County recorders: notification.

Senator Seyarto's measure would overhaul county-recording notifications by requiring every county to establish a recorder notification program by January 1, 2027, with the county board of supervisors adopting an authorizing resolution. After authorization, the county recorder must mail, within 30 days of recordation, notices to the party or parties executing the document, using the address established for mailing tax bills at the time of recording, for deeds, quitclaims, mortgages, and deeds of trust. The measure also authorizes an optional electronic notification program to run in parallel with mailed notices, and permits the recorder to require, as a condition of recording, that the instrument include assessor’s parcel numbers that fully contain all or part of the described property, with all APNs listed if multiple parcels exist.

Exemptions and procedural details accompany the core change: the notification requirement does not apply when the grantee is the federal government or a state or local government entity; if a notice is undeliverable, the recorder is not required to retain the returned notice and there is no liability for failure to provide notice. The measure requires counties to procure processing or mailing contracts by competitive bidding in a process that solicits bids publicly in a newspaper of general circulation and awards them to the lowest responsible bidder, with the option to reject all bids if not in the county’s best interest. It also authorizes a county to charge a fee to cover the reasonable costs of implementing and operating the program, with the fee not to be charged until at least 120 days after establishment and public notification. The measure does not apply to counties already operating a notification program under an alternative provision, preserving that county’s existing framework, and it sets a framework for state-mandated local cost reimbursement if such costs are mandated.

Context and implementation considerations: the bill characterizes the program as a state-mandated local program, subject to established reimbursement mechanisms if the state mandates local costs. A governance deadline ties implementation to county actions, requiring a board of supervisors’ authorizing resolution before operation. The approach would affect counties, property owners, lenders, and title/escrow agents by creating an additional channel for notices and a potential new data element on instruments. Los Angeles County is carved out from the general requirement if it already operates under the alternative notification framework.