Stovall

Plaintiff, George Stovall, appeals from a judgment denying his petition for writ of mandate. In his petition, plaintiff alleged defendant Chris Andrews, the Shasta County Recorder (Recorder), violated a ministerial duty in accepting for filing notices of federal tax liens that had not been “certified” by the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States. In a proceeding in which defendant Recorder neither appeared nor participated, the trial court ruled there is nothing in California law, including this state’s version of the Uniform Federal Tax Lien Registration Act (Act) (Code Civ. Proc., § 2100 et seq.), which requires certification as a prerequisite to filing of a notice of federal tax lien.

On appeal, plaintiff reiterates his trial court contentions. Plaintiff does not challenge defendant’s filing of any particular federal tax lien. Plaintiff argues that defendant has a ministerial duty to accept for filing only those notices of federal tax liens that have been certified by the United States Secretary of the Treasury (Secretary) or the Secretary’s delegate, or which have some other certification, acknowledgment or attestation.

Defendant does not dispute that he…