Existing law defines a “transfer fee”  as a fee payment requirement imposed in any covenant, restriction, or condition contained in any deed, contract, security instrument, or other document affecting the transfer or sale of real property that requires a fee be paid upon transfer of the real property.

This bill would add Civil Code Section 1098.6 to prohibit the creation of a transfer fee on or after January 1, 2019, except for deed based transfer fees as defined by Section 1228.1 of Title 12 of the Code of Federal Regulations. The bill would provide that any transfer fee created in violation of this prohibition is void as against public policy.