Siskiyou — Real Estate Fraud Fee Announcement

Source: https://www.siskiyoucounty.gov/sites/default/files/fileattachments/assessor-recorder/page/1331/rec-20211014_recorderannouncementrealestatefraudfee.pdf

Craig S. Kay, Assessor - Recorder County of Siskiyou

311 Fourth Street ● Room 108 ● Yreka, CA 96097-2984

Assessor (530) 842-8036 ● Recorder (530) 842-8065 ● Fax (530) 842-8059

Recorder Announcement Re: Collection of Real Estate Fraud Fee

The Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors per the request of the District Attorney’s Office, adopted a Resolution (19-103), providing that effective September 1, 2019, recordable documents may be charged a fee to support the investigation and prosecution of real estate fraud.

The resolution imposes a mandate on the County Recorder to charge an additional $6 at the time of recording every real estate instrument, paper, or notice required or permitted by law to be recorded, except those expressly exempted from payment of recording fees, per each transaction per parcel of real property. Multi-title documents will be assessed a $6 fee per title.

Documents believed to be exempt from paying the $6 Real Estate Fraud fee must have an exemption on the face of the document, or on a cover page, prior to being submitted for recordation. Exemptions to the fee include: GC 27388 (a)(2)(A) – Documents accompanied by a declaration stating that the transfer is subject to a documentary transfer tax (DTT); GC 27388 (a)(2)(B) – Documents recorded concurrently with a document subject to a documentary transfer tax (DTT); GC 27388 (a)(2)(C) – Documents presented for recording within the same business day as, and is related to the recording of, a document subject to a documentary transfer tax(DTT); the document that is exempt under this subparagraph shall be accompanied by a statement that includes both of the following: (i) A statement that the document is exempt from the fee imposed under GC 27388(a)(1) (ii) A statement of the recording date and the recorder identification number of the previously recorded document.

Failure to declare an exemption will result in the imposition of the Real Estate Fraud fee. Fees collected are deposited quarterly to the County Auditor, to be placed in the Real Estate Fraud Prosecution Trust Fund and may not be available for refund.

This information is being offered for those needing to prepare closing disclosures for transactions to be recorded after September 1, 2019. Please contact Recording Staff at (530) 842-8065 with questions, and be cognizant of the fact that this is a Resolution passed by the Board of Supervisors at the request of the District Attorney’s Office.

V-1.0 9/01/19

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