacation homes, investment properties, commercial buildings, apartment buildings, and parcels of land.

The appointment of a receiver can eradicate health and safety threats in your community and is an available and valuable remedy under California law. A receiver is a neutral third-party appointed by the Court to take temporary control over substandard properties that are subject to a lawsuit. By appointing a receiver, the Court can eliminate illegal or unsafe activity occurring at a property. Health and Safety Receiverships are used primarily for substandard properties which include but are not limited to hoarding properties, illegal construction or habitation, fire damaged properties, nuisance properties, deceased owner or abandoned properties, and slum apartments/motels. Once the court appoints a receiver, the property is under the direct control of the court via the court-appointed receiver. The health and safety receiver is then responsible for the general repairs and maintenance for the property and for ensuring that the property is brought into compliance with State and local codes at the property owner’s expense. Utilizing the receivership remedy saves a city, or other municipality, time and resources, and demonstrates to the surrounding community that the city is taking effective steps to remedy the dangerous conditions created by the problem property.

Richardson “Red” Griswold was appointed by the Del Norte County Superior Court as the health and safety code receiver over the Town House Motel in Crescent City, California in the matter of City of Crescent City v. Sarvada Nand Hanumanthu Reddy. While he was initially appointed in November 2014, the matter has been stayed since that time because the property owner filed an appeal, challenging the legal sufficiency of the Court’s order appointing Mr. Griswold. In February 2017, the Court of Appeal (First Appellate District, Division Four) issued its written opinion, which affirmed the trial court’s order appointing Mr. Griswold as receiver. PDF of Court of Appeal's Opinion. Following the issuance of the opinion, Mr. Griswold began carrying out his court-ordered duties as the health and safety receiver over the 23-unit motel in Crescent City.