Updated on 3/20: The Santa Clara County Recorder’s office has issued the following statement:

“There will be no real estate recording accepted for walk-in customers. We encourage customers to submit documents through title companies who can submit them electronically.  We will also process documents sent through the mail.”

You can find the latest updates on the Santa Clara County Recorder’s website.

This guide contains information about recording services available in all Bay Area Counties. It will be updated regularly (last updated 3/20)

Other counties outside of Santa Clara County may have a different policy in place and we recommend that you contact the local County Recorder’s Office or your local Title Representative for an update on the current status of the County Recorder’s Office outside of Santa Clara County.

Updated on 3/18: Per the “Shelter in Place” Order, there are certain essential businesses listed that are allowed to continue operations, such as:

• Businesses that provide food, shelter, and social services, and other necessities of life for economically disadvantaged or otherwise needy individuals.
  
• Banks and related financial institutions
• Hardware stores
•  Plumbers, electricians, exterminators, and other service providers who provide services that are necessary to maintaining the safety, sanitation, and essential operation of residences
• Professional services, such as legal or accounting services, when necessary to assist in compliance with legally mandated activities
• Housing Construction: The City of San Jose has confirmed with the County of Santa Clara Public Health Department that the County Order exempts “Housing Construction” from the requirement to cease activities, because housing is considered “Essential Infrastructure”. Housing Construction is not limited to affordable housing or homeless housing. As part of “Essential Business”, Essential Infrastructure is ‘strongly encouraged to remain open’ and to comply with Social Distancing Requirements to the greatest extent feasible. Other construction activities are not exempted and must comply with the Order.

For the full list, refer to Section 10 of Santa Clara County’s “Shelter in Place” Order.

Other real estate affiliated companies may have differing interpretations of this order. We suggest that you  reach out to them directly.

We are seeking clarification from the County regarding other essential real estate related services that are not specifically mentioned above. We will continue to update this page as more information becomes available.

Housing Construction: The City of San Jose has confirmed with the County of Santa Clara Public Health Department that the County Order exempts “Housing Construction” from the requirement to cease activities, because housing is considered “Essential Infrastructure”. Housing Construction is not limited to affordable housing or homeless housing. As part of “Essential Business”, Essential Infrastructure is ‘strongly encouraged to remain open’ and to comply with Social Distancing Requirements to the greatest extent feasible. Other construction activities are not exempted and must comply with the Order.

Updated 3/24: Both Santa Clara County and the State of California have implemented a Shelter from Home Mandate. The strictest language of the two ordinances must be followed meaning if either establish a business as non-essential the business must abide.

Santa Clara County Ordinance: Click Here
Santa Clara County FAQs: Click Here
California Executive Order: Click Here
California Essential Businesses Explained: Click Here 
California FAQs: Click Here

Updated on 3/18: There is currently a “Shelter in Place” Order in the following Bay Area and surrounding counties: Santa Clara, San Mateo, Alameda, San Francisco, Marin, Contra Costa, Santa Cruz, San Benito, Monterey, Napa and Sonoma. Open Houses in these areas should be canceled or postponed until the “Shelter in Place” Order is lifted.

We suggest you seek the advice of your broker for further clarifications and consider the wishes of your clients in how to market their properties at this time.

Updated on 3/31: Santa Clara County and 5 other Bay Area Counties (San Mateo, San Francisco, Marin, Contra Costa, and Alameda) jointly announced that real estate agents now have a narrow exception to practice residential real estate as an essential business. The exact language of the order is as follows:

“Service providers that enable residential transactions (including rentals, leases, and home sales), including, but not limited to, real estate agents, escrow agents, notaries, and title companies, provided that appointments and other residential viewings must only occur virtually or, if a virtual viewing is not feasible, by appointment with no more than two visitors at a time residing within the same household or living unit and one individual showing the unit (except that in person visits are not allowed when the occupant is still residing in the residence)” 

Some important takeaways:

• Showings should be done virtually, if at all possible.
• All activities should be completed electronically, if at all possible.
• If a virtual showing is not realistic, a private showing can occur with the following stipulations:
  • Only 1 REALTOR® can be present.
  • A maximum of 2 other people are allowed. These 2 people must reside in the same household.
  • The property must be VACANT, meaning no person currently still lives at the residence.
• Open houses are still not allowed under any circumstances.

From MLSListings:

Updated on 3/17: We are all concerned about the current state of the economy with the current restrictions in effect, however, we know that everyone is experiencing it together. We would like to ask all Buyers and Sellers to please be patient and see the process through before reacting to fear and uncertainty. We believe that everything will be back up and running in a few weeks time.

Updated on 3/20: We recommend all existing transactions have a COVID-19 Addendum in place to handle any delays that are out of the control of the parties to the contract. C.A.R. has recently released a new form called the Coronavirus Addendum/Amendment (Form CVA). It is available in zipForm® now, and you can download it by clicking the button below. The form provides that when circumstances related to the coronavirus are affecting the closing date, the Buyer and Seller agree to extend escrow for a default of 30 days. There is also an optional clause where the buyer and seller can mutually agree to cancel the Agreement and an additional optional clause where the buyer or seller can cancel even after removing the loan contingency if inability to fund is caused by Covid-19 related loss of income. This form can be used either as an amendment to a contract that is already in place or as an addendum to a contract that has not yet been formed.

Please note that SCCAOR does not provide legal advice and is not giving any legal recommendations.

Requires login to C.A.R. account

Updated 3/19: No. All major Brokerages have ceased all open houses during the “Shelter in Place” Order . However, home stagers are able to pick up furniture inventory in existing homes that had already been staged.

Updated 3/23: Yes. Virtual Staging is okay as long as the structure and items fixed to the structure (e.g. flooring, ceiling fans, outlets, switches, etc.) are not virtually changed.

Updated 3/19: The City of San Jose enacted an eviction moratorium for residential tenants. Back rent that cannot be paid is still due when the moratorium is listed. Details on how long tenants will have for repayment is still being determined. The City of San Jose is drafting a similar ordinance for commercial tenants as well to be completed next week. Additionally, the federal government enacted a nationwide moratorium on evictions, foreclosures, and mortgages until at least the end of April.

Updated 3/19: Please refer to your Broker, most have discontinued open houses during this “Shelter in Place” Order.

Updated 3/19: It would be reasonable for you to be able to collect your property. A section of the ordinance states that companies are allowed to continue “the minimum necessary activities to maintain the value of the business’s inventory” You must coordinate with the listing agent to make arrangements that are acceptable to the seller. You must also consider the potential risk you are exposing your employees to as well.

Updated 3/24: Property management and repair work, which generally involves maintaining sanitary and safety conditions is permissible.

Updated 3/24: The loss of value in a stock portfolio does not, in and of itself, provide grounds for a buyer or seller to cancel a contract unless the contract is contingent upon the value being maintained. The C.A.R. Residential Purchase Agreement does not contain such a preprinted contingency. If a buyer was relying on the stock portfolio to provide the needed down payment or closing costs, the opposite is true. The last sentence in paragraph 3J(2) specifically states that the buyer’s contractual obligation regarding deposit, balance of down payment and closing costs are not contingencies.

Some people have heard of something called a “force majeure” clause. These clauses can limit a contractual obligation, or otherwise, based on “Acts of God.” However, California Civil Code, section 1511, paragraph 2 provides that performance of an obligation is excused when it is prevented or delayed by an irresistible, superhuman cause unless the parties have expressly agreed to the contrary.   The C.A.R. contract does not have such a clause. “Force majeure” or “vis major” is not necessarily limited to the equivalent of an act of God, but the test is whether under the particular circumstances there is such an insuperable interference occurring without the party’s intervention as could not have been prevented by prudence, diligence and care (Pacific Vegetable Oil Corporation v. C. S. T., Ltd. (1946) 29 Cal.2d 228, 174 P.2d 441). While ordinarily, a drop in value in the stock market, be it dramatic or mild, would not excuse failure to perform, the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the coronavirus outbreak may be considered a circumstance warranting if not complete failure of performance then at least delay in performance.

Given the uncertainty, buyer and seller are encouraged to discuss alternatives to timely performance and reach a voluntary amendment during this period of state and national emergency.

Updated 3/24: If a property is not yet listed, a broker may take a listing with a postponed effective date with written instructions from the seller. C.A.R. form SELM can be used for this purpose. In that form, paragraph 8C can be checked and a future date can be inserted in the blank fields. If the COVID-19 scare is not over by that date, then the broker and seller can agree to extend that date to another specific future date. If the seller wants to begin marketing and listing the property before the initial or extended date has been reached, then a written instruction to the listing broker will suffice. If the local MLS has already adopted the NAR Clear Cooperation Policy, then the seller must be informed that the property will be submitted to the MLS within one business day of any public marketing of the property.

If property is not yet listed, another option is to enter into a listing agreement with a future effective date. However, if the seller sells the property prior to that date, then the broker is not entitled to any compensation since the contact has not become effective. And, in such a circumstance the listing agreement may not even become binding on the delayed effective date since the seller no longer owns the object of the listing.

If the property is already listed for sale, the broker and the seller can mutually agree to postpone marketing of the property and extend the effective date. While paragraph 3A(3) of the residential listing agreement (C.A.R. form RLA) provides that the broker is entitled to compensation if the seller unilaterally withdraws the property for sale or makes it unmarketable, proceeding on such a clause in the current environment is risky. The best approach would be to seek a mutual agreement.

On March 23, 2020, Freddie Mac issued Bulletin 2020-5, Selling Guidance Related to COVID-19, which contains temporary guidance on appraisal requirements. Under the guidance, lenders will be allowed to use desktop appraisal and exterior only appraisals for purchase transactions through May 17, 2020. Freddie Mac has also provided language that the appraiser must copy and paste into their report in order to accommodate the revised scope of work, statement of assumptions and limiting conditions, and certifications for some of the scenarios presented. Visit the Freddie Mac website for more information.

The Department of Real Estate (DRE) is cancelling real estate salesperson and broker license exams in all exam centers through April 30, 2020. This action is being taken to comply with state and local public health agencies ordering residents to shelter in place to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Examinees affected by these cancellations will be notified by email and will be allowed to reschedule their canceled exam dates using DRE’s eLicensing system. Exam rescheduling fees will be waived for canceled exams.

Examinees with questions or concerns regarding canceled exams can contact DRE’s Licensing program at (877) 373-4542 or by email at Ask.DRELicensing@dre.ca.gov.

Updated on 3/17: In response to the “Shelter in Place” Order, we will be temporarily closing our offices in both San Jose and Gilroy and our staff will be working remotely until April 7th. These office closures will go into effect on Tuesday, March 17th. There are several ways that you can get in touch with us if you have any membership related issues or questions:

• Call us at 408-445-8500
• Email us at membership@sccaor.com
• Use our online chat during business hours

You can submit additional questions and comments by filling out the form located further down this webpage.