§ 1483.Appraisement Or Trial - New Trial

Once a court rules against an occupying claimant in the underlying action, this section lays out how the claimant's separate right to compensation gets decided. At the claimant's request, the court enters that request on the journal and sets a day for trial of the claimant's right to compensation for lasting, valuable, and permanent improvements made before the summons issued -- whether made by the claimant or by someone the claimant holds under. Each side presents evidence, and the court must make specific findings on all matters bearing on that right, including whether the improvements were made in good faith and under color of title, and whether the claimant qualifies for the chapter's benefit.

If the court finds the claimant entitled to compensation, it appoints three disinterested freeholders, qualified to serve as jurors, to assess the actual value of the improvements as of the assessment date, after giving all parties five days' notice. Those appraisers also assess the rental value of the premises from the date of the summons to the date of appraisement, and the value of the land without the improvements -- all based on an actual view of the property -- then reduce their findings to writing and return them to the court.

Either party can head off the appraisal process by demanding a jury trial before the appraisers' report is filed. That demand discharges the appraisers and puts a jury in their place, trying the same questions of value in open court like any other jury trial, with the court free to send the jury to view the premises. And if either side ends up unhappy with the resulting assessment or findings, this section allows a new trial on the same terms available in any other case under the Code of Civil Procedure.