Government Code section 43008
(a)
A lien on real property that results from the delinquency in payment of rates or charges, or the collection of future rates or charges, whether or not added to the tax assessment rolls, for water or other utility services supplied to the owners or occupants of real property by a utility owned or operated by a city, as defined in Section 53368, or a city and county, except a lien to discharge bonded indebtedness, shall be subordinate to any prior recorded lien on the property.(b)
A city or city and county may provide that upon the transfer of fee title as evidenced by recordation of a grant deed, trustee’s deed of sale, or other similar instrument, or upon transfer of the utility service of a property containing a master-metered, multifamily residential building of over four units, which building is provided water or power, or both, by a municipal utility owned or operated by a city or city and county, the transferee shall be required to notify the municipal utility of the change in title or service within 30 days of the transfer.(c)
This section shall not be construed as evidence that an ordinance providing for priority liens which was enacted prior to January 1, 1996, was invalid or valid from the time of its enactment until January 1, 1996, and nothing in this section shall require a refund of any moneys collected pursuant to such an ordinance.
Source:
Section 43008, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=GOV§ionNum=43008.
(accessed Apr. 24, 2025).