Mejia v. San Francisco Assessor Recorder CA1/2

Filed 8/23/22 Mejia v. San Francisco Assessor Recorder CA1/2 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION TWO

JOSE MEJIA, Plaintiff and Appellant, A164132 v. SAN FRANCISCO ASSESSOR (San Francisco City & County RECORDER, Super. Ct. No. CPF-21-517388) Defendant and Respondent.

After petitioner Jose Mejia defaulted on a loan secured by a deed of trust on real property on Meda Avenue in San Francisco, the property was sold at a trustee’s sale. Mejia later submitted a form to the San Francisco Assessor Recorder purporting to transfer his lender’s interest in the property to himself. The trial court denied Mejia’s petition for a writ of administrative mandamus directing the recorder’s office to accept the form for filing, and Mejia appeals in propria persona. We affirm. BACKGROUND In 2013, petitioner Jose Mejia and his wife Cindy Mejia mortgaged real property on Meda Avenue in San Francisco, borrowing $326,700 from JPMorgan Chase Bank, NA (Chase). Two additional loans were later secured by the Meda Avenue property, including a $106,000 loan made by Bank of America, N.A., secured by a deed of trust recorded on May 19, 2016.

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On January 22, 2019, a notice of default was recorded on the Meda Avenue property because the $106,000 loan was in default. On April 25, a notice of trustee sale was recorded, and on May 23, the property was sold at a trustee sale. On June 12, a trustee’s deed was recorded indicating that Paper Atlas had acquired the property and the unpaid debt on loans secured by the property. On September 12, Mejia submitted a “Change of Ownership Statement” on Form BOE-502 to the San Francisco Assessor Recorder’s Office requesting a transfer to “Jose Mejia sole owner, correction due to slander of title by Paper Atlas.” On April 17, 2020, a deed of reconveyance was recorded acknowledging the payment of the Chase mortgage and indicating Chase no longer held a security interest in the property. On January 19, 2021, Mejia attempted to record a grant deed with the San Francisco Assessor Recorder’s Office seeking to transfer JP Morgan Chase’s interest in the property to himself. That recording was rejected because the legal description of the property, the grantor’s signature, and notarization of the grantor’s signature were all missing. On March 4, Mejia filed a petition for writ of administrative mandamus in San Francisco Superior Court, and on August 28, an amended petition. The petition sought a writ of mandate, pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure 1094.5, directing the recorder’s office to “accept and file” a “Change of Ownership Statement” on Form BOE-502, attached as an exhibit to the petition. The form, dated March 3, purported to transfer Chase’s interest in the property to Mejia. Under “Type of Transfer,” the box “Other” was checked, followed by the text “Trustee has been paid.”