Sonoma County Trustee Deed Form (California)

All Sonoma County specific forms and documents listed below are included in your immediate download package:

Trustee Deed Form

Sonoma County Trustee Deed Form

Fill in the blank form formatted to comply with all recording and content requirements.
Included Sonoma County compliant document last validated/updated 11/7/2024

Trustee Deed Guide

Sonoma County Trustee Deed Guide

Line by line guide explaining every blank on the form.
Included Sonoma County compliant document last validated/updated 10/25/2024

Completed Example of the Trustee Deed Document

Sonoma County Completed Example of the Trustee Deed Document

Example of a properly completed form for reference.
Included Sonoma County compliant document last validated/updated 8/15/2024

When using these Trustee Deed forms, the subject real estate must be physically located in Sonoma County. The executed documents should then be recorded in the following office:

Clerk-Recorder-Assessor-Registrar

585 Fiscal Dr, Room 103 / PO Box 1709, Santa Rosa, California 95403 / 95402

Hours: 8:00 to 5:00, Wed until 4:00 / Same-day Recording until 4:00

Phone: (707) 565-2651

Local jurisdictions located in Sonoma County include:

  • Annapolis
  • Bodega
  • Bodega Bay
  • Boyes Hot Springs
  • Camp Meeker
  • Cazadero
  • Cloverdale
  • Cotati
  • Duncans Mills
  • El Verano
  • Eldridge
  • Forestville
  • Fulton
  • Geyserville
  • Glen Ellen
  • Graton
  • Guerneville
  • Healdsburg
  • Jenner
  • Kenwood
  • Monte Rio
  • Occidental
  • Penngrove
  • Petaluma
  • Rio Nido
  • Rohnert Park
  • Santa Rosa
  • Sebastopol
  • Sonoma
  • Stewarts Point
  • The Sea Ranch
  • Valley Ford
  • Villa Grande
  • Vineburg
  • Windsor

How long does it take to get my forms?

Forms are available immediately after submitting payment.

How do I get my forms, are they emailed?

Immediately after you submit payment, the Sonoma County forms you order will be available for download directly from your account. You can then download the forms to your computer. If you do not already have an account, one will be created for you as part of the order process, and your login details will be provided to you. If you encounter any issues accessing your forms, please reach out to our support team for assistance. Forms are NOT emailed to you.

What does "validated/updated" mean?

This indicates the most recent date when at least one of the following occurred:

  • Updated: The document was updated or changed to remain compliant.
  • Validated: The document was examined by an attorney or staff, or it was successfully recorded in Sonoma County using our eRecording service.
Are these forms guaranteed to be recordable in Sonoma County?

Yes. Our form blanks are guaranteed to meet or exceed all formatting requirements set forth by Sonoma County including margin requirements, content requirements, font and font size requirements.

Can the Trustee Deed forms be re-used?

Yes. You can re-use the forms for your personal use. For example, if you have more than one property in Sonoma County that you need to transfer you would only need to order our forms once for all of your properties in Sonoma County.

What are supplemental forms?

Often when a deed is recorded, additional documents are required by California or Sonoma County. These could be tax related, informational, or even as simple as a coversheet. Supplemental forms are provided for free with your order where available.

What type of files are the forms?

All of our Sonoma County Trustee Deed forms are PDFs. You will need to have or get Adobe Reader to use our forms. Adobe Reader is free software that most computers already have installed.

Do I need any special software to use these forms?

You will need to have Adobe Reader installed on your computer to use our forms. Adobe Reader is free software that most computers already have installed.

Do I have to enter all of my property information online?

No. The blank forms are downloaded to your computer and you fill them out there, at your convenience.

Can I save the completed form, email it to someone?

Yes, you can save your deed form at any point with your information in it. The forms can also be emailed, blank or complete, as attachments.

Are there any recurring fees involved?

No. Nothing to cancel, no memberships, no recurring fees.

In California, a deed of trust is used as a mortgage alternative to secure a loan for real property. The borrower is the trustor of a deed of trust, and a trustee (usually an agent of the lending institution) is named as grantee, with the lending institution (secured lender) as the beneficiary (Cal. Civ. Code 2929.5(e)(1),(5)). The trustee's duty is to either reconvey the title upon satisfaction of the loan, or to initiate foreclosure as directed by the beneficiary.

Under the terms of the deed of trust, the beneficiary can initiate a non-judicial foreclosure if the trustor defaults on the loan or fails to satisfy the terms of the trust. The trustee is obligated to carry out certain steps before the foreclosure sale can take place. These processes, as well as mandates for the sale, are governed by Cal. Civ. Code 2924-2924h. Once the sale ends, the highest bidder receives a trustee's deed confirming the transfer of title. The trustee's deed is named for the trustee, who executes the deed and acts as the grantor.

The trustee's deed confirms the information from the deed of trust, including the trustor name (the borrower), the trustee, and the beneficiary (lender) under the deed of trust, in addition to vesting title in the grantee's name. If the property receives no bids at public auction, title reverts to the beneficiary of the deed of trust.

The deed must comply with format and content requirements for instruments concerning real property (warranty deed, quitclaim deed, etc.) laid out in Chapter 6 of the Government Code, and be signed by the trustee and notarized with an all-purpose acknowledgment before it is recorded and filed in the county where the property is located.

Note that a deed of trust is separate from a living trust. While the deed of trust functions as a sort of mortgage, a living trust is used for estate planning. In living trusts, a trustee uses a quitclaim deed or special warranty deed to convey property into and out of the trust and has other duties in managing the living trust. The trustee under a deed of trust is not bound by statutes governing a general trust.

Because foreclosures can be complicated, contact a lawyer with any questions or for help regarding your unique situation.

(California Trustee Deed Package includes form, guidelines, and completed example)

Our Promise

The documents you receive here will meet, or exceed, the Sonoma County recording requirements for formatting. If there's an issue caused by our formatting, we'll make it right and refund your payment.

Save Time and Money

Get your Sonoma County Trustee Deed form done right the first time with Deeds.com Uniform Conveyancing Blanks. At Deeds.com, we understand that your time and money are valuable resources, and we don't want you to face a penalty fee or rejection imposed by a county recorder for submitting nonstandard documents. We constantly review and update our forms to meet rapidly changing state and county recording requirements for roughly 3,500 counties and local jurisdictions.

4.8 out of 5 - ( 4435 Reviews )

Zennell W.

November 24th, 2024

Quick fast and easy transaction.

Reply from Staff

We are grateful for your feedback and looking forward to serving you again. Thank you!

James S.

November 21st, 2024

Forms used, created quitclaim deed that the county accepted without a second look (turns out they see deeds.com forms regularly via erecording and in person). Will be back for any real estate related forms I need and they carry. Will always be my first stop. Also, will use erecording next time, mad I didn't see it this time.

Reply from Staff

Thanks for the kind words James, glad we could help. Look forward to seeing you again.

Thomas G.

November 21st, 2024

Wasn’t what I expected

Reply from Staff

Sorry to hear that your expectations were missed. Your order has been canceled. We do hope that you find something more suitable to your expectations elsewhere. Do keep in mind that purchasing legal forms should not be an exploratory endeavor.

GARY S.

August 27th, 2020

sweet & easy

Reply from Staff

Thank you!

Gail M.

October 27th, 2022

Great website. Once submit payment documents are immediately emailed, easy to print and clear format. Will definitely use again!

Reply from Staff

Thank you for your feedback. We really appreciate it. Have a great day!

Laurie S.

May 24th, 2023

This was amazingly easy to access.

Reply from Staff

We appreciate your business and value your feedback. Thank you. Have a wonderful day!

Steven S.

June 22nd, 2020

Very convenient and great tool for my real estate business. I'm a fan and will be a repeat customer.

Reply from Staff

We appreciate your business and value your feedback. Thank you. Have a wonderful day!

DEBORAH H.

January 22nd, 2024

This is my fourth try, and I hope my form is complete and acceptable.

Reply from Staff

Your feedback is greatly appreciated. Thank you for taking the time to share your experience!

Laurentina F.

December 10th, 2020

Great and efficient.

Reply from Staff

We appreciate your business and value your feedback. Thank you. Have a wonderful day!

Thomas D.

April 30th, 2020

The documents themselves are fine and the information provided with them is helpful. I find the actual processing of the documents, however, to be difficult particularly once the document has been saved. First, I note that the box for the date only allows entry of the last 2 digits of the year. Unfortunately, my download only allows me to enter one of the 2 digits required. When I delete it repeatedly, it eventually allows both digits to be entered but puts them in extremely small text and in superscrypt. I have not found a solution to this problem and am not sure the deed can even be recorded with this problem.

Another problem is that if you try to revise the document after you have saved it the curser goes to the end of the line after each key entry. This means that there basically is no way to efficiently save the document for reworking later since you will have to delete everything you have entered in the text box unless you only need to make a single keystroke change or are willing to replace the curser after each entry. Try that with a long property description!

Please note that I am using a Mac to prepare my documents and perhaps this is part of an "incompatibility problem". However, I didn't see a disclaimer regarding Mac use and so would expect the documents to perform correctly. Overall, I give the program a "2 star" rating because I am experiencing significant difficulties in entering dates in the documents even before saving them and because saving your work for later revision appears to be basically unworkable.













Reply from Staff

Thank you for your feedback Thomas, we appreciate you being specific about the issues you encountered. Adobe and Mac have a fairly long history of issues working together.

Robert B.

March 17th, 2021

Excellent service. Very efficient. Electronic filing was far faster and less stress than doing it in person.

Reply from Staff

We appreciate your business and value your feedback. Thank you. Have a wonderful day!

Sara R.

June 19th, 2019

Worked well for me to create a deed for a house I inherited. It was very thorough and easy to use. I have no experience with the law so I just googled terms I didn't understand and was fine. I also called land records a lot and ended up not needing a lot of the material included, but it was still good to have it.

Reply from Staff

We appreciate your business and value your feedback. Thank you. Have a wonderful day!

Connie B.

October 6th, 2020

Needed to remove a deceased person from my mother's title. I live in another state. Deeds.com made it SO EASY to accomplish. I loved the example forms showing me how to fill out the forms that were provided. It went incredibly well at the County offices (all 3 departments!). Definitely will use Deeds.com again!

Reply from Staff

We appreciate your business and value your feedback. Thank you. Have a wonderful day!

Jeffrey G.

April 21st, 2021

The documents requested were perfect! Very helpful, with instructions on how to complete and submit and unique to the county. They provided additional helpful documents that I would not have thought to ask for. Great job!

Reply from Staff

Thank you!

Truc T.

October 19th, 2021

great DIY site.

Reply from Staff

Thank you!