Recorder of deeds

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Recorder of deeds refers to the government office that maintains records of transfers of real estate, as well as many other public documents. The individual holding the office is also known as the Recorder of Deeds. The title varies in different jurisdictions; variations include County Recorder, Register of Deeds, Registrar of Deeds, or Registrar of Titles; in some areas, this function is part of the county clerk's responsibilities.

The purpose of having a recorder of deeds is to provide a single location where interested parties can know to look for information about who owns what property. Because estate in land can be held in so many complex ways, a single location where such claims can be found provides some stability. Each document recorded against title to real estate can be examined and the portion of the bundle of rights that it includes can be determined. Documents describing real estate ownership that are regularly recorded include deeds, mortgages, mechanics liens, and releases, plats, among others. To allow full access to deeds recorded throughout the office history, several indexes are also maintained, which include grantor-grantee indexes, tract indexes, and plat maps.

Deeds in a few states of the U.S. are maintained under the Torrens title system or some limited implementation of it. (For example: Iowa, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Washington. Other U.S. states, on the other hand, maintain their deeds under Common law.

In some states, the recorder of deeds may also act as a public posting place for documents that are not directly related to estates in land, such as corporate charters, military discharges, UCC records, applications for marriage licenses, and judgments.

In the U.S., most Recorders of Deeds are elected officials serving the area of a county or county equivalent territory.