(a) (1) Following adoption of an authorizing resolution by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, the Los Angeles County Recorder, or a designee or designees authorized by the board of supervisors, may notify one or more of the following by mail:
(A) The party or parties executing a deed, quitclaim deed, or deed of trust, within 30 days of recordation.
(B) The party or parties subject to a notice of default or notice of sale, including the occupants of that property, within 5 days, but in any event no more than 14 days, of recordation.
(2) The recorder may require, as a condition of recording, that a deed, quitclaim deed, deed of trust, notice of default, or notice of sale indicate the assessor’s identification number or numbers that fully contain all, or a portion of, the real property described in the legal description. If the description contains more than one assessor’s parcel, all assessor’s parcels shall be indicated. The form of the entry shall be substantially as follows: Assessor’s Identification Number __-__-__.
(b) This section shall not apply to the recordation of any document where the federal government, or state, county, city, or any subdivision of the state acquires title.
(c) The failure of the county recorder to provide the notice as permitted by this section shall not result in any liability against the recorder or the county. In the event that the notice is returned to the recorder by the postal service as undeliverable, the recorder is not required to retain the returned notice.
(d) Where the county recorder contracts with any party or parties for the performance of the processing or the mailing of the notice, or both, as authorized by this section, the contract shall be awarded by competitive bid. The county recorder shall solicit written bids for the contract in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, and all bids received shall be publicly opened and the contract awarded to the lowest responsible bidder. If the county recorder or his or her designee deems the acceptance of the lowest responsible bid is not in the best interest of the county, all bids may be rejected.
(e) If the board of supervisors adopts an authorizing resolution, pursuant to subdivision (a), that includes notification of the parties described in subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a), the County of Los Angeles shall, on or before January 1, 2019, submit a report to the Senate Committee on Judiciary and the Assembly Committee on Local Government that shall include, but not be limited to, the following information:
(1) A copy of each type of notice mailed pursuant to subparagraph (B) of paragraph (1) of subdivision (a).
(2) The number of filed notices of default and notices of sale for which a fee was collected pursuant to Section 27387.1.
(3) The amount of fees collected, pursuant to Section 27387.1, for the filing of notices of default and notices of sale.
(4) The amount of fees spent to provide housing information, counseling, and assistance, described in Section 27387.1.
(5) Documented examples showing how the county’s homeowner notification program led to successful investigations of real estate fraud activity, referrals to prosecuting agencies, avoided foreclosures, or helped property owners and residents avoid falling victim to real estate fraud.
(6) An evaluation of whether the county’s homeowner notification program, in comparison to other available policy tools in the County of Los Angeles, is a cost-effective approach to combating real estate fraud and reducing foreclosures.
(7) An evaluation of whether the county’s homeowner notification program is an effective way to inform tenants of an impending foreclosure and to combat abusive post-foreclosure practices by property owners.
(8) An assessment of how the county’s homeowner notification program compares to real estate fraud and foreclosure prevention programs being implemented in at least three other large, urban California counties.
(f) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2020, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2020, deletes or extends that date.
(Amended (as amended by Stats. 2011, Ch. 141, Sec. 1) by Stats. 2014, Ch. 65, Sec. 1. (SB 827) Effective January 1, 2015. Repealed as of January 1, 2020, by its own provisions. See later operative version, as amended by Sec. 2 of Stats. 2014, Ch. 65.)
Last modified: October 25, 2018