DEED FEE INCREASE

Recently, California Governor Brown signed Senate Bill 2, a bill intended to address the issue of affordable housing, into law. SB 2 imposes a surcharge on recorded documents in order to raise funds for affordable housing. The new recording fee surcharge is effective commencing January 1, 2018. The current recording fee will increase by $75 per real estate instrument, per each single transaction per parcel of real property. This is in addition to other recording fees that apply to a document.

For example, in 2017, Los Angeles County recording fees are as follows:

Base fee for deed: $15

Fraud Notification Fee: $7

District Attorney Fraud Fee: $3

Each additional page: $3

For a normal Los Angeles deed, which is typically two pages long, the 2017 fee is $28.

Starting 2018, the fee for that same deed will be $103!

This law will affect all clients who have not yet transferred their real property into their trust, especially new clients who have not yet submitted their Informational Worksheet.