Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

This is pretty much accurate. The documents on record are available to the public for inspection and copies can be purchased. On rare occasions, a court may order the recorder to physically expunge something from the record, or the recorder may re-index a document that was indexed incorrectly, but except when the Hall of Records burns to the ground, as used to happen occasionally, the records are permanent.

I would caution about making firm conclusions about matters such as property ownership and the like based upon what you find in the recorder's records. First, searching records is a skill, and unless you are a seasoned title examiner, mistakes are rather possible. Also, many matters affecting title and so forth won't be in the record -- unrecorded deeds, pro tanto interests of a spouse, equitable interests, and so on.

Also, "title to property" is not a document you can look up, like title to an automobile is a document issued by the DMV. Sure, you can look up the most-recent deed to 123 Main St., but the deed and "title" are separate concepts and the deed, good as it looks, may not tell you what a full title search would; and further, the full title search is not necessarily the last word on the subject.

I agree completely with Mr. Whipple. The possibility of mistakes in title searches and unrecorded interests is why title insurance companies make money.

The records are permanent. A matter is only corrected or cleared by recordation of a subsequent document that relates to the earlier document.