BILL NUMBER: SB 1375	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  MAY 1, 2008

INTRODUCED BY   Senators Corbett, Migden, and Perata

                        FEBRUARY 21, 2008

   An act to amend Section  2924c   2924d 
of the Civil Code, relating to real property.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1375, as amended, Corbett.  Mortgages.  
Mortgages: default.  
   Existing law specifies the maximum amount of trustee's or attorney'
s fees that can be awarded for enforcement of the terms of a mortgage
obligation in default after the notice of sale is deposited in the
mail, as specified.  
   This bill would make a technical, nonsubstantive change to that
provision.  
   Existing law provides for the use of a mortgage or a deed of trust
as security in a transfer of real property, provides for a power of
sale upon breach of the obligation that a mortgage or deed of trust
secures, and establishes specified procedures that a mortgagee or
trustee is required to follow upon default, when exercising a power
of sale, and for balloon payments. Existing law specifies the types
of costs and expenses that may be charged in connection with those
procedures, including a fee for a trustee's sale guarantee. 

   This bill would authorize charging, as an alternative to the fee
for a trustee's sale guarantee, the costs of a title and court
records search, in connection with the above-described procedures.

   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

   SECTION 1.    Section 2924d of the   Civil
Code   is amended to read: 
   2924d.  (a) Commencing with the date that the notice of sale is
deposited in the mail, as provided in Section 2924b, and until the
property is sold pursuant to the power of sale contained in the
mortgage or deed of trust, a beneficiary, trustee, mortgagee, or his
or her agent or successor in interest, may demand and receive from a
trustor, mortgagor, or his or her agent or successor in interest, or
any beneficiary under a subordinate deed of trust, or any other
person having a subordinate lien or encumbrance of record those
reasonable costs and expenses, to the extent allowed by subdivision
(c) of Section 2924c,  which  that  are
actually incurred in enforcing the terms of the obligation and
trustee's or attorney's fees  which   that 
are hereby authorized to be in a base amount  which
  that  does not exceed four hundred twenty-five
dollars ($425) if the unpaid principal sum secured is one hundred
fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) or less, or three hundred sixty
dollars ($360) if the unpaid principal sum secured exceeds one
hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000), plus 1 percent of any
portion of the unpaid principal sum secured exceeding fifty thousand
dollars ($50,000) up to and including one hundred fifty thousand
dollars ($150,000), plus one-half of 1 percent of any portion of the
unpaid principal sum secured exceeding one hundred fifty thousand
dollars ($150,000) up to and including five hundred thousand dollars
($500,000), plus one-quarter of 1 percent of any portion of the
unpaid principal sum secured exceeding five hundred thousand dollars
($500,000). For purposes of this subdivision, the unpaid principal
sum secured shall be determined as of the date the notice of default
is recorded. Any charge for trustee's or attorney's fees authorized
by this subdivision shall be conclusively presumed to be lawful and
valid where that charge does not exceed the amounts authorized
herein. Any charge for trustee's or attorney's fees made pursuant to
this subdivision shall be in lieu of and not in addition to those
charges authorized by subdivision (d) of Section 2924c.
   (b) Upon the sale of property pursuant to a power of sale, a
trustee, or his or her agent or successor in interest, may demand and
receive from a beneficiary, or his or her agent or successor in
interest, or may deduct from the proceeds of the sale, those
reasonable costs and expenses, to the extent allowed by subdivision
(c) of Section 2924c, which are actually incurred in enforcing the
terms of the obligation and trustee's or attorney's fees which are
hereby authorized to be in an amount  which  
that  does not exceed four hundred twenty-five dollars ($425) or
one percent of the unpaid principal sum secured, whichever is
greater. For purposes of this subdivision, the unpaid principal sum
secured shall be determined as of the date the notice of default is
recorded. Any charge for trustee's or attorney's fees authorized by
this subdivision shall be conclusively presumed to be lawful and
valid where that charge does not exceed the amount authorized herein.
Any charges for trustee's or attorney's fees made pursuant to this
subdivision shall be in lieu of and not in addition to those charges
authorized by subdivision (a) of this section and subdivision (d) of
Section 2924c.
   (c) (1) No person shall pay or offer to pay or collect any rebate
or kickback for the referral of business involving the performance of
any act required by this article.
   (2) Any person who violates this subdivision shall be liable to
the trustor for three times the amount of any rebate or kickback,
plus reasonable attorney's fees and costs, in addition to any other
remedies provided by law.
   (3) No violation of this subdivision shall affect the validity of
a sale in favor of a bona fide purchaser or the rights of an
encumbrancer for value without notice.
   (d) It shall not be unlawful for a trustee to pay or offer to pay
a fee to an agent or subagent of the trustee for work performed by
the agent or subagent in discharging the trustee's obligations under
the terms of the deed of trust. Any payment of a fee by a trustee to
an agent or subagent of the trustee for work performed by the agent
or subagent in discharging the trustee's obligations under the terms
of the deed of trust shall be conclusively presumed to be lawful and
valid if the fee, when combined with other fees of the trustee, does
not exceed in the aggregate the trustee's fee authorized by
subdivision (d) of Section 2924c or subdivision (a) or (b) of this
section.
   (e) When a court issues a decree of foreclosure, it shall have
discretion to award attorney's fees, costs, and expenses as are
reasonable, if provided for in the note, deed of trust, or mortgage,
pursuant to Section 580c of the Code of Civil Procedure. All matter
omitted in this version of the bill appears in the bill as introduced
in Senate, February 21, 2008 (JR11)