Restrictive Covenants Time Progression

Marin County Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk Shelly Scott and the Recorders team invite you to follow their progress as they implement Assembly Bill 1466 by locating recorded documents from many years ago that contain discriminatory restrictions.  In many cases these restrictions prohibited people from purchasing, renting, and occupying properties based on their race, religion, gender, and other characteristics.  

Beginning July 1, 2022, AB 1466 (McCarty) requires California Recorders, escrow and title companies, real estate agents and brokers, and others who have knowledge of discriminatory restrictions to locate restrictions and record modification documents that contain copies of the original document with discriminatory verbiage stricken.  Modifications make it clear that these restrictions are void.  County Counsel review and approval are required prior to recording modifications. By law, the original recording from many years ago remains untouched and intact in public record.

Because many illegal restrictions are buried in deeds, restrictions, and maps recorded nearly 100 years ago, finding these documents is a challenging and time-consuming process.  Shelly and her team are committed to completing the project as accurately and efficiently as possible.

Visit our Restrictive Covenant Modifications webpage for additional information.

To learn how Marin County departments are collaborating on the restrictive covenant project, take a few minutes to watch this video produced by the County’s Public Information Team.

Below is a Time Lapse Map that is the result of data located by the Marin County Recorder’s office, which has been mapped with the help of Marin County’s Information Services and Technology’s GIS division.  This map shows the location of parcels that Recorder’s staff has found so far that were once covered by restrictions. The blue hot spots pinpoint areas that were subject to a significant number of covenants with restrictive language. Feel free to zoom into the map and click on a restrictive covenant parcel for more information.  This map is updated monthly based on the Recorder’s work.

Assistive technology users can go to the Restrictive Covenants Map Explorer and select the About button for instructions on accessing the map data.

Below is a timeline of the recordation of covenants with restrictive language recorded from 1911 to 1950 that have been located to date. As indicated on the timeline, the spikes in recordings are apparent during the periods of 1941 – 1943.

Restrictive Covenants by Recordation Year are represented in percentages on the bar chart that follows.

Restrictive Covenants Map Explorer below displays all the restrictive covenant parcels in Marin County located so far. They are symbolized by their recording dates. Click on the parcel in the map to obtain more information.  Please check back often.  This map is updated each month.

Assistive technology users can select the About button for instruction on accessing the map data.

The map below symbolizes each city/town in Marin County by the total number of parcels with restrictive covenants that have been located so far. Click on a city/town on the map to learn the total number of parcels in the selected jurisdiction and the percentage of parcels in that jurisdiction that have covenants with restrictive language.  This map is updated each month.