Effective January 1, 2015, pursuant to Senate Bill 1050, all CALIFORNIA county Recorder’s Offices will require the Notary Consumer Disclosure. This bill requires a legible notice at the top in an enclosed box, stating that the Acknowledgment, or or Jurat verifies only the identity of the individual who signed the document to which the acknowledgment, or jurat is attached, and not the truthfulness, accuracy, or validity of the document.

Documents such as a Mechanics Lien or Release of Mechanics Lien where the person appeared before a notary or other officer on or after January 1, 2015 must have this disclosure or will be rejected. Documents acknowledged before January 1, 2015 will be accepted for recording and must meet current applicable statue.

PreLien2Lien will have this new notary text change incorporated into the 18.12.01 version, slated to be released after Thanksgiving.

Those unable to personally deliver Mechanic’s Liens to the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder’s Office may be surprised by the long turn-around-time. Currently, it takes 4-6 weeks from the time the Lien is received until it is recorded. Additionally, it takes another 4-6 weeks for them to mail the original paperwork back to you, and neither the Lien document nor the Indexing Information are available on the web.

On the bright side, a Conforming Copy of the original document can be sent to you within 2 weeks after recordation. Conforming Copies are non-certified copies on a lien that have all of the indexing information: Document number, date & time of recording, etc. There is no extra fee if you include an additional copy of the notice and an additional Self Addressed Stamped Envelope. Be sure to indicate that you are requesting a Conforming Copy.

For more information about all California County Recorders, click here.