Well, they are mostly  up to date now (within 2 business days as of last week) and mostly becuause Phil Teng, the elected Recorder, was hoping to be appointed Mayor as Gavin Newsome moves into his new Lt. Gov. digs in Sacramento.

For a long while, the title company joint plant was more up-to-date than the public records systems, but most recordings still recorded "blind" to liability during that era.

The issue of giving having records give constructive notice about a mortgage auction 15 days after the notice is recorded is obviously a problem.  Bidders can't screen title, land owners who rent the unit would not be notified, and the four or five big trustee websites only about half of all pending trustee sales.

We've offered years of correspondance with Teng's office to anyone who wants to fight to overturn a foreclosure on grounds that it was flawed due to lack of notice because of the county's inability to index things in a timely manner.