as used in this chapter, “good faith improver” means:

(a) A person who makes an improvement to land in good faith and under the erroneous belief, because of a mistake of law or fact, that he is the owner of the land.

Terms Used In California Code of Civil Procedure 871.1

(b) A successor in interest of a person described in subdivision (a).

(Added by Stats. 1968, Ch. 150.)