Building Homes and Jobs Act Basics

SB2 Building Homes and Jobs Act forms:

The California Legislature passed and the Governor signed Senate Bill 2, Chapter 2.5 of the Statutes of 2017 changing that effective January 1, 2018, recordable documents may be charged a fee to support the Building Homes and Jobs Act.

The bill imposes a mandate on County Recorders to charge an additional $75 at the time of recording every real estate instrument, paper, or notice required or permitted by law to be recorded, except those expressly exempt from payment of recording fees, per each transaction per parcel of real property, not to exceed $225.

Documents believed to be exempt from paying the $75 Building Homes and Jobs Act fee must have an exemption on the face of the document when submitted for recording. The following exemptions which may apply include:

  • Govt Code 27388.1 (a) (2) - documents recorded concurrently "in connection with" a transfer subject to the documentary transfer tax (DTT);
  • Govt Code 27388.1 (a) (2) - documents recorded concurrently "in connection with" a transfer of real property that is an owner occupied residential dwelling;
  • Govt Code 27388.1 (a) (1) - documents recorded concurrently "in connection with" a transfer in which fee cap of $225 has been already reached; or,
  • Govt Code 27388.1 (a) (1) - documents not related to real property.
  • Govt Code 27388.1 (a) (1) - document is "expressly exempt from payment of recording fees."


Failure to declare an exemption before the document is submitted for recording will result in the imposition of the $75 Building Homes and Jobs Act fee.  Fees collected are deposited to the state and may not be available for refund.

If you would like to add an exemption to a prepared document, we will provide upon request an listing the applicable exemptions which may be added to the face of your document. Please be aware, an additional page recording fee of $3 will apply. Exemption cover-sheets must be completed and attached to documents requesting an exemption before the document is submitted for recording in order to avoid the imposition of the $75 Building Homes and Jobs Act fee.

We've prepared and made available a describing w the fee will be implemented in Humboldt County. The fee grid does not include the usual existing recording fees. The notes at the bottom of the further define how the Recorder's Office will interpret "parcel" and "transaction."

We will provide further updates when possible but we would like to offer this information for those that need to prepare closing disclosures for transactions following December 31, 2017.

Kelly Sanders, Humboldt County Clerk Recorder