of their duties as registrars, whether such addítional condition be specifically provided for in such bonds or not.

Deputies may act.

SEC. 3. Deputies may perform any and all duties of the registrar, in the name of the registrar, and the acts of such deputies shall be held to be the acts of the registrar.

Registrar and deputy not to practice law.

SEC. 4. Registrars and deputy registrars are prohibited from practicing law, or acting as attorneys or counselors at law, or having as a partner a lawyer or any one who acts as such, or from acting as searchers of title under this act.

BRINGING LAND UNDER THE ACT.

Application by verified petition; character of applicant; county of application.

SEC. 5. Land may be brought under the operation of this act by the filing with the county clerk of a verified petition to the superior court of the county within which such land is situated, by the owner of any estate or interest in such land, whether legal or equitable (other than an undivided share, or an easement). The clerk shall immediately indorse on such application the exact time of its presentation, and enter the same in a book kept for that purpose and known as the land register docket. Persons who collectively claim to hold the entire legal estate in fee simple may jointly file such petition. A corporation may apply by its authorized agent, an infant by his guardian; any other person under disability by his guardian or trustee. Land constituting a single parcel and lying partly in two or more counties may be included in one application, which may be made in either county in which the land lies, but the certificate issued therefor must be filed with the registrars of all the counties within which such land is situate. Two or more parcels

of land may be included in one application if owned by the same person and in the same right.

Contents of application.

SEC. 6. The petition shall set forth substantially: (a) The name, occupation, place of residence, and postoffice address of the applicant, and if the application is by one acting in behalf of another, the name, place of residence, postoffice address, and capacity of the person so acting, and the nature of the disability of the person for whom he is acting.

(b) Whether the applicant (except in case of a corporation) is married or not, and, if married, the name and residence of the husband or wife.

(c) The description of the land.

(d) The applicant's estate or interest in the same, and whether the same is subject to an estate of homestead.

(e) Whether the land is occupied or unoccupied, and, if occupied, the name and postoffice address of each occupant, and what estate or interest he has or claims in the land.

(f) Whether the land is subject to any easement, lien, or incumbrance, and, if any, the name and postoffice address if known of each holder thereof, and the nature and amount of the same, and, if recorded, the book and page of the record.

(g) Whether any other person has any estate or claims any interest in the land, in law or equity, in possession, remainder, reversion, or expectancy, and, if any, the name and post office address if known of every such person, and the nature of his estate or claim.

(h) The names and post office addresses of all the owners of the adjoining lands, so far as he is able, upon diligent inquiry, to ascertain the same.

(i) If the applicant is a male, that he is of the full age of twenty-one years; if a female, that she is of the full age of eighteen years. If the application is made by a corporation, its name, when and where incorporated, its principal place of business,

and the names and post office addresses of its president and secretary. If the application is by a husband or wife, and the property is community property, the petition must so state, and both spouses must join therein. A plat or plan of survey of the land made by the county or a licensed surveyor must accompany the application, and if said land is a part of a city, town, or subdivision, the application must refer to the book and page of the records of the county where the map of said city, town, or subdivision is recorded, if at all.

Each application must be accompanied by an abstract of the title, verified by the searcher making the same, as required in proceedings in partition, or, if made by a corporation engaged in the business of making and certifying abstracts of title, then in lieu of the affidavit a certificate by such corporation, under its seal, shall be sufficient. When the title to the land in question has been previously determined by a final decree of a court of competent jurisdiction, such abstracts need not antedate such decree unless required by the court in which such application is filed. No person or corporation shall be authorized to make or furnish such abstracts of title until after entering into an undertaking with two or more sufficient sureties to the people of the state of California in a sum not less than ten thousand dollars, which may be increased from time to time by order of the court. Such bonds shall be recorded in the record of official bonds in the recorder's office of the county and then filed in the county clerk's office. Said bond shall be conditioned to pay all damages and costs which the state may sustain by reason of any error or insufficiency in said abstract. The sureties on such bond shall qualify as provided in section ten hundred and fiftyseven of the code of civil procedure, and the sufficiency of the bond and of the sureties thereon shall be approved by a judge of the superior court of the county where such bond is to be filed. The sureties upon such bond may become severally liable in portions of not less than five hundred dollars each,

making in the aggregate at least two sureties for the whole sum. Said bond shall be renewed as often, at least, as once in every period of three years.

Registration of fee simple must precede all else.

SEC. 7. No mortgage, lien, charge, or lesser estate than a fee simple shall be registered unless the fee simple to the same land is first registered.

Registration not to be refused because of incumbrance.

SEC. 8. It shall not be an objection to bringing land under this act, that the estate or interest of the applicant is subject to any outstanding lesser estate, mortgage, lien or charge; but every such lesser estate, mortgage, lien, or charge shall be noted upon the certificate of title and the duplicate thereof, and the title or interest certified shall be subject only to such estates, mortgages, liens, and charges as are so noted, except as herein provided. No registration based on tax title until after five years adverse possession.

SEC. 9. No title derived through sale for any tax or assessment shall be entitled to be first registered, unless it shall appear to the satisfaction of the court, upon the hearing of the application, that the applicant, or those through whom he claims title, have been in the open, actual, continuous, uninterrupted, undisputed, exclusive, and adverse possession of the land under such title at least five years, and have paid all taxes and assessments legally levied thereon for five successive years.

Amendment to application verified.

SEC. 10. The application may be amended only by petition verified as in the case of the original. Such amendment may be ordered by the court on its own motion, or upon the motion of any person interested in the proceeding.

Filing of application to be notice to subsequent purchasers.

SEC. 11. The filing of the application in the office of the county clerk shall be sufficient notice of the same to all subsequent purchasers or incumbrancers without the filing of a lis pendens in the office of the recorder.

Court to dismiss application, or set it for hearing.

SEC. 12. The court shall, in its discretion, examine the abstract itself, or refer the same, as provided in section eighteen of this act. If it shall appear to the court, from an examination of the abstract, or from the report of the referee, that the title to the land described in the application is substantially as alleged by the applicant, the application shall be set for hearing, otherwise the court may order the application dismissed.

Notice of hearing to be given; any one may appear and object; costs.

SEC. 13. When the time and place for hearing the application is fixed by the court, notice thereof shall be given to all parties interested, as shown by the petition and the abstract or referee's report, and to the husband or wife of the applicant, if married, and the owners of adjoining lands, in the same manner as the service of a summons in a civil action, and by publication for at least four weeks, in some newspaper of general circulation, to be designated by the court; provided, that no copy of abstract or map need be served with the petition. Any person interested may appear and object to the granting of the application, and if such objection is sustained, the costs of the same shall be paid by the applicant; if not, by the person so objecting. The time for appearance after service shall be the same as in the case of a civil action.

Upon the hearing the court to take evidence on the allegations of petition; and may adjourn hearing.

SEC. 14. Upon the day set for the hearing of