Title: San Diego County Recorder Torrens records

Dates: 1913-1956

Collection Number: RCC/OFR18

Creator/Collector: San Diego County (Calif.). Office of County Recorder

Extent: 94.5 cubic feet (1 manuscript box, 69 record carton boxes, 3 oversize boxes, and 14 unboxed volumes)

Repository: San Diego County Archives

Abstract: Torrens records are real property records for land held in the County of San Diego. The Torrens system was used in California from 1914-1955 to register title to real property, also called registered property or Torrens property. Torrens consist of 89 bound and disbound volumes of records from 1913-1956.

Language of Material: English

Please contact the San Diego County Archives staff at archives@sdcounty.ca.gov for access information.

[Identification of item]. San Diego County Recorder Torrens records. Collection Number: RCC/OFR18. San Diego County Archives

Torrens records consist of 89 bound and disbound volumes of records. The Torrens system was used in California from 1914-1955 to register title to real property, also called registered property or Torrens property. Approved by California voters as Proposition 22 in 1914, the County Recorder was designated Registrar of Titles, who then administered the system, which determined if “good title” existed (“good title” is title that is legally valid). Once established, the registrar issued at Certificate of Title which was upheld as proof of good title when the property changed owners, thus eliminating the need for repeated examinations of title. The documents reviewed during this process were filed together as the Torrens Certificate and identified by the associated Certificate of Title number. Once ownership changed hands, the Torrens Certificate was cancelled and a new one could be issued. Materials have been divided into four series, Torrens Name Index (1920-1956), Torrens Certificates (1913-1954), Register of Certificates of Title (1916-1956), and Torrens Certificates, Cancelled (1947-1951). Series 1, Torrens Name Index, consists of four bound volumes that record the date, document number, name(s) of landowner(s) and other parties, name of instrument (i.e., deed, decree, easement, judgement, etc.), register (volume, certificate, and page numbers), and a brief description of the property. Entries are arranged chronologically. Series 2, Torrens Certificates, consists of approximately 77 cubic feet of Torrens Certificates and associated documents. Documents differ from folder to folder, though all relate directly to a specific Certificate of Title and therefore, a specific parcel of real property. Examples of documents in these files include mortgages and releases of mortgages, judgements of the Superior Court, agreements for sale of real estate, receipts for duplicate certificates, grant deeds, etc. Materials are arranged numerically by certificate number. Series 3, Register of Certificates of Titles, consists of issued Certificates of Title. These certificates are housed separately but correspond to the Torrens found in the previous series. Information provided includes date certificate was issued, name(s) of owner(s), description of real property, and ledger-style entries noting instruments that impact the property’s title including mortgages and mortgage redemptions, delinquent taxes and their redemption, various types of deeds, and reconveyances. Note that this list is note exhaustive. Certificates are arranged numerically by certificate number. Series 4, Torrens Certificates, Cancelled, consists of eight volumes. When a change of ownership occurs to a property that has been issued a Torrens Certificate, that certificate is cancelled. These are the cancelled Registrar of Title certificates, stemming from decrees of the Superior Court of the State of California, in and for the County of San Diego. The cancelled certificates note the initial registration certificate (i.e., Torrens certificate) number(s) and can, therefore, be cross-referenced to those certificates. Materials are arranged numerically by certificate number.