California Code, Revenue and Taxation Code - RTC § 3003

Where delinquent taxes or assessments, including those on personal property, are not a lien on real property sufficient, in the judgment of the tax collector or the board of supervisors, to secure the payment of the taxes or assessments, the county may, in any civil action, sue the taxpayer in its own name, including general partners of a partnership assessee, persons who have assumed the liability to pay the assessed taxes by contract or lease, or those persons who are the alter ego or successor in interest of a corporate assessee, for the recovery of the delinquent taxes or assessments, with penalties and costs.  The county seat of the county in which the property was assessed shall be a proper place of trial.