Koninklijke Philips Electronics, N v. v. KXD Technology, Inc.

MEMORANDUM

Appellants, Jingyi Luo and Willa Liu, appeal the denial of a $75,000 homestead exemption on their house, which Magistrate Judge Patrick J. Walsh ordered to be sold for the purpose of satisfying a civil contempt judgment against Luo from the District of Nevada.

Magistrate Judge Walsh’s order stated that a homestead exemption was not recorded before the judgment lien attached and, therefore, the homestead exemption was invalid. The order states that the judgment lien attached when Luo was served with notice of a debtor’s examination.

On the basis of the current record, we find that the judgment lien was not superi- or to the homestead exemption. Willa Liu, Luo’s wife at the time of the order, recorded a homestead declaration on October 9, 2007. Recording a homestead declaration protects a specified amount in the event of a voluntary or forced sale of a home. See Cal.Civ.Proc.Code § 704.910 et seq. (West 2009). Under California law, a judgment lien does not attach to real property until an abstract of the judgment has been recorded. Cal.Civ.PROC.Code § 697.310(a) (West 2009); Tassone v. Tovar, 28 Cal. App.4th 765, 769 , 33 Cal.Rptr.2d 786 (Cal. Ct.App.1994) (stating…