New AG Opinion on ROS fees

[mpallamary]

The following opinion is now available on the Attorney General's site:
Yes. A record of survey is subject to the $75 recording fee required by Government Code section 27388.1, unless an exception set forth in that statute applies.

[Warren Smith]

At last!

It appears that if a record of survey is performed for an owner-occupied property, then it will be exempt from the recording fee surcharge per the statute.

[Robert Martin]

At last!

It appears that if a record of survey is performed for an owner-occupied property, then it will be exempt from the recording fee surcharge per the statute.

Warren, can you please elaborate on this?

[David Kendall]

Warren, can you please elaborate on this?

See second to last paragraph:

That is not to say that every record of survey recorded will be subject to the section
27388.1 recording fee. Section 27388.1 contains several exceptions, including documents
relating to transfers of residential dwellings to owner-occupiers and documents recorded
by state or local government entities which apply to records of survey just as they would
to any real estate instrument

To me this means that if you put a note on your survey such as:

Exempt from SB2 Fee per §27388.1(a)(2)(B)

and the Record of Survey is performed before or after a transfer of an owner-occupied residence then it is exempt.

Furthermore, if you put a note on your survey such as:

Exempt from SB2 Fee per §27388.1(a)(2)(D)

and the recording is requested by the county surveyor or some other government agency then it is exempt.

Now we begin the lobby with the recorders association.

This AG opinion didn't really say much. For as long as they took to prepare it I was expecting more substance

[Mr. Smith]

David, from what I have seen I don't expect much from Xavier Becerra.

We can try again with the recorder, this may save our clients 75 bones, Robert you should be the first one to try with our recorder.

I have been jaded over the years, got a feeling our recorder will require the fee until months and months of County Council review,
I will go to the next Board of Supervisors with ya to bring this overcharge to light if you are game.

Brian

P.S. We are still at the mercy of the local controlling authority

[PLS7393]

Well it's nice to see an Ag Opinion, but now how many Recorder's (clerks) will accept a note on the record of survey and reduced filing fee?
I for one can not justify the attempt only to get the mylar returned with a note for insufficient funds for filing. I can easily see this happening in Alameda County, since the Recorder already returns mylar maps if they are 1/16" off on measurement.