According to an employee at a county recorder’s office, the trustee must include at the top of any TDUS they prepare the following 3 items: (1) the party requesting the recording, (2) where the deed should be mailed, and (3) where tax information should be sent. Otherwise, it will not be accepted for recording.
Issue 1: I’ve seen a proposed unsigned TDUS (e-mailed but not yet signed+mailed) that is missing item 1. Should the trustee add it, or can/should the buyer add it before recording? Who should be listed as the party requesting the recording?
According to the employee, if no obvious problem such as the above is found at the time of initial submission, the deed will be immediately recorded, and a certified copy can be provided to the buyer on the spot. However, the original deed must then still be reviewed by various departments for any other possible errors (such as what?), which supposedly takes weeks, after which the original deed is mailed back.
Issue 2: If an error is found during that lengthy review, could the deed have to be corrected and recorded again? If this happens > 15 days after the sale, can it be done without the TDUS losing the priority of its original recording date
I have added or changed all 3 of these areas and the vesting on a TDUS prior to recording and never had one questioned or rejected. I have used the old fashoined cut and paste method. It is usually on page one and not on the signature page with the notary stamp and siganture which should be wet signed.
I have also recorded a deed after the TDUS to correct the errors or change the vesting in the TDUS. Have sold or refinanced all of the properties and never had anyone question the changes for the corrective deed.
Richard, I appreciate your comments. Some follow-up questions:
By “cut and paste”, do you mean literally pasting a piece of paper with the new information over the old or missing information?
It makes sense that the 3 items at the top could be added or changed after the deed is signed, since they are merely extra information / instructions for the recorder, rather than part of the deed itself. Presumably no recording need ever be requested by anyone, in which case two of the items would never apply, and the last item (address for tax bills) can be provided separately.
However, since vesting concerns the substance of the deed, is it really legally valid to change it without the trustee signing again? If so, can such changes only be properly made by the originally named vesting party, and must that party sign or initial (similar to endorsing a check)?
When you’ve changed the vesting directly on the TDUS, how have you done so, e.g., by crossing out or covering up [old name] and writing [new name]?
If you ever needed to make corrections or changes after the TDUS was recorded, did you always create a new deed (rather than changing and resubmitting the previously recorded one)? Can you please give some examples of corrections / changes you’ve made in that situation, and how you did so?
I use an avery type label to print the information I want to change, paste it on the deed, scan it, print it and then record it. If you are concerned about the legality of making changes, simply record a 2nd deed with the information you want. We have received deeds with errors in how our names are spelled, so I think making a correction to a typo does not change the legal vestee, just makes it correct. I see corrective deeds all the time. Your choice, whatever you are the most comfortable with.
Thank you for the further clarification. I’d definitely prefer it if directly editing an existing deed is permitted without any involvement of the trustee. I was hoping to confirm what the actual strict legal rules are. I’d appreciate any comments about where that answer can be found (if no one here knows it already).
In a recent transaction, I did not set up my trust, trustee vesting correctly. Later, upon the subsequent sale, my title company insisted that I had to get a new Trustee Deed issued by the foreclosing trustee to correct the vesting. I specifically asked if I could just record a Correction Deed like a mispelling. They insisted on the Trustee issuing a corection of Trustee Deed, signed by them with new notary.
Luckily the trustee, Recontrust, was very nice about sending out a new Trustee deed and I got it within 10 days ( before I had to close).