BILL ANALYSIS Ó AB 679 Page 1 Date of Hearing: May 27, 2015 ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS Jimmy Gomez, Chair AB 679 (Travis Allen) - As Amended May 18, 2015 ----------------------------------------------------------------- |Policy |Local Government |Vote:|6 - 1 | |Committee: | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-------------+-------------------------------+-----+-------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ----------------------------------------------------------------- Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: YesReimbursable: No SUMMARY: This bill requires any document presented for county recording to state the number AB 679 Page 2 of pages to be recorded, and requires the county recorder to verify the number of pages stated on the cover page match the number of pages presented for recordation. FISCAL EFFECT: Minor nonreimbursable state mandated costs. County recorders are authorized to assess fees to recover the administrative cost of recording documents if the administrative cost increases. COMMENTS: 1)Purpose. According to the author, "This bill would require that a count of all pages to be submitted be on the front page of recorded documents to ensure that no documents are lost. AB 679 will make it easier for individuals who are submitting documents to be recorded by the county to ensure all pages of a given document are present. This will, therein, reduce the risk of lengthy and expensive court procedures to restore or verify recorded documents." According to the author, when documents are processed by a county recorder, pages can be lost or go missing, resulting in lengthy and expensive court processes to restore the document and/or provide a new copy. This bill would require that a count of all pages to be submitted be on the front page of recorded documents to ensure that no documents are lost. 2)Background. Existing law requires the recorder of each county, upon payment of proper fees and taxes, to accept for AB 679 Page 3 recordation any instrument, paper, or notice that is authorized or required by law to be recorded. These documents must comply with specified standards respecting margins, quality of paper, print size and color, and other related matters. Documents that are commonly recorded include payments of taxes or fees, filings of fictitious business names, deeds, mortgage documents, easements, power of attorney documents, liens, and any documents that affect the ownership of any given property. 3)Opposition. The California Land Title Association (CLTA) has raised three issues: 1) this bill could render some documents unrecordable or invalid simply because they do not meet the new requirements; 2) this bill could result in delay in property transactions; 3) the new provisions should be optional. Analysis Prepared by:Pedro R. Reyes / APPR. / (916) 319-2081