Code Civ. Proc., § 415.21 · Article 3. Manner of Service of Summons
Code Civ. Proc., § 415.21
Text — As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
(a) Notwithstanding any other law, any person shall be granted access to a gated community or a covered multifamily dwelling for a reasonable period of time for the sole purpose of performing lawful service of process or service of a subpoena upon displaying a current driver’s license or other identification, and one of the following:
(1) A badge or other confirmation that the individual is acting in the individual’s capacity as a representative of a county sheriff or marshal, or as an investigator employed by an office of the Attorney General, a county counsel, a city attorney, a district attorney, or a public defender.
(2) Evidence of current registration as a process server pursuant to Chapter 16 (commencing with Section 22350) of Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code or of licensure as a private investigator pursuant to Chapter 11.3 (commencing with Section 7512) of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code.
(b) This section shall only apply to a gated community or a covered multifamily dwelling that is staffed at the time service of process is attempted by a guard or other security personnel assigned to control access to the community or dwelling.
(c) For purposes of this section, “covered multifamily dwelling” means either of the following:
(1) An apartment building, including a timeshare apartment building not considered a place of public accommodation or transient lodging, with three or more dwelling units.
(2) A condominium, including a timeshare condominium not considered a place of public accommodation or transient lodging, with four or more dwelling units.
Notes and commentary — not statutory text
History
Amended by Stats. 2019, Ch. 12, Sec. 1. (AB 622) Effective January 1, 2020.
Source of truth
- Edition
- As published in the Legislative Counsel's database, tables dated October 18, 2026 (pubinfo_2025.zip)
- Official file
- https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CCP§ionNum=415.21.
- Text hash
- sha256 e00d68a774919129aa75ddc38fec688ae9d98c0977e3e8e8037954833807e069
- Composed by
- compose_ca.py 2026-10-22: the Legislative Counsel's CAML content files read by a tokenizer (caml_readers.reader_a); an independent xml.etree reading (caml_readers.reader_b) agrees on every section
This section cites
Provisions in this library that the text above cites, as it prints each citation. A range cited as “ss. 61.13-61.16” links its first and last provisions.
Business and Professions Code
- Bus. & Prof. Code, div. 3, ch. 11.3Private InvestigatorsPrinted as Chapter 11.3 (commencing with Section 7512) of Division 3 of the Business and Professions Code
- Bus. & Prof. Code, div. 8, ch. 16Process ServersPrinted as Chapter 16 (commencing with Section 22350) of Division 8 of the Business and Professions Code
Procedural information only. Not legal advice and not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. Confirm the current text with the official publisher before relying on it.