Real Estate Liens & Removal Request

If you own property in Oakland and you don't pay a City bill, you might have a lien placed on your property tax bill. There are many kinds of liens that can be placed against your property. If a lien is placed against your property, you can't sell it or refinance it without removing the lien.

Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese versions available in Documents section on this page.

Types of Liens

There are many kinds of liens and assessments. These are the type of liens you may have put on your property if you had a delinquency with the City of Oakland.

Garbage Liens (refuse liens)
Business Tax Liens
Real Estate Transfer Tax Liens
Sidewalk Liens
Sewer Lateral Liens
Vegetation Management Liens (rubbish or fire inspection)

Garbage (refuse liens), Business Tax, Real Estate Transfer Tax, Sidewalks, Sewer Laterals, or Vegetation Management (rubbish or fire inspection) Liens

If you need to request a payoff demand for a lien or assessment you must:

Complete the Citywide Liens Demand Request Form(PDF, 438KB)
Submit $175 Upfront Processing Fee
Copy of the Lien (for business tax and RETT liens, only submit the first page with the recordation number and property reference page)

To obtain a copy of the lien, please contact the Alameda County Recorder's Office at 1106 Madison St., Oakland, CA 94607, or visit their online portal: Alameda County Property Search or type https://www.acgov.org/auditor/clerk/propertysearch.htm

For questions, call the Alameda County Recorder's Office toll-free at 1-888-280-7708

Payment Submission Methods:

Mail in check/money order payable to "City of Oakland" with full demand request
In Person at 150 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza #5342 Oakland, CA 94612.
Email the full demand request with a credit card authorization form to citywideliens@oaklandca.gov

It can take up to five business days to process the demand request. Incomplete submissions (missing payment, copy of the liens, or request form) will be rejected.

Important Notes:

Each Demand request qualifies for only one property address (APN) and one type of lien. Separate requests are required for each property and each lien type.
We do not expedite requests. Demand requests are processed in the order received.
Demands are valid for 30 days. After expiration, a new demand request must be submitted with an additional $175 upfront processing fee, demand letter request form, and copy of the liens.
Once the demand payoff has been paid, we will mail the notarized Release of Liens to the address provided on the demand letter request form. You must record the Release of Liens with the County of Alameda Recorder's Office at 1106 Madison St., Oakland, CA 94607, to remove them from the property.

Request form for Garbage (refuse liens), Business Tax, Real Estate Transfer Tax, Sidewalks, Sewer Laterals, or Vegetation Management (rubbish or fire inspection) Lien Removal

Request Lien Removal(PDF, 248KB)

Forms in Spanish, Chinese, and Vietnamese for Garbage (refuse liens), Business Tax, Real Estate Transfer Tax, Sidewalks, Sewer Laterals, or Vegetation Management (rubbish or fire inspection)

Code Enforcement Liens

If you need to request a payoff demand for a lien related to Code Enforcement you must:

Complete the Demand Request Form for Code Enforcement Violation Lien(PDF, 167KB)
Submit $537.29 per parcel processing fee
Submit copy of the Lien(s)

To obtain a copy of the lien, please contact the Alameda County Recorder's Office at 1106 Madison St., Oakland, CA 94607, or visit their online portal: Alameda County Property Search

or type https://www.acgov.org/auditor/clerk/propertysearch.htm

For questions, call the Alameda County Recorder's Office toll-free at 1-888-280-7708

Payment Submission Methods for a lien related to Code Enforcement:

Mail in check/money order payable to "City of Oakland" with full demand request
In Person at 250 Frank H. Ogawa Plaza, 2nd Floor, Oakland, CA 94612 Monday & Wednesday 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Email the full demand request with a credit card authorization to pbdcashier@oaklandca.gov

It can take up to five business days to process the demand request. Incomplete submissions (missing payment, copy of the liens, or request form) will be rejected.