California Code of Civil Procedure 874.225 is the California partition statute that states that someone who is not a party to the partition action is not affected by the judgment so long as certain conditions are satisfied. The statute provides that:
Except to the extent provided in Section 1908, the judgment does not affect a claim in the property or part thereof of any person who was not a party to the action if any of the following conditions is satisfied:
(a) The claim was of record at the time the lis pendens was filed or, if none was filed, at the time the judgment was recorded.
(b) The claim was actually known to the plaintiff or would have been reasonably apparent from an inspection of the property at the time the lis pendens was filed or, if none was filed, at the time the judgment was entered. For the purpose of this subdivision, a “claim in the property or part thereof” of any person means the interest of the person in the portion of the property or proceeds of sale thereof allocated to the plaintiff. Nothing in this subdivision shall be construed to impair the rights of a bona fide purchaser or encumbrancer for value dealing with the plaintiff or the plaintiff’s successors in interest.
California Code of Civil Procedure 874.225
In other words, a judgment will not affect a claim to the property if the claim, such as a mortgage (deed of trust), was recorded before the lis pendens was filed. In other words, failing to name a mortgage holder means that the court lacks jurisdiction over that lien.
Moreover, a judgment will not affect a claim to the property if the claim was known to the plaintiff or if the plaintiff could have discovered the claim by inspecting the property. For example, perhaps someone lives at the property who claims to be an owner, or perhaps there is a contractor on the property expecting payment for their work. Or, perhaps the property is 100 acres in size, with 20 acres being a farm with some third party farming the land. A prudent purchaser would have knocked on the door and spoken with the farmer to confirm that they are merely an employee of the owner, rather than someone who claims they bought the 20 acres years ago but forgot to record the deed. This appears to be akin to constructive notice.
Law Revision Commission Comments to California Code of Civil Procedure § 874.225
In 1984, the California Law Revision Commission explained California Code of Civil Procedure § 874.225 as follows:
Subdivision (a) of Section 874.225 continues the substance of former Section 874.220.
Subdivision (b) continues the substance of former Section 874.230, with clarifications relating to the time of the plaintiff’s knowledge. Subdivision (b) is intended to implement the requirement of Section 872.510 that the plaintiff join all persons “actually known” to the plaintiff or “reasonably apparent from an inspection of the property,” who have or claim interests in the property or estate as to which partition is sought. Subdivision (b) is an exception to the rule stated in Section 874.210(c) that the judgment binds all persons having unrecorded interests in the property. It should be noted that subdivision (b) makes the judgment not conclusive only with respect to the share of the plaintiff. The portions of the property allocated to other parties in case of a division, or the entire property in case of a sale to a bona fide purchaser, are free of the unrecorded interests.
The introductory portion of Section 874.225 makes clear that notwithstanding the provisions of this section, a claimant may be bound by the proceeding if the claim was acquired from a party after commencement of the proceeding and with actual knowledge of the proceeding. Section 1908 (a)(2). [17 Cal.L.Rev.Comm. Reports 947 (1984)].
Impact of Failure to Name Lienholders and Other Interested Parties in a Partition Action
An unpublished opinion in 2025 found that the failure to name third parties, such as lenders, simply means that the judgment has no impact on those non-parties, but does not impact the ability of the court to decide the partition so long as co-owners have been named. Cliff R. Russell v. Robert J. Russell (Cal. Ct. App., Aug. 29, 2025, No. A167911) 2025 WL 2490516. As the court explained:
Under section 872.510, partition actions require joinder of “all persons having or claiming interests of record or actually known to the plaintiff or reasonably apparent from an inspection of the property, in the estate as to which partition is sought.”
Robert contends that numerous persons and entities had an interest in the property: the mortgage holder; Robert as an individual, as a beneficiary of his revocable trust, as a tenant on the property, and as a coborrower under the mortgage; Cliff’s sister as a tenant; and the “oral partnership” between Robert and Cliff to own and improve the property. Because they were not joined as parties to this case, Robert argues that the default judgment against Robert’s trust, which was named as a defendant, is void and must be reversed. Robert did not raise this argument in his motions to set aside the judgment. In any event, his argument is incorrect. Section 874.225 provides that, subject to exceptions not material here, the judgment in a partition action “does not affect a claim in the property or part thereof” of nonjoined interest holders if “[t]he claim was actually known to the plaintiff or would have been reasonably apparent from an inspection of the property at the time the lis pendens was filed or, if none was filed, at the time the judgment was entered.” (§ 874.225, subd. (b).) Robert does not demonstrate in his opening brief that any of the persons or entities he thinks should have been joined have lost any claim by Cliff’s failure to join them in the litigation. Moreover, nothing in section 874.225 suggests that the failure to join interest holders voids an interlocutory judgment that was properly entered against a named defendant. It is true that co-owners must be joined to obtain a partition of property. (See Solomon v. Redona (1921) 52 Cal.App. 300, 305-306 [decided under § 389].) But as alleged in the amended complaint, the only owners of the Property are Cliff and Robert as trustee (or more accurately, the trust). The first paragraph of the amended complaint alleges: “The Property is held as a tenancy-in-common by CLIFF R. RUSSELL (‘Plaintiff’), the title owner of an undivided one-tenth (1/10) interest in the Property, and defendant ROBERT J. RUSSELL, TRUSTEE, THE ROBERT JOHN RUSSELL TRUST A/u DATED MARCH 16, 2001, (‘Defendant’), the title owner of an undivided nine-tenths (9/10) interest in the fee simple title to the Property.” By defaulting, Robert as trustee is deemed to have admitted those allegations. (Kim v. Westmoore Partners, Inc. (2011) 201 Cal.App.4th 267, 281 (Kim) [defaulting defendant admits the well-pleaded factual allegations of the complaint].) All co-owners — Cliff and Robert as trustee of the trust — have therefore been joined to the litigation.
Robert also contends reversal is required under section 389, which states in part: “A person who is subject to service of process and whose joinder will not deprive the [trial] court of jurisdiction over the subject matter of the action shall be joined as a party in the action if … he claims an interest relating to the subject of the action and is so situated that the disposition of the action in his absence may … as a practical matter impair or impede his ability to protect that interest.” (§ 389, subd. (a).) But Robert does not establish that any of the purported interest holders are covered by section 389. And even if they were, their absence from the case would not compel the reversal of the default judgment as to Robert as trustee. “Failure to join an ‘indispensable’ party is not ‘a jurisdictional defect’ in the fundamental sense; even in the absence of an ‘indispensable’ party, the court still has the power to render a decision as to the parties before it which will stand.” (Sierra Club, Inc. v. California Coastal Com. (1979) 95 Cal.App.3d 495, 500.) Robert therefore fails to establish that the default judgment is void as against Robert as trustee.
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