When you tokenize property with Fabrica, a legal trust holds the title and your token represents ownership. Transfer the token, transfer the ownership. It is fast, cheap, and works entirely onchain.

But a legal structure is not static. Property law evolves. Lending standards change. New wallet technologies and protocols emerge. The trust agreement that governs your property needs to keep pace.

With Trust Agreement v4, it does. And updating is as simple as clicking a button.

Go to your property page on Fabrica, click Upgrade, and the new trust agreement is attached to your token. No paperwork, no county filing, no closing costs. The legal protections and your property's functionality improves overnight while nothing changes about how you use your property day to day.

Properties tokenized going forward use v4 by default.

Think of it like a firmware update. Except what is updating is not software. It is the legal container that holds your property rights.

The most common question we hear: "What if I lose my private key?"

In traditional real estate, losing a deed does not mean losing the property. The county keeps the records. But with tokenized property, the trust previously required you to burn the token before transferring the property out. No key, no burn, no exit.

v4 introduces a two-tier recovery system.

For lost keys, stuck tokens, or estate situations where no one disputes ownership.

1. Record a sworn affidavit at the county declaring you have lost access to your wallet

2. Deliver a copy by certified mail to the property address and to any recorded lienholders

3. Wait 90 days for anyone to contest

4. If no one contests and the wallet stays inactive, receive a deed transferring the property out of the trust

The entire process runs through public records. No platform approval needed. No admin key. If Fabrica disappeared tomorrow, this mechanism would still work.

The affidavit must be executed under oath and notarized in whatever form the local jurisdiction requires. This ensures it works with any county recorder in the country. If a recorder still refuses to accept it, the agreement provides a clear fallback: go to court under Tier 2.

If anyone contests the Notice during the 90 days (by recording a lis pendens, affidavit of adverse claim, or any equivalent instrument), the process halts immediately and moves to court. This protects against abuse while keeping the uncontested path fast.

For theft, disputes, or contested claims. A court resolves the matter and issues an order authorizing the property transfer. This is the same process courts use for disputed property every day.

What happens when a property owner dies?

If heirs inherit wallet access (through a seed phrase in a safe or with an estate attorney), they simply become the new owner. No special process needed.

If heirs do not have wallet access, they follow the Tier 1 recovery process with probate documents. The executor or heir files the sworn affidavit, attaches letters testamentary, waits 90 days, and receives the deed. The proof of succession must be valid under the laws of the state where the property is located. If it is not, the agreement directs them to the court path.

No more worrying about property getting stuck because someone did not pass on their keys.

The trust agreement now explicitly supports:

• Multisig wallets (like Safe)

• Account abstraction wallets (like smart contract wallets with social recovery)

• Custody solutions controlled by the owner

These are called "Smart Wallets" in the agreement. They work exactly like regular wallets for ownership purposes, with additional protections and improved clarity on ultimate ownership.

If you are using your token as collateral for a loan, or if you are a lender considering land-backed tokens, v4 has important protections.

When a token is in a lending contract, the new recovery process cannot be used to pull the property out from under the lender. The borrower must first return the token (typically by paying off the loan) before they can initiate recovery.

This is not a policy that someone checks. It is structural: if the token is in a lending contract, the process simply does not start.

Additionally, when someone initiates recovery, they must deliver the recorded affidavit not just to the property address but also to every recorded lienholder in the county's official records. Mortgage holders, deed of trust beneficiaries, and other encumbrance holders get direct notice of any recovery attempt.

The trust agreement now explicitly recognizes Property Tokens as "controllable electronic records" under the Uniform Commercial Code. This means:

• Clear rules for secured lending: lenders know exactly how to perfect a security interest

• Qualifying purchaser protection: good-faith buyers and lenders are protected

• Standard commercial practices: the same legal framework that governs other digital assets

Token transfers still transfer beneficial ownership of the property through the trust, exactly as before. But when it comes time to dissolve the trust and take a traditional deed, that deed must satisfy the recording and conveyancing requirements of the state where the property sits. The agreement now makes this explicit, so there is no ambiguity about where UCC Article 12 ends and real-property law begins.

If someone steals your keys and uses the token as collateral, what happens?

• The lender is protected if they acted in good faith without notice of the theft

• Your remedy is against the thief, not the innocent lender

• The moment you file a Notice at the county, any future lender loses their good-faith defense

This creates the right incentives: owners are motivated to secure their keys and report theft quickly, while lenders can extend credit with confidence.

Several structural provisions ensure the trust holds up under legal scrutiny and works across jurisdictions:

The trust cannot collapse. In most Fabrica trusts, the owner serves as both trustee and beneficiary. The agreement now structurally prevents the legal doctrine of "merger" (where a trust fails because one person holds both roles) by recognizing that equitable interests are held by a broader class of stakeholders, including future token holders and legal successors.

Works in every state. The agreement is governed by California law but expressly preserves local rules for the things that matter most: recording, conveyancing, lien priority, and probate are all governed by the laws of the state where the property is located. Quiet title actions and foreclosures can be brought in local courts.

No tax surprises. The structural provisions that keep the trust alive do not alter the tax treatment. The current owner remains the sole taxpayer.

The core design principles have not changed:

• Token = Title. Owning the token means owning the property

• No gatekeepers. The trust works without Fabrica or any other company

• Onchain truth. The blockchain is the authoritative record

• Self-custody. You control your keys and your property

v4 makes the system more robust without adding complexity for normal operations. If you never lose your keys and never need to recover your token, nothing changes about how you use it.

The full trust agreement and changelog are available:

• Trust Agreement Open Source Repository: GitHub

• IPFS Trust Agreement v4.2: bafkreihkphcet3ncjlmd7kv4wgc32ot3mnkpudavtydnwt4hdaa3q5z6mi

• Changelog: GitHub

For a deep dive into the recovery mechanism design, see What Happens When You Lose Your Keys?

Questions? Reach out at help@fabrica.land or visit docs.fabrica.land.