9.12.110 Lien assessment procedure.
(1) Pursuant to Government Code Sections 38772, 38773, 38773.2, 38773.6, and/or 38773.7, the city shall be legally entitled to recover and collect abatement and related administrative costs incurred in the summary abatement of graffiti nuisances from the property owner maintaining the nuisance, as determined by the last equalized assessment roll or the supplemental roll, whichever is more current, and/or the minor or other person creating, causing, or committing the nuisance. The parent(s) or guardian(s) having custody and control of a minor shall be jointly and severally liable with the minor. (Hereinafter, the property owner maintaining the nuisance, as determined by the last equalized assessment roll or causing, or committing the nuisance and the parent(s) or guardian(s) having custody and control of a minor shall be referred to as the “nuisance party.”)
(a) Should the city manager or designee abate any graffiti as set forth in this chapter, he or she shall thereafter prepare a statement of all abatement and related administrative costs to determine the actual costs of abatement. The statement of abatement and administrative costs shall be sent to the nuisance party via the United States Postal Service, certified mail, postage thereon fully prepaid. Unless appealed as set forth below, the notified nuisance party shall pay to the city the full costs of abatement within 30 calendar days from the mailing of said notice. If the costs of abatement are paid for by the property owner maintaining the nuisance and also by the minor or other person creating, causing, or committing the nuisance and/or the parent(s) or guardian(s) having custody and control of the minor, amounts paid in excess of the actual costs of abatement shall be reimbursed to the property owner liable for maintaining the nuisance.
(b) If the applicable nuisance party desires to appeal the assessment, the party may do so by requesting an informal hearing before the city manager or designee in writing within 10 calendar days from mailing of the statement of abatement and administrative costs. Following the informal hearing, the city manager or designee shall then render a final decision on the assessment in writing within 10 calendar days and mail the same by first class mail, postage prepaid, to the nuisance party.
(c) The affected nuisance party shall then have 10 calendar days from the date of mailing to appeal this decision to the city council. The appeal shall be in writing.
(d) The proposed assessment, if not paid in full, shall be calendared for approval by the city council, whether or not an appeal has been filed.
(e) Notice of the date and time of the city meeting for which the proposed assessment has been calendared for approval and/or appeal shall be sent to the nuisance party via the United States Postal Service, first class mail, postage thereon fully prepaid.
(f) The failure of the city to transmit to any nuisance party or of any nuisance party to receive any notice provided pursuant to this section shall not affect the validity of any proceeding in this section, including the liability of any other notified nuisance party to pay the costs of abatement and related administrative costs.
(2) The city council shall have the authority to adopt a resolution confirming the lien assessment, which, following adoption, shall be recorded by the city clerk in the county recorder’s office in which the parcel of land is located, pursuant to Government Code Sections 38773.1(c), 38773.2(c), and/or 38773.6 after the notice of lien has been served on the nuisance party. From the date of recording, the lien shall have the force, effect, and priority of a judgment lien.
(3) Pursuant to Government Code Sections 38773.1(c)(1) and/or 38773.2(d), the resolution confirming the abatement lien shall specify the amount of the lien; the name of the agency on whose behalf the lien is imposed, the date of the abatement order; the street address, legal description, and assessor’s parcel number; and the name and address of the record owner of the parcel.
(4)
(a) Following the adoption of a resolution by the city council confirming the imposition of a lien upon the nuisance party’s property, and prior to the recordation of the lien, the city manager or designee shall cause to be served a notice of lien upon the nuisance party. The notice of lien for purposes of this section shall be in substantially the following form:
NOTICE OF LIEN
(Claim of the City of Cudahy)
Pursuant to Government Code sections 38772, 38773, 38773.1, 38773.2, 38773.5, 38773.6, and/or 38773.7, and the authority of Chapter 9.12 of the Cudahy Municipal Code, the City Manager of Cudahy did on or about the day of (date), (year), cause the abatement of graffiti at the premises hereinafter described in the (date), (year), order to abate a public nuisance on said real property; and the City Council of the City of Cudahy did on the (day) of (month), (year), assess the cost of such abatement upon the real property hereinafter described; and the same has not been paid nor any part thereof; and the City of Cudahy does hereby claim a lien for such costs of abatement in the amount of the assessment, to wit: the sum of _____ Dollars (amount); and the same shall be a lien upon said real property until the same has been paid in full and discharged of record.
The real property hereinbefore mentioned, and upon which a lien is claimed, is that certain parcel of land laying and being in the City of Cudahy, County of Los Angeles, State of California, and particular as follows:
(street address, legal description, and assessors parcel number)
The record owner of the real property hereinbefore mentioned is (name), (address of the record owner).
DATED this (day) day of (month), (year)
City of Cudahy, California
(b) The notice of lien shall be served on the nuisance party in the same manner as a summons in a civil action in accordance with Article 3 (commencing with Section 415.10) of Chapter 4 of Title 5 of Part 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure. If the person to be served, after diligent search, cannot be found, the notice of lien may be served by posting a copy of the notice upon the property owned by the nuisance party, in a conspicuous place, for a period of 10 calendar days. The notice shall also be published pursuant to Government Code Section 6062 in a newspaper of general circulation that is published in the jurisdiction. The period of notice commences upon the first day of publication and terminates at the end of the tenth day, including therein the first day. Publication shall be made on each day on which the newspaper is published during that period. (Ord. 632 § 2, 2013).