SECTIONS 27201-27211 - California Statutes

GOVERNMENT CODE

SECTION 27201-27211

27201. (a) The recorder shall, upon payment of proper fees and
taxes, accept for recordation any instrument, paper, or notice that
is authorized or required by statute or court order to be recorded,
if the instrument, paper, or notice contains sufficient information
to be indexed as provided by statute, meets recording requirements of
state statutes and local ordinances, and is photographically
reproducible. The county recorder shall not refuse to record any
instrument, paper, or notice that is authorized or required by
statute or court order to be recorded on the basis of its lack of
legal sufficiency.
"Photographically reproducible," for purposes of this division,
means all instruments, papers, or notices that comply with standards
as recommended by the American National Standards Institute or the
Association for Information and Image Management for recording of
records.
(b) (1) Each instrument, paper, or notice shall contain an
original signature or signatures, except as otherwise provided by
law, or be a certified copy of the original.
(2) A facsimile signature shall be accepted on a lien recorded by
a governmental agency when that facsimile signature has been
officially adopted by that agency. The lien shall have noted on its
face a statement to that effect. A copy of the agency's resolution or
action adopting the signature for facsimile transmission purposes or
a certified copy of the agency's adopted signature shall be provided
to the county recorder when the signature is officially adopted by
the agency, or at the beginning of each calendar year.

27201.5. (a) A notary acknowledgment shall be deemed complete for
recording purposes without a photographically reproducible official
seal of the notary public if the seal, as described in Section 8207,
is present and legible, and the name of the notary, the county of the
notary's principal place of business, the notary's telephone number,
the notary's registration number, and the notary's commission
expiration date are typed or printed in a manner that is
photographically reproducible below, or immediately adjacent to, the
notary's signature in the acknowledgment.
(b) If a request for a certified copy of a birth or death record
is received by mail, a notarized statement sworn under penalty of
perjury shall accompany the request, stating that the requester is an
authorized person, as defined by law.

27202. Upon the request of any officer of the United States, the
county recorder shall record instruments to which the United States
is a party without payment of the recording fee in advance and shall
execute the proper government voucher for payment. Upon payment of
the fee he shall transmit it to the treasurer with his first
settlement after the collection.

27203. Any recorder to whom an instrument proved or acknowledged
according to law or any paper or notice which may by law be recorded
is delivered for record is liable to the party aggrieved for the
amount of the damages occasioned thereby, if he or she commits any of
the following acts:
(a) (1) Neglects or refuses to record the instrument, paper, or
notice within a reasonable time after receiving it. This subdivision
shall not apply to an instrument, paper, or notice that the recorder
has determined to be an unrecordable document pursuant to this
chapter. Nothing in this subdivision shall preclude the application
of Section 27201.
(2) The recorder may provide, to any person presenting a document
the recorder determines to be an unrecordable document, a form
stating that the person has the right to judicial review in a court
of competent jurisdiction of the recorder's refusal to record the
document. The form shall include a section stating the recorder's
reason for refusing the document. The form shall provide notice that
it is a public offense to further attempt to record the document
without an order of the court as provided by Section 27204. The
recorder shall keep a correct copy of the refused document. In the
event the document is determined by the court to be a recordable
document, the recorder shall pay the filing fees for the review, and
shall record the document within a reasonable time.
(b) Records any instrument, paper, or notice, willfully or
negligently, untruly, or in any manner other than that prescribed by
this chapter.
(c) Neglects or refuses to keep in his office or to make the
proper entries in the indices required by this chapter.
(d) Alters, changes, obliterates or inserts any new matter in any
records deposited in his office. The recorder may make marginal
notations on the records in his office indicating the affixing of
internal revenue stamps to documents subsequent to recordation or the
affixing of such stamps to original deeds on file in the office of
the registrar of titles.

27203.5. If the recorder willfully and maliciously commits any of
the acts described in Section 27203 or if he derives a personal
financial benefit from committing any of those acts, he is liable to
the party aggrieved for three times the amount of damages occasioned
thereby.

27204. Any person who receives a form from the recorder pursuant to
subdivision (a) of Section 27203, stating that the proffered
document is unrecordable, and who subsequently attempts to record the
document without an order from the court requiring recordation of
that document, is guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable by imprisonment
in a county jail not exceeding six months, by a fine not exceeding
one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that imprisonment and fine,
or of an infraction punishable pursuant to Section 19.8 of the Penal
Code.

27205. After two years from the date of filing in the recorder's
office of notice of completion of any building or improvement, the
contract, plans, specifications and bond under which the work or
improvement was performed may be returned by the recorder to the
person filing them, unless the recorder has been notified in writing
to retain them by someone claiming some interest under the contract
or in the property affected. After five years from the date of filing
in the recorder's office of any contract, plans, and specifications
of any building or improvement, the recorder may destroy the
contract, plans, specifications, and bond relating thereto if they
have not been delivered as provided in this section, unless he has
been notified in writing to retain them by someone claiming some
interest under the contract or in the property affected.

27206. The county recorder may destroy federal tax liens together
with any release of said liens eight years after the lien was filed
in his office; provided, a microfilm copy of each unreleased tax lien
has been made and certified in the manner provided for in Section
1551 of the Evidence Code. All film used in the microphotography
process shall comply with the minimum standards of quality approved
by the United States Bureau of Standards. The original copy of the
microfilm shall be kept in a safe and separate place for security
purposes.

27207. At the request of the county recorder, the board of
supervisors of any county may authorize the destruction of any or all
of the filed papers or records books created under the Land Title
Law (an initiative measure adopted by the electors November 3, 1914,
and repealed effective May 1, 1955) after compliance with all the
conditions in paragraphs (a), (b), (c), and (d) of Section 26205.5 of
the Government Code.

27208. If a paper or document has been microfilmed, the county
recorder may destroy or otherwise dispose of any paper or document
filed with or submitted to him or her more than one year previously,
unless another provision of law requires a longer retention period or
unless the recorder determines that there is a need for its
retention. In determining where there is a need for retaining a paper
or document, consideration shall be given to factors, including, but
not limited to, future public need, the effect of statutes of
limitation, and historical significance.

27210. The county recorder may use a printed, stamped or
photographically reproduced facsimile signature in certifying to a
record in his office provided such certification has the seal of his
office affixed thereto.

27211. The recorder shall keep an official seal of his office which
shall, when embossed, stamped, impressed or affixed to a
certification, show legibly.
Such seal shall:
(a) Be circular in shape;
(b) Be not less than 1 1/4 inches and not more than two inches in
diameter;
(c) Have in the center any words or design adopted by the
recorder;
(d) Have inscribed around the central words or design, "Recorder,
____ County, California," inserting therein the name of the county.
Nothing contained herein shall prohibit a recorder from continuing
to use a seal of a design different than that specified herein if
such seal has customarily been used.