To find out if a quitclaim deed was recorded, search the land records at the county recorder’s office for the county where the property sits. Most counties offer a free online index you can search by the grantor’s name, the grantee’s name, the property address, or the parcel number. If the deed appears with a recording date and instrument number, it was filed. If it doesn’t appear anywhere in the index, the deed likely was never recorded, and that leaves the new owner exposed.
Find the Right County Office
Deeds are recorded at the county level, never the state level. The office goes by different names depending on where you are: County Recorder, County Clerk, Register of Deeds, or Recorder of Deeds. The name changes; the function doesn’t. Each of these offices keeps the official index of recorded property documents for its county.
The county that matters is the one where the property physically sits, not where the grantor or grantee lives. If you aren’t sure which county a property falls in, the tax assessment records or a quick address lookup will tell you. Once you have the county, searching its name plus “recorder of deeds” or “property records” will pull up the office and, in most places, its search portal.
Gather the Details That Speed Up the Search
A few pieces of information make the difference between finding the deed in two minutes and giving up in frustration:
- The full legal names of the grantor (who transferred the property) and the grantee (who received it). County indexes are organized by name, and misspellings or incomplete names are the single most common reason a search fails when the deed does exist.
- The approximate date the deed was signed or filed. This narrows the search window instead of forcing you through years of records.
- The property’s street address, parcel number, or legal description. Parcel numbers are the most reliable identifier because addresses can be ambiguous in rural areas and legal descriptions can be long.
You don’t need every piece. Name searches work without a property description, and property searches work without names. Having both just gets you there faster.
Run the Search
Online
Most county recorder offices maintain online portals where you can search recorded documents at no cost. These systems usually accept grantor name, grantee name, address, or parcel number. Some display a scanned image of the deed for free; others charge a small viewing or download fee. Certified copies, which you’d need for a court filing or a title matter, almost always cost extra.
There is often a lag between when a deed is filed at the counter and when it shows up in the online index. Some counties post the same day. Others take weeks, occasionally a couple of months, particularly for parcels with complex legal descriptions. If the deed was filed very recently and you find nothing online, call the recorder’s office before assuming the worst. If whoever filed the deed kept a recording number or receipt, the office can confirm the filing over the phone.
In Person
Walking into the recorder’s office is the most reliable method, especially for older records that may not have been digitized. Staff can help you work the index books or public terminals, and you’ll walk out with immediate confirmation either way. Check the office’s hours before you go; some have limited public access windows. Bring every piece of identifying information you have.
By Mail or Through a Title Company
If you can’t get there in person, most offices accept written requests. Include the names of the parties, the property description, and a check or money order for the search and copy fees. Expect a few weeks of turnaround.
For anything complicated, such as tracing title through several transfers or a property that may have been deeded across county lines, a title company can run a professional search. These usually cost between $75 and $500 depending on complexity and jurisdiction. Title companies handle this work daily and catch issues a casual search will miss.
Read the Results Carefully
When you find a document that looks like the right deed, check the details before you close the tab:
- Grantor and grantee names should match exactly. Even small discrepancies, like a middle initial standing in for a full middle name, can mean you have the wrong document or that the recorded deed has a defect worth attention.
- The legal description should match the property. It isn’t always the street address; it may be a lot-and-block reference, a metes-and-bounds description, or a parcel number. Comparing it to the property’s tax assessment record is the easiest way to confirm.
- The recording date is when the county accepted and indexed the deed, not when it was signed. A deed signed in March and recorded in September is perfectly valid; the recording date is simply later.
- The instrument number, or book and page, is the deed’s unique identifier in the county’s records. Write it down. You’ll need it for any future title insurance, sale, or legal reference.
If those details line up, the deed is on record and part of the public chain of title.
If the Search Turns Up Nothing
Before concluding that the deed was never filed, rule out the obvious near-misses. It may be indexed under a slightly different spelling of a name. It may have been filed in a neighboring county, particularly for properties near a county line. And if the filing was recent, the online index may not have caught up. Call the recorder’s office to confirm.
If you’ve ruled those out and the deed genuinely was never recorded, there is generally no deadline for recording. A quitclaim deed signed five years ago can still be recorded today, provided it meets the recording requirements. The problem is that every day it sits unrecorded, someone else could record a competing claim first.
To get an unrecorded deed on the books, bring the original signed deed to the county recorder’s office. The deed must have been properly notarized at the time of signing; virtually every jurisdiction requires a notary acknowledgment before accepting a deed for recording. If the deed was never notarized, or the notarization is defective, the office will reject it, and the grantor will need to re-execute or re-acknowledge the deed before a notary. When the grantor has since died or become incapacitated, this gets complicated quickly and usually requires legal help.
Recording fees vary by jurisdiction but generally run between $10 and $100 for a standard deed. Some jurisdictions also charge transfer taxes based on the property’s value, though transfers between family members are often exempt. The recorder’s office will tell you what you’ll owe before you file.
Why Confirming the Recording Matters
A quitclaim deed that’s been signed and delivered is technically valid between the two people involved even without recording. The trouble starts with everyone else. Recording puts the public on notice that the property changed hands. Without that public record, a later buyer, a creditor with a judgment against the grantor, or a lender can claim a superior interest, and in most states they’d win.
The consequences show up in everyday ownership too. Title insurance companies are reluctant to insure property when the recorded chain of title doesn’t reflect the actual owner. Mortgage lenders won’t lend against property you can’t prove you own in the public record. And when you eventually sell, a buyer’s title search will flag the gap immediately. Confirming the recording, or fixing it if it never happened, is what keeps all of that from becoming your problem later.