Real Estate Fraud Prevention

In the El Dorado County Recorder-Clerk’s office, we send notification to property owners when a quitclaim deed is recorded outside of a title company.  The notification of transfer letter is sent to the property owner, as of January 1 of the given year, at the address the property tax bill was mailed.  The letter states that there has been a property transfer and if they were not aware of it to please contact our office immediately.  Because a title company guarantees title during escrow, we do not sent notification on documents recorded by title company. 

If a document is presented to the Recorder and meets recording requirements and fees are paid, the Recorder is required by statute to record the document (Government Code 27201).  Our staff reviews all document to ensure they meet recording requirements.  Documents received by mail or over the counter, if the examiner identifies something that is out of place they will refer the document to a supervisor for further review.  The supervisor will investigate the document further, which may entail reaching out to the property owner, the document preparer or presenting a copy of the document to the District Attorney’s Real Estate Fraud Division for further investigation.   

As a property owner, one of the best things you can do to protect your property is to review our recorded document index periodically.  Our indexes are available 24/7, under Official Records Index, you will search by your last name space first name.  The indexes of all recorded documents under your name will come up.  We know there are other services that offer to protect your property or notify you when these documents are recorded, but they are reactive not preventative. 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to our office at recorderclerk@edcgov.us.