It is common for people to make mistakes on their deeds. Fortunately, in California, property owners can use a Corrective Deed to correct any error to a recorded deed. Errors should be corrected as soon as possible. Doing so will reduce setbacks in the transfer of real property later on. Read on to learn more about how to correct an error on a California deed.
Common Deed Errors
A mistake to the deed occurs when there are misspellings, errors in legal descriptions and/or title, errors in the property address or when a wrong form of co-ownership is used. An error in the execution of the deed may also occur when the wrong form of notary acknowledgment is used or when all parties do not properly sign the deed. As mentioned above, any error in a deed should be corrected as soon as possible.
“I contacted a local title company and they referred me to A People’s Choice. They were able to quickly prepare a correction deed to fix the mistake. Great service at a cheap price.” S. Hartley
“I did not know what to do when I received a call from the Recorder’s office telling me that the deed I prepared was not correct. I did not know how to fix it or who to call.” S. Hartley
Need to Correct Error on California Deed?
How to Correct an Error on a California Deed
If the deed has not been signed or recorded, you can easily correct an error on a California deed before the deed is recorded with the County Recorder’s office. In order to correct an error on a California deed, you will need to revise or modify the language in the deed to remove the error. If your deed has been signed and recorded, you will need to complete a Correction Deed or a Scrivener’s Affidavit to correct the error. Based on the type of error, you will need to decide the best process to correct the error.
A Corrective Deed is used to fix/correct an error on a California deed which has already been recorded. This type of deed does not create a new interest. The Corrective Deed will correct the deed document on the earlier transfer of interest. For example, if you sign and record a deed that misspells your last name, you can correct an error on a California deed utilizing a Corrective Deed to revise the error.
In comparison, a Scrivener’s Affidavit is a sworn statement signed by the person who created the incorrect deed. Unlike a Correction Deed, a Scrivener’s Affidavit doesn’t actually “correct” anything. Instead, it simply adds information to the property records to help clarify something about the earlier deed. Compared to a Corrective Deed or Correction Deed, A Scrivener’s Affidavit has very limited use. A Corrective Deed must be signed by the original transferor or transferors and includes all the information on a single document. A Corrective Deed provides much more detail than a Scrivener’s Affidavit. You should only use a Scrivener Affidavit when there are no substantive changes that are required, but rather it is simply necessary to provide other information that will resolve a potential title issue.
How to Create a Correction Deed
You can correct an error on a California deed through a Correction Deed or Corrective Deed. Usually deed errors are as a result of someone attempting to prepare a deed without proper knowledge or professional help. In this regard, to avoid further mistakes, you can inexpensively hire the services of a legal document assistant such as A People’s Choice to make sure the correction deed is prepared properly and actually “fixes” the problem. In order to create a correction deed, a copy of the deed originally filed is created with the additional words “Corrective” or “Correction” next to the title. When the Correction Deed is prepared, the error made in the earlier deed should be fixed. For example, if your last name was misspelled, your name should be entered with the proper spelling in the Correction deed where appropriate. If the address, AP Number or legal description had an error, make whatever changes necessary to correct these items. Next, somewhere in the body of the deed, you will need to provide an explanation about why the deed is being modified. This explanation can also be placed in the upper right hand part of the document below the recording stamp area if there is room. It is important to provide all information about the previous recorded deed such as how the title was taken, as well as all recording information. This would include the recording date and document Instrument Number as well and the exact change you are making to the deed.
What is a Scrivener’s Affidavit?
As mentioned above, a Scrivener’s Affidavit is a sworn statement made by the person who drafted the deed. The affidavit statement is to provide other information to the property records to clarify information contained in the earlier deed. It is important to keep in mind that this type of affidavit should only be used when more information is needed to describe the recorded document. If an error is on the deed, it is best to use a Correction Deed to make a revision.
Contact A People’s Choice for more information on how to correct an error on a California deed. Title errors can create major problems if they are not corrected, and could impact a sale or distribution of property after death of an owner. A People’s Choice has over 35 years experience preparing Corrective Deeds and other types of legal documents. We have established a long-standing reputation for professional work and often receive referrals from title companies to help people with these matters. Call us today at 800-747-2780.
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Hi,
I am a real estate agent and I helped my buyers to purchase a property in Sacramento county. While recording the deed the title company gave wrong Lot number in legal description. Now the county is asking for re recording with correct lot number. The sellers are not co operating to resign. The title company is making numerous attempt to reach the sellers to get re signed. What can the buyers legally do to get this resolved. Help is much appreciated.
Thanks
I would think this is the title company’s responsibility to resolve.
I was refinancing my house and noticed on the grant deed shows my title as single instead of married as sole proprietor. I purchased the property in 2015 when I was single but married in 2018. My loan officer assured me that it was no problem to list as single now since that was how I had it before . My husband is willing to sign a quit claim deed to me if we correct it back to my legal marital status.
We can certainly help you prepare a transfer deed if you would like.
HI Sndy,
Earlier today I recorded two Grant Deeds for property I own’ simply placing the properties I own as simple and fee into my own Living Trust I created months ago. But when I got home, I realized I made one very small error on each deed and I wonder if it needs to be fixed and if so how I might fix it cheaply.
…For the Grantee, I put John P. Jones Family Trust instead of John P. Jones Living Trust which is the exact name of my trust.
What should I do? Must I file new corrective deeds just to change the word “family” to “Living” or could I file an Affidavit which would save me over $200 in new recording fees?
– Tim at tdkenworthy24@comcast.net
Probably a corrective deed would be best to make sure title is exactly as it should be.
What if the former spouse will no sign the corrective deed?
Sometimes you can file a motion to have the judge order the Court Clerk to sign on their behalf. Give us a call for help with this paperwork.
I am involved in an easement dispute where the other party used a corrective deed to remove our easement clause from their property description. Can you comment on whether that is a proper use of a corrective deed? It doesn’t seem proper that a person can lose an easement by a simple document filing; no hearing, no review by a judge and no notification to the party that is losing their easement.
I would try to get some legal advice regarding this issue. You are correct, this does not make sense. You may have to file a lawsuit.
I purchased a property with my brother with 50/50 shares. The deed was under his name only, in order to transfer 50% to me , we filed a quit claim deed from him to me and completed a preliminary change of ownership report, listing the property address and only 50% interest transfer to me (page 2 of form BOE-502A in CA).
Since the quit claim deed form had an error and did not show the 50% (only the preliminary change show) the incorrect new deed is recorded 100% to me and the county treasurer re assessed the new property tax.
Will filing corrective deed to correct this issue back to 50/50?
Also will it remove the new assessed property tax?
Many thanks.
Sam
We could certainly help you prepare a corrective deed. I am not sure how it would affect any reassessment issues. You can always talk to the County Assesor once the corrective deed is recorded. I have known situations where they have reversed a reassessment when an error has been made.
What do I do if my husband told me I was signing to be added to the title of our home that we have lived in for 9 years – because he was refinancing and we were now married. To only discover months later that what I signed was giving up my rights to the house- giving him sole ownership as a separate property that he bought before marriage – which the downpayment was my 401k – we have been together for 13 years but only married for almost 3 years. We have a 10 year old child together but he also has a Child on his own – so I will have nothing if he dies. How do I fix this? It seems unfair when I paid the down payment and we have lived together in the home since it was purchased and raised our child to be excluded from the rights to the home in the event of a divorce or death
You can address this issue in your divorce. Save your supporting paperwork so you can prove where the funds went, how mortgage payments were made etc. Let us know if you need help with. my divorce paperwork. 800-747-2780.
I am a realtor and I have a situation that occurred in 2005 as follows:
Monica and Luis offered to buy one half of Margaret’s property on October 30, 2005 for $330,000.00 and closed December 27, 2005. Monica is the granddaughter of Margaret. The Purchase Contract was only for one half interest because Monica and Luis could not afford to buy the whole one unit propertyand so an Addendum was done to specifically state that: “Buyers’ to Grant Deed 1/2 interest back to Seller based on $ 660K at 10/30/2005’s market value. Buyers are purchasing 1/2 interest for $330K and full transfer is being done to facilitate a clean and easy transfer by the title Company”. This Addendum was signed by buyers and sellers. Because it was a 1/2 sale only, the second Grand Deed was dated July 20, 2006 to allow for aging on loan requirements. In the meantime, during this waiting period, the Title Company forgot to do the signing and recording of the second Grant Deed to reinstate Margaret as a 50% owner (Tenants in Common). The Tax Dept. questioned the low sale and it was explained as a 1/2 sale only and the transfer was properly done with their records showing (The Recorder’s Office) as a 50/50 ownership between Margaret, Monica and Luis. In March 2018, Margaret went to the Recorder’s Office to check on recordings being done by the Licea’s and discovered that the Licea’s have made another Grant Deed (using the interim Grant Deed that was supposed to be corrected) to transfer the property to their names from their names in an effort to lose the name of Margaret as the original Grantor on the December 2005 Grant Deed.
In summary, we have two situations where the Recorder’s Office shows Margaret as a 50% owner while Monica and Luis are presenting the interim Grant Deed that is silent as to percentage of ownership to appear as 100%. A recent check with the Title Company showed that they have an outstanding loan of $650K while the latest Appraisal showed a value of $ 1M so they have exceeded their 1/2 share to the bank by presenting the interim Grant Deed and the Grant Deed transferring title from themselves to themselves as 100%. What is required is to put Margaret’ss name on title and what is the best way to do that? Through a ‘Corrective Deed” or a “Scrivener’s Affidavit? Your guidance will be appreciated and we will do the required form through your company. Thank you.
Our office would not be able to advise you on this. Our role is preparing legal documents, but you would need to know what exactly it is that you want prepared. If you need legal advice, you may want to contact an attorney to get some specific direction. Once you know what path you want to take, you can then contact our office to prepare the paperwork.
Hello Sandy,
I helped an older gentleman prepare a trust via available online Trust forms. He had a very simple small estate. Trust has been enforce for over 14 years. The Grantor passed away recently, and both he and I were listed as Co-Trustees. Now I am the “Surviving Co-Trustee”. Here is my question. As you know, when a trust has been established, it must be funded by putting the titles of all ownership items into the Trust name. i.e.: Bank accounts, vehicles and real property. We were told to go down to the court house and use a Trust transfer Deed to transfer his real property into the name of the Trust.This we did a number of years ago, however it has been brought to my attention by a Title company officer that just Granting to the Trust name (for example: “The So-in-So Living Trust” is not sufficient. They said it should have been granted to” John Smith & Jane Doe, Co-Trustees of The So-in-So Living Trust dated such in such” The recorders office recorded the deed and I have in my possession a copy of the legally recorded Trust Transfer deed in the above mentioned manner.(“The So-in-So Living Trust”)
To my way of thinking, I am in possession of the legal and original Trust document that clearly spells out who the Trustees are. However, the title company rep seems to think if the property is ever sold in the future and a title company does a background check, that this would throw up what they called a “Clouded Title”. I can understand where this might happen, however providing a recorded copy of a trust certificate, or original Trust document one would think it should suffice.
With all this in mind, do you think I can file a Scrivener’s Affidavit to further clarify or correct this? In researching California’s “Corrective Deed” requirements, it only mentions minor errors such as misspelled names or illegible signatures and the like. My situation doesn’t seems to qualify for a Corrective Deed since I can no longer get the original Grantor’s signature.
Do you feel this has to be a Probate issue and if so, could a Heggstad Petition be filed to correct it? (Yes, I have been researching for weeks and weeks. LOL) Many thinks in advance for your reply
It sounds like a Heggstad Petition might work which we could certainly help you with; however I would run your situation by an attorney first to see what direction they migiht point you in then give us a call and we can help with the paperwork.
We have a property where the title company funded our loan it had two parcel numbers and one legal description. We only sold one parcel for the front property and kept the second.
Well guess what happened the title company did not do a COC or divide the property and correct the legal. They funded the entire property sold to the person in the front and the investor who owns his mortgage.
Title is stating they will not continue to fix this issue, that they created…. is this normal? We are looking to have an attorney to help us sue them.
My family has been through a ton and we need your help!
You would definitely need to get a real estate attorney involved. I am not sure where you are located but you may want to contact Bruce Paller Esq at 805-654-1010. He handles a lot of real estate litigation matters.
Thank you for the information this is helpful; but we still have a question. We have a lender who is being required by the investor to have the Deed of Trust re-executed because the notary acknowledgment did not reflect the borrower’s middle initial and the borrower signed with the middle initial. This is not a “substantive” change in our opinion, would a Scrivner’s Affidavit suffice? We are being told that a new Deed of Trust must be executed and a reconveyance instrument be executed to remove the original Deed of Trust.
I cannot advise you whether a Scrivner’s Affidavit would suffice. This is usually an issue that a title company would assess and make a determination on. If you are being told that a new document needs to be recorded I would assume that is coming from either the title company or the bank itself. Most likely you will need to comply. You may want to check with the title company or an attorney for further direction.
i am helping a previous client of mine who purchased a home in 2001. i was able to give then a Fha loan insured by Hud. In 2006 they fell behind on their payments and were offered a second mtg, an equity line of credit. they were given a $20,000 initial draw of which at the close of escrow $4,000.00 was taken off , not sure were it went, however the amount of their draw was $16,000.00. The investor did not open escrow with a title company and had the escrow done at his office. in the end the borrowers ended up with /$3,000. cash. when he questioned the amount the investor said $9,000 went to the first mtg to bring it current. so the additional $4,000.00 must have been closing cost etc. but what happened to the $4,000 they deducted from his initial draw of $20,000.00 . that is $8,000.00 left on the table and i have tried to get a final hud 1, however no escrow was opened. i have copies of the estimated closing statement. nothing in the file shows the investors signature on the loan papers and closing papers. my client only received partial forms signed by him.
in 2008 my clients got behind on their second mortgage, total amount owing was $688.00 on the notice of default and the intent to sell. the nod also showed that they were behind on the senior loan. i have proof from the lender that they were not behind on the 1st mtg. so the investor sold the second on the steps and he was the only bidder and highest bidder. the investor now owns the second. but the investor thinks he owns the home. by the way my clients never received a nod, notice to sell and never heard from the investr regarding being three payment
my clients continued to make the payments on the first, which included taxes and insurance since the trustee sale on the second. so nine years later the investor writes them a letter stating that they want to give him back ownership of the home if he will pay them $25,000.00, even though they do not owe him anything on the second. so i call this extortion. if you don’t pay you won’t get ownership back. sorry investor the first mtg has ownership rights and the borrowers have a note and deed of trust secured by the property the investor thinks he owns. my borrowers have equitable rights
in reviewing the Deed of Trust the other day i realized that they do not have the correct address on the recorded deed of trust. does that make it unenforceable, according to California law it is unenforceable. what should i do next. i am not a lawyer
When a lender forecloses on a second trust deed, they do, in fact, take ownership of the real property subject to senior mortgages. It would seem that the investor is correct when they indicate that they own the home after foreclosure. If your client was continuing to pay the first trust deed, that certainly would be strange for over nine years. I would suggest you encourage your client to talk to an attorney right away. It sounds like this dispute will have to be litigated through the court system.
Please post a sample CORRECTIVE DEED. Thanks.
All of our documents are custom prepared. We do not have a “sample” to post. Please call us if you’d like help in preparing a corrective deed.