Recording document fees

If paying by check, please make all checks (cashier's check or money order) payable to:

SCC - The Clerk-Recorder's Office

Basic recording fees

View basic recording fees

Transfer, fees and taxes

County Documentary Transfer Tax

$0.55 per $500 or fraction thereof consideration or value of interest conveyed.

City Conveyance Tax (San Jose, Palo Alto, & Mountain View)

$1.65 per $500 or fraction thereof of consideration or value of interest conveyed applies, in addition to county transfer tax.

Real estate searches, copies and certification

This office does not perform any searches of real estate records.

Fees for copies (made by office and mailed) per document

$4.00 for the first page
$2.00 per additional page

Certification Fee (in addition to applicable copy fees)

$2.00 per document

Additional recording fees that may apply

Additional pages and attachments	$3.00 per additional page.
Each caption or title after the first	$25.00 per title or transaction (see recording fee note 1)
Non-standard size document	$3.00 per page
Small print penalty	$1.00 per page (see recording fee note 2)
Indexing fee	$1.00 per group after the first ten (see recording fee note 3).
Survey Monument Preservation	$10.00 per Grant Deed without lot and tract description
Affordable Housing and Jobs Act Fee (Senate Bill 2)	$75.00 per title
Restrictive Covenant Program Fee (Assembly Bill 1466)	$2.00 per title

PCOR fee

$20.00 per deed when the Preliminary Change of Ownership form is missing/incomplete (see recording fee note 4).

Conformed copies:

(Document copy submitted with the originals for unofficial confirmation of receipt.)

$5.00 conformed copy fee (provide a copy with a sufficient self-addressed stamped envelope)

Recording fees note:

Note 1 - The additional title fee includes the fraud fund portion of the fee. The fraud fund fee does not apply to all additional captions and titles. See state summary for details and reduced fee for such documents.

Note 2 - The small print penalty applies to any page containing text more than 9 lines per vertical inches or 22 characters per horizontal inch, including spaces.

Note 3 - For each group of 10 names or fraction thereof over the first 10, add $1.00 per group. Names include all grantor(s) (seller(s), debtor(s), etc.) and grantee(s) (buyer(s), secured party(ies), assignee(s), etc.) to be indexed.

Note 4 - The County Assessor's Office requires a completed Preliminary Change of Ownership Report form (PCOR) for all deeds and indentures, except the following:

Easement Deeds
Deeds of Trusts and Reconveyances
Trustee's Deed on Sale or Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure
Deeds to or from Governmental entities

Deeds of Trusts and Reconveyances

Trustee's Deed on Sale or Deed in Lieu of Foreclosure

Deeds to or from Governmental entities>

Certification of Trust

2. PCORs are required for all agreements of sale and/or contracts of sale affecting real property.

3. PCORs are required for all affidavits of death, including death of a trustee, except:

Death of a beneficiary under a Deed of Trust.

4. PCORs are required for all leases, memorandum of lease, and assignments of lease, except:

Oil and gas

Document, recording notes and questions

Document referencing system means the date of recording and the document Instrument #.
Format example:
In subsequent related documents, only reference (book/page, doc#, etc.) to the previously recorded document.
The non-standard size fee is applied if ANY PAGE of a document is:
a. not “8 ½ x 11”
b. has anything glued, taped or stapled to it
A single deed with multiple properties in various cities with transfer taxes on it is not accepted.
Originals of real estate documents are always returned after recording.
Average time to return documents after recording is 8-10 weeks.

Assessor Parcel Numbers (APN)

Parcel numbers are required on deeds conveying an interest in real property. APN Format of number: 000-00-000

View additional information on how to record fees for documents