Current through Register 2024 Notice Reg. No. 38, September 20, 2024
(a) No lien claimant that is required to pay
a lien filing or lien activation fee shall file a Declaration of Readiness to
Proceed or participate in any lien conference, including obtaining an order
allowing its lien in whole or in part, without submitting written proof of
prior timely payment of the fee.
(b) At the lien conference, there shall be a
rebuttable presumption that a lien claimant is required to pay a lien filing
fee or activation fee.
(1) If a lien claimant
asserts it is an entity listed in Labor Code sections 4903.05(c)(7) or
4903.06(b), it shall be prepared to file proof or submit a stipulation to that
effect at the lien conference upon request by the workers' compensation judge.
The workers' compensation judge, however, may formally or informally take
judicial notice that the lien claimant is such an entity. This may include, but
is not necessarily limited to, taking judicial notice of prior decisions of the
Workers' Compensation Appeals Board and taking judicial notice based on the
"common knowledge" or the "not reasonably subject to dispute" provisions of
Evidence Code section
452(g) and
(h).
(2) If a lien claimant asserts under Labor
Code section 4903.06(a) that it already paid a filing fee as required by former
Labor Code section 4903.05 as added by Chapter 639 of the Statutes of 2003, it
shall submit written proof of such payment at the lien
conference.
(c) The
following requirements must be met to satisfy the lien claimant's burden of
demonstrating prior timely payment:
(1) Proof
of prior timely payment shall be in the form provided by the Rules of the
Administrative Director or by a printout from the Public Information Search
Tool of EAMS. An offer of proof or a stipulation that payment was made shall
not be adequate.
(2) Proof of prior
timely payment of a filing fee must establish that the fee was paid
contemporaneously with the filing of the lien.
(3) Proof of prior timely payment of an
activation fee must establish that the fee was paid before the scheduled
starting time of the lien conference set forth in the notice of hearing, except
that, if the lien claimant filed the Declaration of Readiness to Proceed, the
proof shall establish that the activation fee was paid contemporaneously with
the filing of the Declaration of Readiness to Proceed.
(d) If a lien claimant fails to submit proper
written proof of prior timely payment, the Workers' Compensation Appeals Board
may elect to conduct a search within the Electronic Adjudication Management
System to confirm prior timely payment, but is not obligated to do so, and a
failure to conduct such a search shall not be a proper basis for a petition for
reconsideration, removal, or disqualification.
(e) If a lien claimant that is required to
pay a lien filing or activation fee fails to provide proper written proof of
prior timely payment, then:
(1) If the proof
of prior timely payment of the activation fee is not submitted, the lien claim
shall be dismissed with prejudice. This provision shall apply even if, but for
the lien conference, the activation fee would not have been due until December
31, 2013.
(2) If the proof of prior
timely payment of the filing fee is not submitted, the lien claim shall be
deemed dismissed by operation of law as of the time of its filing, except that
if the lien claimant filed a Declaration of Readiness to Proceed its lien shall
be dismissed with prejudice; however, in neither case shall the dismissed lien
toll, preserve, or extend any applicable statute of
limitations.
(f) A lien
claimant shall not avoid dismissal by attempting to pay the fee at or after the
hearing.
1. New
section filed 12-17-2019; operative 1-1-2020. Submitted to OAL for printing
only pursuant to Government Code section 11351 (Register 2019, No.
51).
Note: Authority cited: Sections
133,
5307, 5309 and 5708, Labor Code.
Reference: Sections
4903, 4903.05, 4903.06, 4903.1,
4903.4, 4903.5, 4903.6,
4904,
5502 and 5502.5, Labor Code; and
Sections 351,
352,
451 and
452, Evidence
Code.
