§ 1855.Petition to Replace Injured, Destroyed, Lost, or Stolen Recorded Map

Recorded maps anchor property descriptions, so losing one is not a minor filing problem. This section gives an interested person a path back to a usable record. The petitioner files a verified petition in the superior court of the county where the map was originally recorded, describing how the map was injured, destroyed, lost, or stolen, and attaches a true copy offered to take its place. The clerk sets the petition for hearing and posts notice at the courthouse at least 10 days ahead, and the petitioner must also serve the county recorder with copies of the petition and the true copy at least 10 days before the hearing. The court can order any additional notice it thinks the situation calls for.

At the hearing, the court weighs the evidence for and against the petition, and if the copy checks out as a true copy of the original, the court decrees it so and orders it recorded in the original's place, with a certified copy of the decree accompanying it to the recorder's office. Once recorded, the copy stands in for the original for every purpose: existing deeds that reference the original map keep their full effect, and new conveyances that refer to the copy are treated as referring to the original map too.