Senate Bill No. 827

Introduced by Senator Liu

January 6, 2014

An act to amend Sections 27297.6 and 27387.1 of the Government Code, relating to local government.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 827, as introduced, Liu. Local government: Los Angeles County: notice of recordation.

(1) Existing law authorizes, until January 1, 2015, the Los Angeles County Recorder, following the adoption of an authorizing resolution by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, to mail a notice of recordation to a party executing a deed, quitclaim deed, or deed of trust within 30 days of the recording of one of those documents, and to mail a notice of default or notice of sale, as specified, to a party subject to a notice of default or notice of sale of property, including the occupants of that property, within 5 days, but in any event no more than 20 days, of recordation. Existing law requires the county, if the board adopts the authorizing resolution, to submit a report with prescribed information relating to the mailed notices to certain committees of the Legislature on or before January 1, 2014.

This bill would extend these authorizations until January 1, 2020. This bill would extend the deadline of the reporting requirement to January 1, 2019.

(2) Existing law also authorizes, until January 1, 2015, the Los Angeles County Recorder to collect a fee from the party filing a deed, quitclaim deed, deed of trust, notice of default, or notice of sale, unless that party is a government entity. Existing law authorizes the recorder to use a portion of the collected fee to pay the actual cost of providing information, counseling, and assistance to a person who receives the notice. Existing law authorizes administrative costs incurred by the recorder to be included as a portion of the actual costs that comprise the fee, as specified. Existing law prohibits this fee from exceeding $7.

This bill would extend these authorizations and the prohibition until January 1, 2020.

(3) This bill would make legislative findings and declarations as to the necessity of a special statute for the County of Los Angeles.

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 27297.6 of the Government Code, as
amended by Section 1 of Chapter 141 of the Statutes of 2011, is
amended to read:

27297.6.  

(a) (1) Following adoption of an authorizing
resolution by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the
Los Angeles County Recorder, or a designee or designees
authorized by the board of supervisors, may notify one or more of
the following by mail:

(A) The party or parties executing a deed, quitclaim deed, or
deed of trust, within 30 days of recordation.

(B) The party or parties subject to a notice of default or notice
of sale, including the occupants of that property, within 5 days,
but in any event no more than 20 days, of recordation.

(2) The recorder may require, as a condition of recording, that
a deed, quitclaim deed, deed of trust, notice of default, or notice
of sale 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. The
form of the entry shall be substantially as follows: Assessor’s
Identification Number __-__-__.

(b) 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 acquires title.

(c) 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.

(d) 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 his or her designee deems the acceptance of the lowest
responsible bid is not in the best interest of the county, all bids
may be rejected.

(e) If the board of supervisors adopts an authorizing resolution,
pursuant to subdivision (a), that includes notification of the parties
described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a),
the County of Los Angeles shall, on or before begin delete January 1, 2014 end delete
begin insert January 1, 2019 end insert , submit a report to the Senate Committee on
Judiciary and the Assembly Committee on Local Government that
shall include, but not be limited to, the following information:

(1) A copy of each type of notice mailed pursuant to
subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a).

(2) The number of filed notices of default and notices of sale
for which a fee was collected pursuant to Section 27387.1.

(3) The amount of fees collected, pursuant to Section 27387.1,
for the filing of notices of default and notices of sale.

(4) The amount of fees spent to provide housing information,
counseling, and assistance, described in Section 27387.1.

(f) This section shall remain in effect only until begin delete January 1, 2015 end delete
begin insert January 1, 2020 end insert , and as of that date is repealed, unless a later
enacted statute, that is enacted before begin delete January 1, 2015 end delete begin insert January 1,
2020 end insert , deletes or extends that date.

SEC. 2.  

Section 27297.6 of the Government Code, as added
by Section 2 of Chapter 141 of the Statutes of 2011, is amended
to read:

27297.6.  

(a) Following adoption of an authorizing resolution
by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the Los Angeles
County Recorder may, within 30 days of recordation of a deed,
quitclaim deed, or deed of trust, notify by mail the party or parties
executing the document. The recorder may require, as a condition
of recording, that a deed, quitclaim deed, 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. The form of the
entry shall be substantially as follows: Assessor’s Identification
Number __-__-__.

(b) 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 acquires title.

(c) 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.

(d) 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 his or her designee deems the acceptance of the lowest
responsible bid is not in the best interest of the county, all bids
may be rejected.

(e) This section shall become operative on begin delete January 1, 2015 end delete
begin insert January 1, 2020 end insert .

SEC. 3.  

Section 27387.1 of the Government Code, as amended
by Section 3 of Chapter 141 of the Statutes of 2011, is amended
to read:

27387.1.  

(a) In addition to any other recording fee, the
recorder, pursuant to Section 27297.6, may collect a fee from the
party filing a deed, quitclaim deed, deed of trust, notice of default,
or notice of sale, unless that party is a government entity. The fee
shall not exceed the mailing cost of the notice specified in Section
27297.6 and the actual cost to provide information, counseling, or
assistance to a person who receives the notice, not to exceed seven
dollars ($7).

(b) The actual costs comprising the fee described in subdivision
(a) may include administrative costs incurred by the recorder in
performing the actions described in that subdivision. However,
the administrative costs shall not exceed 10 percent of the total
fee collected pursuant to subdivision (a).

(c) This section shall remain in effect only until begin delete January 1, 2015 end delete
begin insert January 1, 2020 end insert , and as of that date is repealed, unless a later
enacted statute, that is enacted before begin delete January 1, 2015 end delete begin insert January 1,
2020 end insert , deletes or extends that date.

SEC. 4.  

Section 27387.1 of the Government Code, as added
by Section 4 of Chapter 141 of the Statutes of 2011, is amended
to read:

27387.1.  

(a) In addition to any other recording fee, the recorder
may collect a fee from the party filing a deed, quitclaim deed, or
deed of trust, other than a government entity, pursuant to Section
27297.6. The fee shall not exceed the mailing cost of the notice
specified in Section 27297.6, not to exceed seven dollars ($7).

(b) This section shall become operative on begin delete January 1, 2015 end delete
begin insert January 1, 2020 end insert .

SEC. 5.  

The Legislature finds and declares that a special law
is necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable
within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California
Constitution because the County of Los Angeles is experiencing
a unique and prolonged recovery from the financial and real estate
fraud crisis.