Under SB 2<\/a>, real estate transactions get a $75 assessment that funds affordable housing projects, with about 70% going to the county of record. Under Dictos\u2019 interpretation, large landowners face fees totaling tens of thousands of dollars because he applies the $75 fee to each parcel sold.<\/p>\nHe said a court decision will provide recorders statewide with the guidance they have sought from California Attorney General Rob Bonta and from California State Controller Malia Cohen, who have not weighed in despite calls from recorders for clarity.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m advocating for affordable housing. I\u2019m advocating for the homeless veterans in the streets, and my own board wants to stop me. They want to sue me,\u201d Dictos said. \u201cIt couldn\u2019t happen to a nicer guy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lawsuit Against Recorder a First for Fresno County<\/p>\n
There are at least three different ways that county recorders interpret the 2018 Building Homes and Jobs Acts, GV Wire found. People selling large amounts of land can either pay the base $75 fee, a $225 fee \u2014 depending on the number of documents attached \u2014 or the way Dictos interprets it, which has no maximum. It all comes down to the recorder.<\/p>\n
Bakersfield attorney Jean Pledger contacted Dictos in 2025 about a roughly $10,000 assessment on a large piece of property for her client, she told GV Wire.<\/p>\n
She said she had never encountered that level of assessment in other parts of the state, and in 2026, she filed a claim to recover the money.<\/p>\n
This month, supervisors approved the claim and agreed to return the money. It was after accepting the claim that supervisors unanimously decided to have Sloan send Dictos a demand letter and pursue legal action.<\/p>\n
Though the county is suing Dictos in his official capacity, a spokesperson said the county is not responsible for his legal fees. The spokesperson said the county is not aware of another instance of a lawsuit against itself.<\/p>\n
Fresno County Judge\u2019s SB 2 Ruling Could Be Statewide Precedent<\/p>\n
Even before SB 2 passed, recorders knew about the law\u2019s vague language. In a previous interview, Sutter County Recorder Donna Johnston told GV Wire she and other recorders told the bill\u2019s author, then-state Sen. Toni Atkins, that the law needed clarity.<\/p>\n
Since SB 2\u2019s adoption into law, Dictos said he has been pressing Bonta and Cohen to weigh in on the issue. Email requests for comment to Bonta\u2019s and Cohen\u2019s offices from GV Wire were not returned.<\/p>\n
Dictos said that because of his interpretation, the county has sent $54 million to the state. County records show it has received about $35 million back, helping fund affordable housing projects in Mendota, Sanger, and Reedley.<\/p>\n
Dictos said if the matter goes to court, the verdict will have a statewide impact regardless of the outcome.<\/p>\n
However, a loss for Dictos could result in landowners asking the county to have much of their fees returned. A\u00a0victory for Dictos could mean higher transaction fees statewide on sales involving multiple parcels.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe guidance recorders have been looking for may come from a local judge,\u201d Dictos said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An internal fight over real estate fees has turned into a looming legal battle pitting elected Fresno County…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":233124,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[112,114,113],"class_list":{"0":"post-233123","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fresno","8":"tag-fresno","9":"tag-fresno-headlines","10":"tag-fresno-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=233123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/233124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=233123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=233123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=233123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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