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Measure SB 255
Authors Seyarto  
Subject County recorders: notification.
Relating To relating to local government.
Title An act to repeal and add Section 27297.7 of the Government Code, relating to local government.
Last Action Dt 2025-10-06
State Chaptered
Status Chaptered
Active? Y
Vote Required Majority
Appropriation No
Fiscal Committee Yes
Local Program Yes
Substantive Changes None
Urgency No
Tax Levy No
Leginfo Link Bill
Actions
2025-10-06     Approved by the Governor.
2025-10-06     Chaptered by Secretary of State. Chapter 351, Statutes of 2025.
2025-09-22     Enrolled and presented to the Governor at 11 a.m.
2025-09-11     Assembly amendments concurred in. (Ayes 40. Noes 0. Page 2928.) Ordered to engrossing and enrolling.
2025-09-09     Ordered to special consent calendar.
2025-09-03     In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
2025-09-02     Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 77. Noes 0. Page 2818.) Ordered to the Senate.
2025-08-27     Read third time and amended.
2025-08-27     Ordered to third reading.
2025-08-21     Ordered to third reading.
2025-08-21     Action rescinded whereby bill was read third time, passed, and ordered to Senate.
2025-08-19     In Assembly. Held at Desk.
2025-08-18     Ordered to the Assembly.
2025-07-17     In Senate. Concurrence in Assembly amendments pending.
2025-07-17     Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 75. Noes 0. Page 2595.) Ordered to the Senate.
2025-07-10     Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar.
2025-07-09     From committee: Do pass. Ordered to consent calendar. (Ayes 15. Noes 0.) (July 9).
2025-06-24     From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 12. Noes 0.) (June 24). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
2025-06-18     From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on JUD. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 10. Noes 0.) (June 18). Re-referred to Com. on JUD.
2025-06-09     From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on L. GOV.
2025-05-29     Referred to Coms. on L. GOV. and JUD.
2025-05-08     In Assembly. Read first time. Held at Desk.
2025-05-08     Read third time. Passed. (Ayes 36. Noes 0. Page 1050.) Ordered to the Assembly.
2025-05-06     Read second time. Ordered to consent calendar.
2025-05-05     From committee: Be ordered to second reading pursuant to Senate Rule 28.8 and ordered to consent calendar.
2025-04-25     Set for hearing May 5.
2025-04-23     From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on APPR. with recommendation: To consent calendar. (Ayes 13. Noes 0. Page 833.) (April 22). Re-referred to Com. on APPR.
2025-04-04     Set for hearing April 22.
2025-04-03     From committee: Do pass and re-refer to Com. on JUD. (Ayes 7. Noes 0. Page 637.) (April 2). Re-referred to Com. on JUD.
2025-03-24     Set for hearing April 2.
2025-03-24     From committee with author's amendments. Read second time and amended. Re-referred to Com. on L. GOV.
2025-03-13     March 19 hearing postponed by committee.
2025-03-04     Set for hearing March 19.
2025-02-14     Referred to Coms. on L. GOV. and JUD.
2025-02-04     From printer. May be acted upon on or after March 6.
2025-02-03     Introduced. Read first time. To Com. on RLS. for assignment. To print.
Keywords
Tags
Versions
Chaptered     2025-10-06
Enrolled     2025-09-13
Amended Assembly     2025-08-27
Amended Assembly     2025-06-09
Amended Senate     2025-03-24
Introduced     2025-02-03
Last Version Text
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		<ns0:AuthorText authorType="LEAD_AUTHOR">Introduced by Senator Seyarto</ns0:AuthorText>
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		<ns0:Title>An act to repeal and add Section 27297.7 of the Government Code, relating to local government. </ns0:Title>
		<ns0:RelatingClause>local government</ns0:RelatingClause>
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			<ns0:Subject>County recorders: notification.</ns0:Subject>
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			<html:p>Existing law establishes the office of county recorder and requires the county recorder to accept for recordation any instrument, paper, or notice that is authorized or required to be recorded, subject to the collection of specified fees. Existing law requires the county recorder to maintain various indices of specified documents and records. </html:p>
			<html:p>Existing law authorizes the county recorder, following adoption of an authorizing resolution by the board of supervisors, within 30 days of recordation of a deed, quitclaim, or deed of trust, to notify by mail the party or parties executing the document. Existing law authorizes the recorder to require, as a condition of recording, that a deed, quitclaim, or deed of trust indicate the assessor’s identification number or numbers that fully contain the real property described in the
			 legal description, in accordance with a specified format. Existing law also authorizes the Los Angeles County Recorder, until January 1, 2030, and subject to authorization by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, to provide notice by mail to the party or parties subject to a notice of default or notice of sale of a property within a prescribed timeframe following recordation.</html:p>
			<html:p>This bill would require, on or before January 1, 2027, each county within the state to establish a recorder notification
			 program and the board of supervisors of each county to adopt an authorizing resolution for these purposes. Pursuant to the
			 program and following the adoption of an authorizing resolution, the county recorder, or a designee authorized by the county board of supervisors, would be required, within 30 days of recordation of a deed, quitclaim deed, mortgage, or deed of trust, to notify the parties executing the document by mail in accordance with certain procedures. The bill would also authorize the county recorder, in addition to the mailed notice, to establish an electronic notification program. The bill would create an exemption from these requirements for the recordation of certain documents where a state or local government is the grantee. The bill would also authorize the county recorder to collect a fee from the party filing the deed, quitclaim deed, mortgage, or deed of trust in an amount that does not exceed the reasonable costs of services of the county to comply with these provisions. The bill would create an exception from these requirements for the above-described notification program
			 for the County of Los Angeles. By imposing new duties on county officials and employees, the bill would create a state-mandated local program.</html:p>
			<html:p>The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement.</html:p>
			<html:p>This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to the statutory provisions noted above.</html:p>
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		<ns0:Preamble>The people of the State of California do enact as follows:</ns0:Preamble>
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			<ns0:Num>SECTION 1.</ns0:Num>
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				Section 27297.7 of the 
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				 is repealed.
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				Section 27297.7 is added to the 
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				, to read:
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								(a)
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								On or before January 1, 2027, each county within the state shall establish a recorder notification program, in accordance with this section, and the board of supervisors of each county shall adopt an authorizing resolution for these purposes.
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								(b)
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								(1)
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								Following adoption of an authorizing resolution by the board of supervisors, the county recorder shall, within 30 days of recordation of a deed, quitclaim deed, mortgage, or deed of trust, notify by mail the party or parties
						executing the document. The notification shall be sent to the address for mailing tax bills that was established prior to the recording of the document.
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								(2)
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								The recorder may require, as a condition of recording, that a deed, quitclaim deed, mortgage, or deed of trust indicate the
						assessor’s identification number or numbers that fully contain all, or a portion of, the real property described in the legal description. If the description contains more than one assessor’s parcel, all assessor’s parcels shall be indicated. If assessor’s identification numbers are required, they shall be listed on the first page of the document. The recorder may rely on the assessor’s identification numbers as indicated on the document. The form of the entry shall be substantially as follows:
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							<html:p>Assessor’s Identification Number __-__-__.</html:p>
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								(3)
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								In addition to the mailed notice required by paragraph (1), the county recorder may establish an electronic notification program that notifies parties upon recording of a deed, quitclaim deed, mortgage, or deed of trust.
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								(c)
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								This section shall not apply to the recordation of any document where the federal government, or state, county, city, or any subdivision of the state is the grantee.
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								(d)
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								The failure of the county recorder to provide the notice as permitted by this section shall not result in any liability against the recorder or the county. In the event that the notice is returned to the recorder by the postal service as undeliverable, the recorder is not required to retain the returned notice.
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								(e)
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								Where the county recorder contracts with any party or parties for the performance of the processing or the mailing of the notice, or both, as authorized by this section, the contract shall be awarded
						by competitive bid. The county recorder shall solicit written bids for the contract in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, and all bids received shall be publicly opened and the contract awarded to the lowest responsible bidder. If the county recorder or their designee deems the acceptance of the lowest responsible bid is not in the best interest of the county, all bids may be rejected.
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								(f)
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								In addition to any other recording fee, the board of supervisors may authorize the county recorder to collect a fee from the party filing a deed, quitclaim deed, mortgage, or deed of trust for the cost of implementing the program pursuant to this section. The fee shall not exceed the reasonable
						costs of services of the county to provide a recorder notification program and to comply with this section. This fee shall not be charged until at least 120 days following the establishment of the fee and public notification of the fee and the effective date.
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								(g)
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								This section shall not apply to a county that operates a notification program pursuant to Section 27297.6.
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				<html:p>If the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code.</html:p>
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Last Version Text Digest Existing law establishes the office of county recorder and requires the county recorder to accept for recordation any instrument, paper, or notice that is authorized or required to be recorded, subject to the collection of specified fees. Existing law requires the county recorder to maintain various indices of specified documents and records. Existing law authorizes the county recorder, following adoption of an authorizing resolution by the board of supervisors, within 30 days of recordation of a deed, quitclaim, or deed of trust, to notify by mail the party or parties executing the document. Existing law authorizes the recorder to require, as a condition of recording, that a deed, quitclaim, or deed of trust indicate the assessor’s identification number or numbers that fully contain the real property described in the legal description, in accordance with a specified format. Existing law also authorizes the Los Angeles County Recorder, until January 1, 2030, and subject to authorization by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, to provide notice by mail to the party or parties subject to a notice of default or notice of sale of a property within a prescribed timeframe following recordation. This bill would require, on or before January 1, 2027, each county within the state to establish a recorder notification program and the board of supervisors of each county to adopt an authorizing resolution for these purposes. Pursuant to the program and following the adoption of an authorizing resolution, the county recorder, or a designee authorized by the county board of supervisors, would be required, within 30 days of recordation of a deed, quitclaim deed, mortgage, or deed of trust, to notify the parties executing the document by mail in accordance with certain procedures. The bill would also authorize the county recorder, in addition to the mailed notice, to establish an electronic notification program. The bill would create an exemption from these requirements for the recordation of certain documents where a state or local government is the grantee. The bill would also authorize the county recorder to collect a fee from the party filing the deed, quitclaim deed, mortgage, or deed of trust in an amount that does not exceed the reasonable costs of services of the county to comply with these provisions. The bill would create an exception from these requirements for the above-described notification program for the County of Los Angeles. By imposing new duties on county officials and employees, the bill would create a state-mandated local program.