Amended in Senate March 24, 2014

Senate BillNo. 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 amended, 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:

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SECTION 1.  

Section 27297.6 of the Government Code, as
2amended by Section 1 of Chapter 141 of the Statutes of 2011, is
3amended to read:

4

27297.6.  

(a) (1) Following adoption of an authorizing
5resolution by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the
6Los Angeles County Recorder, or a designee or designees
7authorized by the board of supervisors, may notify one or more of
8the following by mail:

9(A) The party or parties executing a deed, quitclaim deed, or
10deed of trust, within 30 days of recordation.

11(B) The party or parties subject to a notice of default or notice
12of sale, including the occupants of that property, within 5 days,
13but in any event no more than 20 days, of recordation.

14(2) The recorder may require, as a condition of recording, that
15a deed, quitclaim deed, deed of trust, notice of default, or notice
16of sale indicate the assessor’s identification number or numbers
17that fully contain all, or a portion of, the real property described
18in the legal description. If the description contains more than one
19assessor’s parcel, all assessor’s parcels shall be indicated. The
20form of the entry shall be substantially as follows: Assessor’s
21Identification Number __-__-__.

22(b) This section shall not apply to the recordation of any
23document where the federal government, or state, county, city, or
24any subdivision of the state acquires title.

25(c) The failure of the county recorder to provide the notice as
26permitted by this section shall not result in any liability against
P3    1the recorder or the county. In the event that the notice is returned
2to the recorder by the postal service as undeliverable, the recorder
3is not required to retain the returned notice.

4(d) Where the county recorder contracts with any party or parties
5for the performance of the processing or the mailing of the notice,
6or both, as authorized by this section, the contract shall be awarded
7by competitive bid. The county recorder shall solicit written bids
8for the contract in a newspaper of general circulation in the county,
9and all bids received shall be publicly opened and the contract
10awarded to the lowest responsible bidder. If the county recorder
11or his or her designee deems the acceptance of the lowest
12responsible bid is not in the best interest of the county, all bids
13may be rejected.

14(e) If the board of supervisors adopts an authorizing resolution,
15pursuant to subdivision (a), that includes notification of the parties
16described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a),
17the County of Los Angeles shall, on or before January 1, 2019,
18submit a report to the Senate Committee on Judiciary and the
19Assembly Committee on Local Government that shall include, but
20not be limited to, the following information:

21(1) A copy of each type of notice mailed pursuant to
22subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a).

23(2) The number of filed notices of default and notices of sale
24for which a fee was collected pursuant to Section 27387.1.

25(3) The amount of fees collected, pursuant to Section 27387.1,
26for the filing of notices of default and notices of sale.

27(4) The amount of fees spent to provide housing information,
28counseling, and assistance, described in Section 27387.1.

begin insert

29(5) Documented examples showing how the county’s homeowner
30notification program led to successful investigations of real estate
31fraud activity, referrals to prosecuting agencies, avoided
32foreclosures, or helped property owners and residents avoid falling
33victim to real estate fraud.

end insert
begin insert

34(6) An evaluation of whether the county’s homeowner
35notification program, in comparison to other available policy tools
36in the County of Los Angeles, is a cost-effective approach to
37combating real estate fraud and reducing foreclosures.

end insert
begin insert

38(7) An assessment of how the county’s homeowner notification
39program compares to real estate fraud and foreclosure prevention
P4    1programs being implemented in at least three other large, urban
2California counties.

end insert

3(f) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2020,
4and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
5is enacted before January 1, 2020, deletes or extends that date.

6

SEC. 2.  

Section 27297.6 of the Government Code, as added
7by Section 2 of Chapter 141 of the Statutes of 2011, is amended
8to read:

9

27297.6.  

(a) Following adoption of an authorizing resolution
10by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the Los Angeles
11County Recorder may, within 30 days of recordation of a deed,
12quitclaim deed, or deed of trust, notify by mail the party or parties
13executing the document. The recorder may require, as a condition
14of recording, that a deed, quitclaim deed, or deed of trust indicate
15the assessor’s identification number or numbers that fully contain
16all, or a portion of, the real property described in the legal
17description. If the description contains more than one assessor’s
18parcel, all assessor’s parcels shall be indicated. The form of the
19entry shall be substantially as follows: Assessor’s Identification
20Number __-__-__.

21(b) This section shall not apply to the recordation of any
22document where the federal government, or state, county, city, or
23any subdivision of the state acquires title.

24(c) The failure of the county recorder to provide the notice as
25permitted by this section shall not result in any liability against
26the recorder or the county. In the event that the notice is returned
27to the recorder by the postal service as undeliverable, the recorder
28is not required to retain the returned notice.

29(d) Where the county recorder contracts with any party or parties
30for the performance of the processing or the mailing of the notice,
31or both, as authorized by this section, the contract shall be awarded
32by competitive bid. The county recorder shall solicit written bids
33for the contract in a newspaper of general circulation in the county,
34and all bids received shall be publicly opened and the contract
35awarded to the lowest responsible bidder. If the county recorder
36or his or her designee deems the acceptance of the lowest
37responsible bid is not in the best interest of the county, all bids
38may be rejected.

39(e) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2020.

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SEC. 3.  

Section 27387.1 of the Government Code, as amended
2by Section 3 of Chapter 141 of the Statutes of 2011, is amended
3to read:

4

27387.1.  

(a) In addition to any other recording fee, the
5recorder, pursuant to Section 27297.6, may collect a fee from the
6party filing a deed, quitclaim deed, deed of trust, notice of default,
7or notice of sale, unless that party is a government entity. The fee
8shall not exceed the mailing cost of the notice specified in Section
927297.6 and the actual cost to provide information, counseling, or
10assistance to a person who receives the notice, not to exceed seven
11dollars ($7).

12(b) The actual costs comprising the fee described in subdivision
13(a) may include administrative costs incurred by the recorder in
14performing the actions described in that subdivision. However,
15the administrative costs shall not exceed 10 percent of the total
16fee collected pursuant to subdivision (a).

17(c) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2020,
18and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that
19is enacted before January 1, 2020, deletes or extends that date.

20

SEC. 4.  

Section 27387.1 of the Government Code, as added
21by Section 4 of Chapter 141 of the Statutes of 2011, is amended
22to read:

23

27387.1.  

(a) In addition to any other recording fee, the recorder
24may collect a fee from the party filing a deed, quitclaim deed, or
25deed of trust, other than a government entity, pursuant to Section
2627297.6. The fee shall not exceed the mailing cost of the notice
27specified in Section 27297.6, not to exceed seven dollars ($7).

28(b) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2020.

29

SEC. 5.  

The Legislature finds and declares that a special law
30is necessary and that a general law cannot be made applicable
31within the meaning of Section 16 of Article IV of the California
32Constitution because the County of Los Angeles is experiencing
33a unique and prolonged recovery from the financial and real estate
34fraud crisis.



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