Article 1. Duties Generally of California Government Code >> Division 2. >> Title 3. >> Part 3. >> Chapter 6. >> Article 1.

(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, or authorized or required to be recorded by a local ordinance that relates to the recordation of any instrument, paper, or notice that relates to real property, 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, court order, or local ordinance that relates to the recordation of any instrument, paper, or notice that relates to real property 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. The officially adopted facsimile signature shall be provided to the county recorder by a letter from the agency. A facsimile signature shall continue to be valid until the agency notifies the county recorder that the facsimile signature has been revoked.

(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.

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, the fee shall be transmitted to the Treasurer with the recorder's first settlement after the collection.

(a) 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:
  (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 or her 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 the recorder's office. The recorder may make marginal notations on records as part of the recording process.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

The recorder shall keep an official seal of the recorder's 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 2 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.