An estate in real property, other than an estate at will or for a term not exceeding one year, can be transferred only by operation of law, or by an instrument in writing, subscribed by the party disposing of the same, or by his agent thereunto authorized by writing.

A grant of an estate in real property may be made in substance as follows:

“I, A B, grant to C D all that real property situated in (insert name of county) County, State of California, bounded (or described) as follows: (here insert property description, or if the land sought to be conveyed has a descriptive name, it may be described by the name, as for instance, ‛The Norris Ranch.’)

Absent the express written statement of the grantor contained therein, the consolidation of separate and distinct legal descriptions of real property contained in one or more deeds, mortgages, patents, deeds of trust, contracts of sale, or other instruments of conveyance or security documents, into a subsequent single deed, mortgage, patent, deed of trust, contract of sale, or other instrument of conveyance or security document (whether by means of an individual listing of the legal descriptions in a subsequent single instrument of conveyance or security document, or by means of a consolidated legal description comprised of more than one previously

separate and distinct legal description), does not operate in any manner to alter or affect the separate and distinct nature of the real property so described in the subsequent single instrument of conveyance or security document containing either the listing of or the consolidated legal description of the parcels so conveyed or secured thereby.

This section does not constitute a change in, but is declaratory of, the existing law.

When an attorney in fact executes an instrument transferring an estate in real property, he must subscribe the name of his principal to it, and his own name as attorney in fact.

Any person in whom the title of real estate is vested, who shall afterwards, from any cause, have his or her name changed, must, in any conveyance of said real estate so held, set forth the name in which he or she derived title to said real estate. Any conveyance, though recorded as provided by law, which does not comply with the foregoing provision shall not impart constructive notice of the contents thereof to subsequent purchasers and encumbrancers, but such conveyance is valid as between the parties thereto and those who have notice thereof.

No vendor or lessor of a single family residential property shall contract for or exact any fee in excess of ten dollars ($10) for the act of signing and delivering a document in connection with the transfer, cancellation or reconveyance of any title or instrument at the time the buyer or lessee exercises an option to buy, or completes performance of the contract for the sale of, the property.

The provisions of this section shall apply prospectively only.

subdivision (c) of Section 10232 of the Business and Professions Code.

prospective transferee notice of the following:

(ii) The amount or method of calculation of the fee.

(iii) The date or circumstances under which the transfer fee payment requirement expires, if any.

(iv) The entity to which the fee will be paid.

(B) A fee reflected in a document recorded against the property on or before December 31, 2007, that is not separate from any covenants, conditions, and restrictions, or that incorporates by reference from another document, is a “transfer fee” for purposes of Section 1098.5. A transfer

fee recorded against the property on or before December 31, 2007, that complies with subparagraph (A) and incorporates by reference from another document is unenforceable unless recorded against the property on or before December 31, 2016, in a single document that complies with subdivision (b) and with Section 1098.5.

dollars ($750,000).

property is located, concurrently with the instrument creating the transfer fee requirement, a separate document that meets all of the following requirements:

residential property and the amount of the fee is based on the price of the real property, actual dollar-cost examples of the fee for a home priced at two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000), five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000), and seven hundred fifty thousand dollars ($750,000).

private transfer fees created on or after February 8, 2011, unless the exception in Section 1228.3 of Title 12 of the Code of Federal Regulations applies, the following notice in at least 14-point boldface type:

The Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Federal Housing Administration are prohibited from dealing in mortgages on properties encumbered by private transfer fee covenants that do not provide a “direct benefit” to the real property encumbered by the covenant. As a result, if you purchase such a property, you or individuals you want to sell the property to may have difficulty obtaining financing.

entities identified in subparagraphs (A) and (F) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) or (b). The recorder shall not examine any other information contained in the document required by subdivision (a) or (b).

covenant if all of the following requirements are met:

agreement.

requirement of subparagraph (H) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of Section 1098.5 does not apply.

Section 8519 of the Business and Professions Code may be made, provided that certification or preparation of a report is a condition of the contract effecting that transfer, or is a requirement imposed as a condition of financing such transfer.