Increased Recorder Fees in California

Beginning January 01, 2018, a new $75 fee will be attached to certain real estate documents (and others) that are recorded at the county recorder’s office. This new fee is due to Senate Bill 2, which was signed into law this week. The funds are to be used to address California’s affordable housing crisis.

HOW DOES THIS AFFECT ME?

When you plan for your estate, frequently the best planning includes a trust. When you form a trust, one step you must take is to record a new deed for your real property stating that your property is now in the the trust. This deed gets recorded at the county recorder’s office.

There are certain exceptions to this fee: however, for estate planning purposes, this fee will impact how much it costs for record deeds to and from a trust. In Kern County, most deeds cost between $16-19 to record. As of January 01, 2018, this will go up to $91-94 for the same deed, if you do not fall under certain exceptions.

The short of it is this: if you are putting the home you own AND occupy into a trust, you are exempt from this fee. (Whew!) However, if you have other properties, you are not. There is a certain amount of uncertainty amongst lawyers and county officials in multiple counties: I’ve had contact with others in this area and every county seems to be doing it a little differently. I’ll update this as soon as it becomes more definitive. But so far, the practice here in Kern County is that if someone owns a parcel of land apart from their residence, that land has the $75 fee attached.

THE LAW

The text of the law as found in the Government Code is below, or you can click HERE to read the entire bill.

27388.1.

 (a) (1) Commencing January 1, 2018, and except as provided in paragraph (2), in addition to any other recording fees specified in this code, a fee of seventy-five dollars ($75) shall be paid at the time of recording of every real estate instrument, paper, or notice required or permitted by law to be recorded, except those expressly exempted from payment of recording fees, per each single transaction per parcel of real property. The fee imposed by this section shall not exceed two hundred twenty-five dollars ($225). “Real estate instrument, paper, or notice” means a document relating to real property, including, but not limited to, the following: deed, grant deed, trustee’s deed, deed of trust, reconveyance, quit claim deed, fictitious deed of trust, assignment of deed of trust, request for notice of default, abstract of judgment, subordination agreement, declaration of homestead, abandonment of homestead, notice of default, release or discharge, easement, notice of trustee sale, notice of completion, UCC financing statement, mechanic’s lien, maps, and covenants, conditions, and restrictions.

(2) The fee described in paragraph (1) shall not be imposed on any real estate instrument, paper, or notice recorded in connection with a transfer subject to the imposition of a documentary transfer tax as defined in Section 11911 of the Revenue and Taxation Code or on any real estate instrument, paper, or notice recorded in connection with a transfer of real property that is a residential dwelling to an owner-occupier.
(b) The county recorder shall remit quarterly, on or before the last day of the month next succeeding each calendar quarterly period, the fees, after deduction of any actual and necessary administrative costs incurred by the county recorder in carrying out this section, to the Controller for deposit in the Building Homes and Jobs Trust Fund established by Section 50470 of the Health and Safety Code, to be expended for the purposes set forth in that section. In addition, the county shall pay to the Controller interest, at the legal rate, on any funds not paid to the Controller before the last day of the month next succeeding each quarterly period.
(c) If the Department of Housing and Community Development determines that any moneys derived from fees collected are being allocated by the state for a purpose not authorized by Section 50470 of the Health and Safety Code, the county recorder shall, upon notice of the determination, immediately cease collection of the fees, and shall resume collection of those fees only upon notice that the moneys derived from the fees collected are being allocated by the state only for a purpose authorized by Section 50470 of the Health and Safety Code.