(a) A judgment creditor of a member, director, officer, or agent of an unincorporated association may not levy execution against the assets of the member, director, officer, or agent to satisfy a judgment based on a claim against the unincorporated association unless a judgment based on the same claim has been obtained against the unincorporated association and any of the following conditions is satisfied:

(1) A writ of execution on the judgment against the unincorporated association has been returned unsatisfied in whole or in part.

Terms Used In California Corporations Code 18270

  • Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
  • Bankruptcy: Refers to statutes and judicial proceedings involving persons or businesses that cannot pay their debts and seek the assistance of the court in getting a fresh start. Under the protection of the bankruptcy court, debtors may discharge their debts, perhaps by paying a portion of each debt. Bankruptcy judges preside over these proceedings.
  • Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
  • Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.

(2) The unincorporated association is a debtor in bankruptcy.

(3) The member, director, officer, or agent has agreed that the creditor need not exhaust the assets of the unincorporated association.

(4) A court grants permission to the judgment creditor to levy execution against the assets of a member, director, officer, or agent based on a finding that the assets of the unincorporated association subject to execution are clearly insufficient to satisfy the judgment, that exhaustion of the assets of the unincorporated association is excessively burdensome, or that the grant of permission is an appropriate exercise of the court’s equitable powers.

(b) Nothing in this section affects the right of a judgment creditor to levy execution against the assets of a member, director, officer, or agent of an unincorporated association if the claim against the member, director, officer, or agent is not based on a claim against the unincorporated association.

(Added by Stats. 2004, Ch. 178, Sec. 10. Effective January 1, 2005.)

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