Real estate transfer fees: recorded documents.

Existing law defines a transfer fee as a fee payment requirement imposed in any covenant, restriction, or condition contained in any deed, contract, security instrument, or other document affecting the transfer or sale of real property that requires a fee be paid upon transfer of the real property, with specified exceptions. Existing law, with regard to a transfer fee imposed upon real property on or after January 1, 2008, requires the person or entity imposing the transfer fee, as a condition of payment of the fee, to record a specified document describing the transfer fee concurrently with the instrument creating the transfer fee requirement. Existing law requires these recorded documents to include information on the amount of the fee and actual dollar examples of the fee for a residential property, among other things. Existing law requires a transferor of residential real property subject to transfer fees to make a specified disclosure regarding those fees. This bill would specify that the required information on the recorded document include the method for calculating the amount of the transfer fee, if not a flat amount or a percentage of the sales price, and include the actual dollar examples of the fee for a residential property if the amount of the fee is based on the price of the real property. The bill would also require the transferor of residential real property subject to transfer fees to make the specified disclosure regarding those fees if the recorded document describing the transfer fees has not already been provided. The bill would also clarify the definition of a transfer fee. Existing law excludes from the definition of a transfer fee any fee reflected in a document recorded against the property on or before December 31, 2007, that is separate from any covenants, conditions, and restrictions, and that provides a prospective transferee notice of specified information, including the amount or method of calculation of the fee. This bill would specify that the information shall be set forth in a single document and may not be incorporated by reference from any other document. This bill would provide that a fee reflected in a document recorded against the property on or before December 31, 2007, that is not separate from any covenants, conditions, and restrictions, or that incorporates by reference from another document, constitutes a transfer fee for the purposes of requirements relating to these fees. The bill would make unenforceable a transfer fee recorded against the property on or before December 31, 2007, that complies with the provisions described above and that incorporates by reference from another document unless it is recorded against the property on or before December 31, 2016, in a single document that complies with the provisions described above. This bill would also make a legislative finding that certain changes made by this bill are clarifying and declaratory of existing law.