State records guide
Property title search in California
Facts below are taken from official California sources, including enrolled bill texts dated in each source line, county and court pages, each linked, each checked on the date shown. General information, not legal advice.
California records deeds with the county recorder in 58 counties. A power of sale clause lets a lender foreclose without court, and the courts' guide says no buyback follows that sale. Tax-defaulted parcels can be sold by the tax collector, and redemption ends before the sale. California is a community property state with revocable transfer on death deeds.
What a California title search has to account for
| Where deeds are recorded | The recorder, on payment of proper fees and taxes, accepts an instrument authorized or required by statute, court order or a related local ordinance, if it has enough information to be indexed, meets recording requirements and is photographically reproducible. Source: Government Code sec. 27201 (AB 1642, 2012, enrolled text), checked 2026-11-06. |
|---|---|
| Recording jurisdictions | California has 58 counties, so the search runs in the county where the property sits. Source: California Air Resources Board, California Counties, checked 2026-11-06. |
| Mortgage foreclosure process | When a mortgage or deed of trust has a power of sale clause, a lender can foreclose without going to court, and the courts' guide says most mortgages have one. Judicial foreclosure through the superior court is also available. Source: California Courts Self-Help Guide, Guide to foreclosures, checked 2026-11-06. |
| Redemption after a mortgage foreclosure sale | The courts' guide says there is no right to buy the home back after a nonjudicial sale. After a judicial foreclosure sale the former owner has 3 months if the sale paid the debt in full, or 1 year if it did not. An association's nonjudicial sale has a separate statutory right. Source: California Courts Self-Help Guide, Guide to foreclosures, checked 2026-11-06. |
| Delinquent property tax sales | Contra Costa County says a parcel tax-defaulted for five or more years becomes subject to the tax collector's power to sell, and may be sold at public auction or otherwise conveyed to new ownership. The State Controller sets three years for nonresidential commercial property unless the county adopts five. Source: Contra Costa County Treasurer-Tax Collector, Redemption (defaulted) Taxes, checked 2026-11-06. |
| Redemption after a tax sale | The owner can redeem by paying everything owed up to the close of business on the last business day before the tax collector's sale. Once the sale happens, the redemption right has ended. Source: Contra Costa County Treasurer-Tax Collector, Redemption (defaulted) Taxes, checked 2026-11-06. |
| Transfer-on-death deed | The linked 2015 act authorized a revocable transfer on death deed for one to four unit residential property, a condominium unit or a qualifying agricultural tract, for transferors who die on or after January 1, 2016. The deed makes a donative transfer to a named beneficiary, takes effect on the owner's death and stays revocable until then. Later acts in 2018, 2021 and 2023 amended this part, so the property it covers is set by the current sections. Source: Probate Code sec. 5600 and 5614 (AB 139, 2015, chaptered text), checked 2026-11-06. |
| Marital property system | California is a community property state. The courts' divorce guide describes community property as what spouses own or owe together during the marriage, and generally keeps separate property with its owner. Source: California Courts Self-Help Guide, Property and debts in a divorce, checked 2026-11-06. |
| HOA assessment lien priority | In the 2012 text, an association assessment lien is prior to all other liens recorded after its notice of delinquent assessment, and the governing declaration can subordinate it further. It does not state a fixed number of months of assessments. Source: Civil Code sec. 5680 (AB 805, 2012, chaptered text), checked 2026-11-06. |
Where are deeds recorded in California?
California has 58 counties, and the search is run in the county where the property sits. Government Code section 27201, in the 2012 text linked above, has the recorder accept for recordation, on payment of proper fees and taxes, an instrument authorized or required by statute, court order or a related local ordinance, if it has enough information to be indexed, meets state and local recording requirements and is photographically reproducible.
The report traces the chain of title as far back as the county's records go, with document images of the key instruments, and verifies findings with the assessor, tax office, recorder and courts.
How does a California foreclosure reach the auction block?
The California courts' guide says that when a mortgage or deed of trust has a power of sale clause, a lender can foreclose without going to court, that most mortgages have one, and that nonjudicial foreclosures are the most common type. It describes recorded notices of default and sale before a public auction. Judicial foreclosure through the superior court remains available.
The auction title research package reports the foreclosing lien's position and the liens that would survive, in dollars. Association liens have their own rule: Section 5680 of the Civil Code, in the 2012 text linked above, makes an assessment lien prior to all other liens recorded after the notice of delinquent assessment, and the declaration may subordinate it further. It gives no priority over a deed of trust recorded earlier.
Can a former owner redeem after a California foreclosure sale?
Not after a lender's trustee's sale, on the courts' guide, which says a former owner does not have the right to buy the home back after a nonjudicial sale. Two other rules differ. Section 5715(b) of the Civil Code, in the 2012 text, makes an association's nonjudicial foreclosure subject to a right of redemption that ends 90 days after the sale, for debts arising on and after January 1, 2006. Federal law, 26 U.S.C. 7425(d), gives the United States 120 days or the local period, whichever is longer, where it held a lien.
After a judicial foreclosure sale, the guide gives the former owner 3 months to buy the home back if the sale paid off all that was owed, and 1 year if it did not. The report flags which kind of sale appears in the chain, and the client's attorney applies the period.
What happens to a California parcel with unpaid property taxes?
The State Controller's guidance on Chapter 7 tax sales says property in tax default for five years or more, or three years or more for nonresidential commercial property, becomes subject to the power of sale. A county can adopt the five year schedule for that commercial property, and the guidance describes separate three year requests for nuisance abatement liens and for nonprofit and public agency purchases. Sales can be by public auction or sealed bid, and Contra Costa County adds that the property may be sold at public auction or otherwise conveyed to new ownership, and that an installment plan can avoid the power to sell status.
The owner may redeem, on Contra Costa County's page, by paying every delinquent amount, penalty and fee up to the close of business on the last business day before the sale, and that the right then ends. The report for a tax-sale parcel states the surviving liens, taxes and assessments in dollars for the bidder's attorney.
How does title pass at death in California?
California recognizes the revocable transfer on death deed under Probate Code section 5600 onward. The linked 2015 act made it a donative transfer that takes effect at the owner's death and stays revocable until then. The Law Revision Commission's page on the follow-up study records later acts, 2018 Cal. Stat. ch. 65 and 2021 Cal. Stat. ch. 215, and its stock cooperative study page records Assembly Bill 288 as enacted, 2023 Cal. Stat. ch. 62. The Senate Judiciary Committee analysis of that bill describes the law as authorizing these deeds until January 1, 2032, and the bill as defining real property to include a separate interest in a stock cooperative. The property types, signing rules and recording rules have changed since the 2015 text, so read the current sections for any given deed.
The 2015 text also sets conditions on the record: section 5628 made a later executed deed the operative one, section 5652(a) has a beneficiary's interest lapse without survival, and section 5652(b) keeps the property subject to record limitations such as liens, easements and leases. Section 5690 addresses contests. Where no such deed, trust or survivorship vesting exists, the probate title search finds the decedent's property by name and reports vesting at death and how title passes.
Why does community property matter in a California title search?
California is on the IRS list of community property states. The courts' divorce guide describes community property as what spouses own or owe together during the marriage, generally keeps separate property with its owner, and treats property from a time spent outside California as quasi-community property. Whose interest a given parcel carries is a legal question that a deed may not answer on its face.
The report reads the chain of title with images and reports the marital status stated on each deed and any recorded interspousal deed it finds. How a gap is resolved is for the parties and their counsel.
Which package fits a California property?
Every package covers California property wherever it is recorded. Pick by situation:
- Probate law firm: Find every property a decedent held, how it was vested and what has to be paid before it passes. $595 per estate.
- Real estate law firm: A preliminary report with schedule-style exceptions and print-ready exhibits for your matter. $695 per property.
- Builders and developers: Multi-parcel research on access, easements, restrictions, mineral reservations and entity ownership. $995 first parcel.
- Auction buyer: Know the total cost to own, which liens survive the sale and whether to bid at all. $395 for 1 property.
- Home buyer: Confirm the seller owns the home and learn what has to be cleared before you pay. $449 per property.
- Home seller: Find the old mortgage, judgment or name mismatch before a buyer's title company does. $449 per property.
Questions about a title search in California
Which office records a deed in California?
The county recorder. California has 58 counties, and the search runs in the county where the property sits. Under Government Code section 27201, in the 2012 text linked above, the recorder accepts on payment of proper fees and taxes an instrument authorized by statute, court order or a related local ordinance, if it meets the indexing, recording and reproduction requirements the section lists.
Can a California lender foreclose without going to court?
Yes, when the mortgage or deed of trust contains a power of sale clause, and the courts' guide says most do. The guide describes recorded notices and a sale at public auction, with no court case. A lender may instead file a judicial foreclosure in the superior court.
Is there a redemption period after a California trustee's sale?
On a lender's sale, no: the California courts' guide says a former owner has no right to buy the home back after a nonjudicial sale. Section 5715(b) of the Civil Code, in the 2012 text, gives 90 days after an association's nonjudicial sale, and federal law gives the United States its own period. After a judicial sale the guide gives 3 months if the sale paid the debt in full or 1 year if it did not.
How long does an owner have to redeem tax-defaulted property in California?
On Contra Costa County's page, until the close of business on the last business day before the tax collector's sale, by paying all delinquent taxes, penalties and fees. The State Controller's guidance puts the power to sell at five years or more of default, or three or more for nonresidential commercial property unless the county adopts five, with separate three year requests.
Does California have a transfer on death deed?
Yes. Probate Code section 5600 onward provides a revocable transfer on death deed that takes effect at the owner's death and stays revocable until then. Acts in 2018, 2021 and 2023 amended the 2015 law, the last bringing in stock cooperative interests, and the Senate Judiciary Committee's analysis describes the deed as authorized until January 1, 2032. Read the current sections for a given deed.
Does a California homeowners association lien come ahead of the first mortgage?
Not by section 5680's terms. In the 2012 text linked above, an assessment lien is prior only to liens recorded after the association's notice of delinquent assessment, and the declaration can subordinate it further. An association's nonjudicial sale carries a separate 90 day redemption right under section 5715(b).