Griswold Receivers

06/18/2026

You won the case and the judgment was entered. But, the defendant won't pay, won't respond, and won't disclose where the assets are.

A post-judgment receivership shifts the dynamic. The court appoints a receiver with authority to take control of the judgment debtor's assets, business operations, or rents and profits to satisfy the judgment. The receiver has subpoena power, can compel disclosure of financial records, and reports findings to the court.

For attorneys with collectible judgments and uncooperative debtors, a post-judgment receivership is one of the more useful enforcement tools in California's Code of Civil Procedure.

Read more: https://na2.hubs.ly/H065SvM0

Post-Judgment receivers are essential in getting judgment debtors to follow the court's instructions.

06/17/2026

Neil Sheaffer, Managing Attorney at Griswold Receivers, will be presenting at the CACEO Roundtable Session on receiverships in Hollister, California on June 25.

The receivership remedy can be one of the more useful tools in a code enforcement officer's toolkit, and it's one of the least understood.

Neil will walk through the conditions that make a property a candidate, the evidentiary record that supports an appointment, and the pre-petition steps that strengthen the case.

For code enforcement officers working chronic nuisance properties, the session is worth blocking the date for.

Details and registration through CACEO: https://na2.hubs.ly/H069ZNC0

06/15/2026

Two partners own a business together, but the relationship has broken down. One partner has cut the other out of the books, locked them out of the bank account, or pulled funds the other can't account for. Litigation has been filed, the injunction motion is pending, and the business itself keeps running. Every day of delay puts the disputed assets at greater risk.

This is the situation a business dispute receivership was built for.

A court-appointed receiver takes neutral control of the business while the underlying litigation proceeds. The receiver preserves the assets, maintains operations where appropriate, accounts for the cash flow, and reports back to the court. Neither partner controls the business during the dispute. The receiver does, under court supervision.

For litigators handling partner deadlocks, fraud claims, or corporate dissolution matters, the receivership remedy can be the difference between recovering an intact business and recovering the remains of one.

If you have a matter heading toward that point, the conversation about receivership is worth having before the assets are gone.

Read more: https://na2.hubs.ly/H065Q_b0

06/11/2026

A chronic nuisance property costs a city money in ways that don't show up on any one budget line.

-> Fire department response to a structure fire in a vacant building: $5,000 to $250,000 per incident, depending on severity.
-> Code enforcement inspections: $300 to $600 per visit, with repeat-offender properties consuming $1,000 to $5,000 per year in staff time, citations, and follow-up.
-> Legal and administrative costs to pursue civil remedies through hearings and court: tens of thousands of dollars per property.
-> Police and EMS calls to nuisance properties: thousands per month in unreimbursed services for properties with chronic activity.

Over a few years at a single property, the costs run into the 6 figures. Across a city's full inventory of chronic nuisance properties, the costs run into the millions.

A Health and Safety Receivership shifts the cost structure. The rehabilitation work funds itself through the receiver's certificate against the property. The emergency calls drop once the property is secured. The legal process moves on a court-supervised timeline rather than an open-ended enforcement cycle.

For cities closing FY26 and planning FY27, the math on blight is worth running before the next round of budget hearings.

Read more: https://na2.hubs.ly/H064XLK0

Court receivers help cities reduce costs from blighted properties by reducing emergency calls, streamlining enforcement, and securing unsafe buildings.

06/09/2026

One question comes up in nearly every first conversation with city attorneys and code enforcement teams: does the city pay for the receivership?

It doesn't. This is the part of the receivership remedy that gets missed.

When a court appoints a Health & Safety receiver, the receiver gets authority to fund the rehabilitation through a receiver's certificate. The certificate is a debt instrument that takes super-priority status against the property. The project funding flows from the property. The city's general fund stays out of it.

The California Court of Appeal affirmed this priority structure in City of Sierra Madre v. Suntrust Mortgage, holding that the receiver's certificate sits ahead of existing mortgages and private liens.

For cities planning next year's code enforcement tools, the receivership remedy isn't a budget line. It's a financing mechanism that funds itself.

Read more: https://na2.hubs.ly/H062p060

Health & Safety Receiverships: Super-Priority Funding - City of Sierra Madre v. Suntrust Mortgage, Inc.

06/04/2026

Health & Safety receiverships fail at the appointment hearing more than they should. The reason tends to be the same: a thin evidentiary record.

Courts don't appoint receivers because a property looks bad. They appoint receivers when the moving party demonstrates:

→ Serious, documented code violations
→ A history of unsuccessful enforcement attempts
→ Notice given to the property owner and lienholders
→ No reasonable path forward through traditional means

The months before the petition is when the work happens: gathering inspection reports with dates, photographs with metadata, notices of violation, certified mail receipts, and owner correspondence. Each piece of documentation adds weight to the appointment.

For city attorneys preparing a receivership petition, the case gets built long before it gets filed.

Read more: https://na2.hubs.ly/H05YHYq0

Receivership petitions succeed when cities present photos, timelines, and official records showing properties pose real public health and safety risks.

06/03/2026

Every June, fire chiefs across California start watching the same properties.

The properties that are abandoned, or that boarded-up motel on the corner. The hillside parcel where the brush hasn't been cleared in 3 years, or the vacant duplex where transients have started lighting fires for warmth.

Vacant and abandoned properties draw fire, accidental and intentional. When they ignite, the city pays for emergency response, mutual aid, evacuation, and sometimes the property next door.

The receivership remedy gives cities a way to take control of these properties before fire season turns them into a line item. A court-appointed receiver can secure, board, abate, and rehabilitate the property, with funding from a super-priority lien against the property itself. The city's general fund stays out of it.

If your code enforcement team has a fire-risk property they've been watching, summer is the wrong time to wait.

Read more: https://na2.hubs.ly/H05WS8T0

Learn how high-risk properties fuel fire risk during wildfire season in CA, AZ, and NV—and discover proven, code-backed strategies to protect communities.

05/29/2026

From the outside, just another quiet Monterey home.

Inside? The home was "red-tagged" by the City, declared unsafe, and the elderly homeowner had nowhere to go.

When the Superior Court appointed Griswold as Health & Safety Code receiver, the mission was clear: rehabilitate the home and protect the homeowner.

Watch the full transformation 👇
https://na2.hubs.ly/H05QCZV0

Restoring homes. Protecting homeowners.

Learn more about Health & Safety Receivership services: https://www...

05/28/2026

When should a city consider Health & Safety receivership?

Most code enforcement cases never need it. Administrative citations, abatement orders, and standard enforcement tools resolve the majority of property violations. The receivership remedy is rarely used, but for the right cases, it's the only one that actually works.

Four signals that a property may be a receivership candidate:

1. The owner can't or won't bring the property into compliance, and administrative remedies have been exhausted.

2. The conditions pose an ongoing risk to occupants, neighbors, or the public through hoarding, structural failure, illegal conversions, or chronic nuisance activity.

3. There are vulnerable occupants involved, such as elderly homeowners, tenants in substandard housing, or families with no safe alternative.

4. The City has the legal grounds but lacks the bandwidth, capital, or authority to rehabilitate the property itself.

When those conditions line up, California Health & Safety Code § 17980.7 gives the Superior Court authority to appoint a neutral receiver to take control of the property, fund the rehabilitation through a receiver's certificate, and complete the work to code.

If you're a code enforcement officer or city attorney weighing whether receivership fits a particular property, we're always happy to talk it through.

https://na2.hubs.ly/H05MTM10

A court-appointed health and safety receiver can make your community safer.

05/21/2026

Mold. Vermin. Exposed wiring. Health and safety violations in multifamily housing fall hardest on children, seniors, and vulnerable residents who often have nowhere else to go.

When owners won't act, California's §17980.7 gives cities a path to court-appointed receivership, a remedy that stabilizes the property.

Nevada's AB211 and Colorado's SB25-020 are expanding the same framework. Receivership is becoming the consensus tool for protecting housing stability when everything else has failed.

https://na2.hubs.ly/H05k5fJ0

Discover how health & safety receivership for multifamily properties helps cities restore safety, protect tenants and rehabilitate substandard housing at scale.