Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California
What is the California statute that provides the process to withdraw my land title deed from registration at the county recorder? Other states list the procedure in the state's revised code.
2 Answers from Attorneys
There is no such law and I seriously doubt any other state has any such law. You are misinterpreting what you have found.
According to Miller & Starr's treatise on California real estate law, Civil Code section 3412 allows expungement of recorded documents when their continued appearance in the public record is likely to cause serious harm. This would take a court order, which in turn would require giving the court a substantial reason to expunge the record. In addition, the third and final paragraph of Government Code section 27361.6, which deals with some oddball technicalities in the recordation law, references the recordation of instruments which modify, release or cancel the provisions of a previously-recorded document, suggesting that short of going to court with proof that your deed will harm others if left on the record, you can record an otherwise-recordable instrument cancelling your deed. Needless to say, I have no idea why you feel you need to "withdraw" a deed and would recommend you see a real-estate lawyer about your problem. Please note that one cannot un-do the work of a deed, once a valid deed has been delivered from the grantor to the grantee, You can't, for example, give back the property by giving back the deed, or by burning it up. Civil Code section 1058.