Under CCP 708.120, a judgment creditor may obtain a court order requiring a third party to testify or produce documents relating to whether the third party holds any property of the judgment debtor or owes the judgment debtor a monetary obligation. Following Fox Johns Lazar Pekin & Wexler, PC v. Superior Court (2013) 219 Cal.App.4th 1210, this decision holds that a third party discovery order under section 708.120 must be limited to documents or testimony relevant to the third party’s holding the debtor’s property or being indebted to the judgment debtor. A discovery order, in this case, was fatally overbroad in compelling production of all the third party’s business records over the previous five years and in no way limited to the third party’s dealings with the judgment debtor. Agreeing with Macaluso v. Superior Court (2013) 219 Cal.App.4th 1042, this decision holds that a post-judgment order under CCP 708.120 directing a third party to give testimony and produce documents in aid of enforcement of a judgment is an appealable post-judgment order.
California Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division 1 (Haller, Acting P.J.); November 28, 2018; 29 Cal. App. 5th 663