A government charge for filing and indexing a deed, mortgage, release, or other transaction document in public records.
A recording fee is a government charge for filing and indexing a deed, mortgage, release, or other transaction document in public records.
Signing a document and recording it are separate steps. After closing, executed documents are delivered to the appropriate county or local recording office so the deed and mortgage-related instruments become part of the public land records.
The settlement or title provider may collect the fee, but the government authority sets the recording schedule. That distinction helps borrowers avoid treating every amount paid through the title company as a title-company charge.
The estimated amount can change when the final document package changes. A recording office may charge by document, page, instrument type, or another published measure. Extra pages, an additional release, or a corrected instrument can affect the total.
Estimated recording fees appear under government charges in Other Costs on the Loan Estimate. Final amounts appear on the Closing Disclosure.
For transactions covered by those disclosures, recording fees are generally included in a group of charges whose total cannot increase by more than 10% from the applicable good-faith estimate, unless a permitted revision or exception applies. This is an aggregate test: one recording line can rise by more than 10% if the total of the charges in that tolerance group remains within the allowed increase.
The closing provider generally collects the amount with the rest of the funds due, then submits the documents and fees to the recording office. The deed and security instrument may record after signing or funding according to the transaction and local process.
Borrowers should identify which documents are included in the estimate. A purchase with financing may require recording both a deed and a mortgage or Deed of Trust. A refinance may involve recording a new security instrument and releases or satisfactions associated with prior liens.
| Document | Public-record purpose |
|---|---|
| Deed | Reflects the transfer or vesting of ownership |
| Mortgage or deed of trust | Places the lender’s security instrument in land records |
| Assignment | Records a transfer of a recorded interest when applicable |
| Release or satisfaction | Shows that a recorded lien has been released or satisfied |
| Modification agreement | Records a qualifying change to an existing instrument when required |
For federal disclosure classification, recording charges generally depend on document or page characteristics rather than the sale price or loan amount. A government charge based on transaction value or loan amount is more likely to be classified as a transfer tax.
A county charges $75 for the first page of each recorded document and $5 for every additional page. A purchase requires a three-page deed and a fifteen-page deed of trust.
The simplified recording total is $85 for the deed plus $145 for the deed of trust, or $230. If the final deed of trust gains two pages, the charge increases by $10. The change reflects the government’s filing schedule rather than a lender pricing change.
A recording fee differs from Recording. Recording is the act of entering a document into the public records; the recording fee is the government charge for that service.
It differs from Transfer Tax. Recording fees generally follow the documents filed, while transfer taxes generally follow sale price, consideration, or loan amount under applicable law.
It also differs from a Settlement Fee. A settlement fee pays a provider for coordinating closing tasks. The provider may collect and remit a recording fee but does not thereby become the government recording authority.