(a) The fee for recording and indexing every instrument, paper, or notice required or permitted by law to be recorded shall not exceed ten dollars ($10) for recording the first page and three dollars ($3) for each additional page, to reimburse the county for the costs of services rendered pursuant to this subdivision, except the recorder may charge additional fees as follows:
(1) If the printing on printed forms is spaced more than nine lines per vertical inch or more than 22 characters and spaces per inch measured horizontally for not less than three inches in one sentence, the recorder shall charge one dollar ($1) extra for each page or sheet on which printing appears, except, however, the extra charge shall not apply to printed words that are directive or explanatory in nature for completion of the form or on vital statistics forms. Fees collected under this paragraph are not subject to subdivision (b) or (c).
(2) If a page or sheet does not conform to the dimensions described in subdivision (a) of Section 27361.5, the recorder shall charge three dollars ($3) extra per page or sheet of the document. The funds generated by the extra charge authorized under this paragraph shall be available solely to support, maintain, improve, and provide for the full operation for modernized creation, retention, and retrieval of information in each county’s system of recorded documents. Fees collected under this paragraph are not subject to subdivision (b) or (c).
(b) One dollar ($1) of each three dollar ($3) fee for each additional page shall be deposited in the county general fund.
(c) Notwithstanding Section 68085, one dollar ($1) for recording the first page and one dollar ($1) for each additional page shall be available solely to support, maintain, improve, and provide for the full operation for modernized creation, retention, and retrieval of information in each county’s system of recorded documents.
(d) (1) In addition to all other fees authorized by this section, a county recorder may charge a fee of one dollar ($1) for recording the first page of every instrument, paper, or notice required or permitted by law to be recorded, as authorized by each county’s board of supervisors. The funds generated by this fee shall be used only by the county recorder collecting the fee for the purpose of implementing a social security number truncation program pursuant to Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 27300).
(2) A county recorder shall not charge the fee described in paragraph (1) after December 31, 2017, unless the county recorder has received reauthorization by the county’s board of supervisors. A county recorder shall not seek reauthorization of the fee by the board before June 1, 2017, or after December 31, 2017. In determining the additional period of authorization, the board shall consider the review described in paragraph (4).
(3) Notwithstanding paragraph (2), a county recorder who, pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 27304, secures a revenue anticipation loan, or other outside source of funding, for the implementation of a social security number truncation program, may be authorized to charge the fee described in paragraph (1) for a period not to exceed the term of repayment of the loan or other outside source of funding.
(4) A county board of supervisors that authorizes the fee described in this subdivision shall require the county auditor to conduct two reviews to verify that the funds generated by this fee are used only for the purpose of the program, as described in Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 27300) and for conducting these reviews. The reviews shall state the progress of the county recorder in truncating recorded documents pursuant to subdivision (a) of Section 27301, and shall estimate any ongoing costs to the county recorder of complying with subdivisions (a) and (b) of Section 27301. The board shall require that the first review be completed not before June 1, 2012, or after December 31, 2013, and that the second review be completed not before June 1, 2017, or after December 31, 2017. The reviews shall adhere to generally accepted accounting standards, and the review results shall be made available to the public.
(e) Except as provided in subdivision (g) of Section 6103.8, the fee authorized by this section shall not be charged to those entities exempted from the payment of recording fees under Section 6103 or 27383.
(Amended by Stats. 2021, Ch. 77, Sec. 14. (AB 137) Effective July 16, 2021.)