About two years ago, my son was involved with a group of young people who spray painted homeowners' fences within our neighborhood. Since he had never been in this kind of trouble before and was wiling to right his wrongs, the city police let him and the others work to clean off the fences and did not file criminal charges. My son and the other young people cleaned up the messes. Our son paid us back the money we had to advance to buy the clean-up materials. Everything is fine and our son is graduating high school this year. We have a nephew who recently made remarks leading us to believe he may be doing the graffiti thing with a group of kids. I heard there is a new law about graffiti and that the homes of parents or grandparents can be foreclosed for the graffiti clean-up costs. Is this true?

I am pleased your son learned from the lesson and the concessions made by the local city police. Many young people are not so lucky and find themselves enmeshed in the criminal law system because of the consequences of poor decisions. I hope your nephew does not engage in graffiti activities because he may not be so lucky.

Graffiti is any unauthorized inscriptions, words and similar designs marked, painted, drawn or otherwise affixed to the real or personal property of others. It may take the form of paint on the sides of buildings, fences or even overhead freeway signs. The public pays a high price to remove graffiti.

Effective January 1, 2001, California Assembly Bill 2110 (Pacheco), Chapter 58, expands the class of persons responsible for graffiti clean-up by amending Government Code §38772. The new law allows cities and/or counties to pass the cost of graffiti abatement on to the responsible persons, including minors, and to lien the property of the minors' parents or guardians until paid through payment of the lien or foreclosure. Parents or guardians are now jointly and severally liable with the minor for all costs of abating the graffiti nuisance.

The abatement costs may become a lien on the real property and other property owned by the parents or guardians of minor children who engage in malicious acts of affixing graffiti to the property of others. The abatement costs may include, but are not limited to, the removal costs, court and attorneys' costs and law enforcement costs incurred by the city and/or county.

Under Government Code §38773.2, the agency must serve a notice to the minor and the parent or guardian before recording graffiti nuisance abatement liens with the County Recorder in the county where the real property is located. After recording, the lien has the same force, effect and priority against all other recorded encumbrances as that of a judgment lien.

Graffiti nuisance abatement liens must state the amount of the lien, the name of the agency for whom it is filed and other information specific to the real property against which the lien is recorded. After the lien is discharged or released, through either payment or foreclosure, the agency records a notice to that effect.

It is important to note that if graffiti nuisance abatement liens are not paid or otherwise satisfied, the agency may enforce them by foreclosing against the real property. Thus, the parents or guardians of minors involved in graffiti activities could lose their homes if the liens are not paid.

Under Government Code §38773.6, agencies may pass ordinances to make the liens special assessments against the real property of minors or their parents or guardians. The agencies may collect special assessments at the same time and in the same manner as they do ordinary municipal taxes. If the special assessments are not paid, the agencies may enforce them in the same manner as unpaid real property taxes, which could lead to the loss of the property.