Section 3720 Of Article 2. Uninsured Employers Fund From California Labor Code >> Division 4. >> Part 1. >> Chapter 4. >> Article 2.
3720
. (a) When the appeals board or the director determines under
Section 3715 or 3716 that an employer has not secured the payment of
compensation as required by this division or when the director has
determined that the employer is prima facie illegally uninsured, the
director may file for record in the office of the county recorder in
the counties where the employer's property is possibly located, a
certificate of lien showing the date that the employer was determined
to be illegally uninsured or the date that the director has
determined that the employer was prima facie illegally uninsured. The
certificate shall show the name and address of the employer against
whom it was filed, and the fact that the employer has not secured the
payment of compensation as required by this division. Upon the
recordation, the certificate shall constitute a valid lien in favor
of the director, and shall have the same force, effect and priority
as a judgment lien and shall continue for 10 years from the time of
the recording of the certificate unless sooner released or otherwise
discharged. A copy of the certificate shall be served upon the
employer by mail, by the director. A facsimile signature of the
director accompanied by the seal imprint of the department shall be
sufficient for recording purposes of liens and releases or
cancellations thereof considered herein. Certificates of liens may be
filed in any or all counties of the state, depending upon the
information the director obtains concerning the employer's assets.
(b) For purposes of this section, in the event the employer is a
corporation, those persons whom either the appeals board finds are
the parent or the substantial shareholders of the corporation or its
parent, or whom the director finds pursuant to Section 3720.1 to be
prima facie the parent or the substantial shareholders of the
corporation or its parent, as defined in Section 3717, shall be
deemed to be the employer, and the director may file the certificates
against those persons.
(c) A person who claims to be aggrieved by the filing of a lien
against the property of an uninsured employer because he or she has
the same or a similar name, may apply to the director to have filed
an amended certificate of lien which shows that the aggrieved
applicant is not the uninsured employer which is the subject of the
lien. If the director finds that the aggrieved applicant is not the
same as the uninsured employer, the director shall file an amended
certificate of lien with the county recorder of the county in which
the aggrieved applicant has property, which shall show, by reasonably
identifying information furnished by the aggrieved applicant, that
the uninsured employer and the aggrieved applicant are not the same.
If the director does not file the amended certificate of lien within
60 days of application therefor, the applicant may appeal the
director's failure to so find by filing a petition with the appeals
board, which shall make a finding as to whether the applicant and the
uninsured employer are the same.
(d) Liens filed under this section have continued existence
independent of, and may be foreclosed upon independently of, any
right of action arising out of Section 3717 or 5806.