Token Recovery

Losing access to a wallet's private keys is one of the most common concerns in crypto. For most digital assets, lost keys mean lost assets. The Fabrica Trust structure is designed differently: because the property exists in the real world and the trust agreement governs ownership, the protocol includes a legal recovery path that does not depend on blockchain access.

For a detailed look at how the recovery mechanism was designed, see Lost Keys, No Lost Land on the Fabrica blog.

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Two Recovery Paths

The Fabrica Trust provides two paths for recovering property when wallet access is lost:

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Self-Service Recovery (Section 10.2)

This is the primary recovery path. It allows a property owner who has lost access to their wallet to recover full ownership of their property without Fabrica's involvement and without going to court.

Check first that it applies to you. The trust agreement limits this path:

"This Section applies only when the Property Token is held by an Account or Smart Wallet at the time the Notice of Lost Token Control is recorded, except as provided in Section 10.2.7."

If the token sits in a Functional Contract (a lending, escrow or bridge contract) and cannot be returned to a wallet through that contract's ordinary operation, or if the county recorder refuses to record the Notice, the agreement sends you to the court order path (Section 10.4) instead. The steps below follow v4.4 of the trust agreement; the version that governs your property is the one its token referenced when it was minted, so check your property's trust documents first.

Step-by-Step Process

1. Record a Notice of Lost Token Control

The owner executes a sworn affidavit, notarized and in recordable form, declaring that they have lost the ability to redeem the Property Token. The Notice must identify:

• The full legal description of the property (matching the token's legal description) and the assessor parcel number where the county uses one
• The trust name exactly as the property is vested of record, and the recording reference of the deed that conveyed the property into the trust
• The claimant's name and a mailing address for contest notices
• The Token ID and Token Contract address
• The Blockchain Network
• The last known wallet address holding the token
• A description of the circumstances of loss

The Notice also requests indexing against both the trust and the claimant, so it surfaces in a title search. It is recorded with the county recorder where the property is located.

2. Notify Interested Parties

Within 10 calendar days of recording, the owner sends a copy of the recorded Notice by certified mail to:

• The property address (as shown in county assessor records) and, if different, the assessee mailing address on the county tax roll; for unimproved land with no situs address, the assessee mailing address alone satisfies this
• Any holders of recorded liens, mortgages, or encumbrances against the property
• Any secured party of record under a UCC financing statement covering the token or the beneficial interest

Within the same 10 days, the claimant also sends an onchain notice: a transaction directed to the wallet holding the token that identifies the recorded Notice, so anyone watching the token's address sees the claim.

3. Wait Through the Quiet Period

A 90-day Quiet Period begins on the date the Notice is recorded. During this period:

• Any interested party can contest the Notice by recording an instrument with the same county recorder (such as a lis pendens or affidavit of adverse claim); a contest is also effective if the recorder refuses a tendered instrument, or if notice of filed legal proceedings is delivered to the trustee and claimant, before the Quiet Period expires
• If the wallet holding the token initiates any transaction during this period (any transaction "signed by or originating from" it, not only a transfer of the token), the process halts automatically. Transactions sent to the wallet by someone else do not count. This protects against false claims of lost access
• If a contest is made through any of these channels, the process halts and the matter moves to the court order path

4. Deliver a Sworn Certificate

After the Quiet Period expires, the owner delivers to the trustee a sworn certificate, dated after the Quiet Period ends. Section 10.2.4 of the trust agreement sets out exactly what it must state:

(a) after review of publicly available Blockchain Network records, no Confirmed Transaction was initiated by the Account or Smart Wallet holding the Property Token during the Quiet Period;

(b) no contest as described in Section 10.2.2 was recorded or delivered during the Quiet Period, and no instrument inconsistent with the claimant's claim appears in the county records, whenever recorded, except as disclosed in the certificate;

(c) the Beneficiary complied with the notice-delivery requirements of Section 10.2.1, including delivery under clause (a) (or that the Property has no situs address of record and delivery was made to the assessee or taxpayer mailing address as clause (a) alternatively provides) and to each party identified under clauses (b) and (c) of Section 10.2.1, or that no such parties were identified after the searches described therein; and

(d) the claimant caused the onchain notice leg described in Section 10.2.1, identifying the Confirmed Transaction by which it was given.

The trustee may conclusively rely on this certificate.

5. Receive a Deed of Distribution

The trustee executes a Deed of Distribution transferring the property out of the trust into the owner's name. The deed is recorded at the county level, completing the transfer to traditional ownership.

6. Token Becomes Void

Upon recording of the Deed of Distribution, the original Property Token becomes a Void Token. It confers no ownership rights regardless of who holds it on the blockchain.

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Court Order Path (Section 10.4)

When the self-service path cannot be used, a court can order dissolution of the trust. This applies to:

• Stolen tokens: Where the token was taken through unauthorized access
• Contested ownership: Where multiple parties claim beneficial ownership
• Interrupted quiet period: Where a blockchain transaction occurs during the Quiet Period and the origin is disputed
• Any other situation where the self-service process cannot complete

The court order substitutes for both the token burn requirement and the cryptographic signature requirement. Courts with jurisdiction include California state or federal courts (San Francisco County) or courts where the property is located.

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What Is a Void Token?

A Void Token is a Property Token that has been dissociated from the property and the trust. Key characteristics:

• No ownership rights: A Void Token confers no beneficial ownership, no owner rights, and no interest in the property
• Exists onchain: The token may continue to exist as a blockchain record, but it represents nothing
• Not revived by recovery: A token voided through this recovery process cannot be reconnected to the property. (The one different case is involuntary loss of title under Section 10.5, such as a tax sale or foreclosure: there the Void Token carries wind-up rights to residual proceeds, and the trust is reinstated if a court later sets the external transfer aside)
• No reliance on control: Even if someone has "control" of a Void Token under UCC Article 12, they acquire no property rights

The legal validity of the void status is established by the recorded Deed of Distribution, not by any offchain database or platform status.

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Why This Works

The recovery mechanism works because the Fabrica Trust is designed with two layers of ownership:

1. Onchain layer: The token on the blockchain
2. Offchain layer: The trust agreement and county records

Under normal operation, these layers are synchronized: the token holder is the beneficial owner. But the trust agreement explicitly provides for situations where the onchain layer becomes inaccessible. The 90-day Quiet Period provides a safeguard against abuse, and the county recording system provides public notice and legal enforceability.

This approach mirrors established legal processes like quiet title actions, which courts and title companies already understand and accept.

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Key Safeguards Against Abuse

The recovery mechanism includes multiple protections to prevent misuse:

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What To Do If You've Lost Access

1. Do not panic. Your property is not lost. The trust agreement provides a clear recovery path.
2. Try key recovery first. Check for seed phrase backups, hardware wallet recovery, or wallet provider support.
3. If keys cannot be recovered, initiate the self-service process by preparing a Notice of Lost Token Control.
4. Consider working with a lawyer. While the process is designed to work without legal counsel, an attorney familiar with real estate law can assist with the notarization, recording, and certified mail steps.
5. Contact Fabrica support (optional). Fabrica can help guide you through the process, but your recovery does not depend on Fabrica's involvement.

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Independence From Fabrica

The recovery mechanism is designed to work regardless of whether Fabrica continues to exist:

• The trust agreement is open source and self-contained
• The county recording system is a public institution
• Any notary and any lawyer can assist with the process
• No Fabrica approval, platform access, or involvement is required

This is consistent with Fabrica's walk-away test: every property owner can operate independently of the platform.

Step-by-step help: I lost access to my account. Is my property gone?