Section 27397.

(a) A county establishing an electronic recording delivery system under this article shall pay for the direct cost of regulation and oversight by the Attorney General.

(b) The Attorney General may charge a fee directly to a vendor seeking approval of software and other services as part of an electronic recording delivery system. The fee shall not exceed the reasonable costs of approving software or other services for vendors.

(c) In order to pay costs under this section, a county may do any of the following:

(1) Impose a fee in an amount up to and including one dollar ($1) for each instrument that is recorded by the county. This fee may, at the county's discretion, be limited to instruments that are recorded pursuant to the electronic recording delivery system.

(2) Impose a fee upon any vendor seeking approval of software and other services as part of an electronic recording delivery system.

(3) Impose a fee upon any person seeking to contract as an authorized submitter.

(d) The total fees assessed by a county recorder pursuant to this section may not exceed the reasonable total costs of the electronic recording delivery system, the review and approval of vendors and potential authorized submitters, security testing as required by this article and the regulations of the Attorney General, and reimbursement to the Attorney General for regulation and oversight of the electronic recording delivery system.

(e) Fees paid to the Attorney General pursuant to subdivisions (a) and (b) shall be deposited in the Electronic Recording Authorization Account, which is hereby created in the Special Deposit Fund, and, notwithstanding Section 13340, is continuously appropriated, without regard to fiscal years, to the Attorney General for the costs described in those subdivisions.

(Added by Stats. 2004, Ch. 621, Sec. 2. Effective September 21, 2004.)