Form REC450, Restrictive Covenant Modification – San Diego County, CA

Form REC450, Restrictive Covenant Modification (Unlawfully Restrictive Covenant – Government Code Section 12955), is the San Diego County Recorder/County Clerk form recorded to redact a restrictive covenant that violates fair housing laws from a previously recorded document.

The form states that the referenced document contains a restrictive covenant based on age, race, color, religion, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, sexual orientation, familial status, marital status, disability, veteran or military status, genetic information, national origin, source of income as defined in Section 12955 of the Government Code, or ancestry. It declares that restriction void and says the modification is recorded under Section 12956.2 of the Government Code solely to redact and eliminate it.

You identify the original document on the form by the page(s) where the covenant appears, the date it was recorded, and its book and page or instrument number in the official records of the County of San Diego, California. A true, correct and complete copy of that document, with the unlawful covenant redacted, is attached.

Two further statements are printed on the form: the modification is indexed in the same manner as the original document, under subdivision (d) of Section 12956 of the Government Code, and its effective date is the same as that of the original document.

The bottom of the form holds a County Counsel block. County Counsel, or a designee, states either that the original contains an unlawful restriction and the modification may be recorded, or that it does not (or that the modification contains unauthorized changes) and the modification may not be recorded.

The form is for the party asking the San Diego County Recorder to record a modification that removes an unlawful restrictive covenant from a recorded document. The form lists who may have requested the review of the restrictive language:

• a person who has an ownership interest in the property covered by the document, or is acquiring one;
• a title company, escrow company, real estate broker, real estate agent or other party, whose individual or company name is entered on the form;
• the San Diego County Recorder.

The property must be covered by a document recorded in the official records of the County of San Diego. The submitting party signs the form and prints their name.

The form is not a way to remove any restriction at will. It applies to covenants of the types listed in Government Code Section 12955 as printed on the form, and County Counsel may find that the original document contains no unlawful restriction, or that the modification makes changes that are not authorized. In either case the form states that the modification may not be recorded.

Use Form REC450 when a recorded document covering your property contains a restrictive covenant of the kinds listed on the form and you want it redacted from the record. No separate due date is printed on the form.

Before you complete it, have the recording details of the original document ready: the page(s) where the covenant appears, the date it was recorded, and its book and page or instrument number. The modification is recorded only if County Counsel, or a designee, determines on the form that the original contains an unlawful restriction.

Once recorded, the effective date of the modification is the same as that of the original document, and the modification is indexed in the same manner as the original.

The San Diego County Recorder/County Clerk takes documents for recording in person at its offices and by mail. These are the channels described on its recording page.

• In person: record at the downtown San Diego, Chula Vista, Santee or San Marcos office. The recording service is not available at the Kearny Mesa office, and appointments are not required.
• By mail, overnight or express: San Diego Recorder/County Clerk, 590 3rd Avenue, Suite 204, Chula Vista, CA 91910.
• By mail, standard U.S. Mail: San Diego Recorder/County Clerk, P.O. Box 121750, San Diego, CA 92112-1750.

By mail, send the original document with a check or money order payable to San Diego Recorder/County Clerk. The Recorder's page says documents must be submitted with the proper fees and taxes and refers to its fee schedule for the amounts; card payments are accepted in person only. For questions, call the Recorder's staff at (619) 238-8158 (se habla español). FillingPDF lets you fill out and download the PDF; submission follows the channels above.