Years ago it was a common practice for celebrities and developers to try and hide what they bought a property for. This was done by having the tax stamps put on the back of the deed instead of the front.
Lately, the Multiple Listing Service “MLS” and the county of Los Angeles have been combating this tactic and checking the back of the documents and able to produce the sale price within six months.
Effective January 1st, 2015 AB 1888 requires the amount of tax due and the location of the property to show on the face of the document on ALL properties. You can no longer close escrow and try and
withhold the sales price from the public. The MLS and various realtor groups have been campaigning for this as it makes the valuation of properties more accurate and puts everyone on a level playing field.