Monterey County Grand Jury
• 2014-2015
Integrity of Land Records in Monterey County Photograph in the public domain.
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⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 8 findings
F1
Monterey County land records contain robo-signatures.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
Monterey County District Attorney’s Office use its Real Estate Fraud Prosecution Trust Fund budget to immediately consult with a Certified Mortgage Fraud and Forensic Docu- ment Analyst to begin a land records audit.
F2
Monterey County has no system in place to identify robo-signatures.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
Monterey County District Attorney’s Office pursue an increase for the Real Estate Fraud Prosecution Trust Fund fee to $10 per document, if needed, to fund the cost of a forensic examination.
F3
Monterey County Recorder’s Office is mandated to record all documents that appear valid on their face.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
Monterey County District Attorney’s Office, in cooperation with the Monterey County Recorder’s Office, immediately create/obtain a current list of known robo-signers.
F4
Monterey County collects $9 per document not requiring a documentary transfer tax for the Real Estate Fraud Prosecution Trust Fund.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
The Monterey County Recorder’s Office and the Monterey County District Attorney’s Of- fice work together to identify means by which fraudulent robo-signed documents can be identified early by the County and reported to the District Attorney.
F5
California Penal Code section115.5 provides for statutory penalties up to $75,000 for filing with the County Recorder fraudulent documents relating to the title of or security interest in real property.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
Monterey County District Attorney’s Office research other jurisdictions’ developing best practices that can be adapted to Monterey County to ensure land record documents are fac- tually valid.
F6
Real estate fraud concerns can be shared locally and statewide by the District Attorney’s Office participation in legal network groups. 9
Related Recommendations (1)
R6
The Monterey County District Attorney’s Office inform the developing Tri-County Task Force and the California Consumer Protection, Northern (“Berkeley”) Roundtable group about issues in land records at their next meetings.
F7
Audits have spurred other states and counties to aggressively pursue and protect their resi- dents against Real Estate Fraud.
Related Recommendations (1)
R7
Update the Monterey County District Attorney’s website to provide resources to home- owners and reflect changes in law and procedures regarding suspected fraud in land records.
F8
Monterey County District Attorney’s Prosecution Fraud website does list a Real Estate Fraud Division: http://www.co.monterey.ca.us/da/real-estate-fraud.htm.
No recommendations for this finding
Agency Responses 2
Government agencies' official responses to this report's findings and recommendations. Click on a response to see the structured breakdown.
No Responses Found 2
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Monterey County Board of Supervisors
Elected County Office
Monterey County District Attorney
Elected County Office