To get a copy of your property deed, contact the county office that records land documents where your property is located — commonly called the County Recorder, Register of Deeds, Clerk of the Circuit Court, or in parts of New England, the Town Clerk. You can request the copy in person, by mail, or through the office’s online portal, and a standard copy usually costs a few dollars per page. Losing the paper copy you received at closing does not affect your ownership. The version recorded with local government is the authoritative public record, and it stays available to you indefinitely.
Before you pay for anything, check your closing paperwork. If a title company handled your closing, it likely mailed you a recorded copy of the deed along with your owner’s title insurance policy three to eight weeks after you closed. That copy is identical to what the recorder has on file.
Find the Right Recording Office
Property records are managed locally, not by any federal or state agency. The office name changes from state to state, but the function is the same everywhere: recording documents that affect property ownership and making them available to the public.
Search online for your county name plus “recorder” or “register of deeds.” Most offices now run websites with searchable indexes, hours, fee schedules, and downloadable request forms. If you’re not sure which county your property sits in, your most recent property tax bill will list the taxing jurisdiction and often the recorder’s contact information.
Gather Your Property Information First
Having the right identifiers before you contact the office saves time and prevents you from getting back the wrong document. The most useful items:
- Assessor’s Parcel Number (APN) or Tax ID. This unique number is assigned to every parcel for tax purposes and is the fastest way for staff to pull your record. It appears on your annual property tax bill and on your closing settlement statement.
- Legal description. The formal description of your property’s boundaries, usually written as a lot and block reference within a subdivision or as a narrative of the boundary lines. It appears on your tax bill and on the deed itself.
- Grantor and grantee names. The grantor is the person who transferred the property to you; the grantee is you (or you and your co-owners). Recording offices index documents by these names.
- Recording date or document number. If you know when the deed was recorded or have the instrument number from your closing paperwork, the search becomes nearly instant.
If none of that is close at hand, many county websites offer free Geographic Information System (GIS) maps. Click on your property and you can usually pull up the parcel number, legal description, and sometimes a link to the recorded deed itself.
Check Online Records Before Making a Formal Request
Before filling out a form or driving to the courthouse, check whether your county offers free online access to recorded documents. A growing number of recorder offices have digitized their land records and made them searchable by name, parcel number, or address. In many places you can view and print an image of your deed from your computer at no cost. These online images are typically unofficial copies, which is fine if you just need the document for your own records.
The search tools vary in quality. Some let you pull up a full document image with a few keystrokes. Others only display index information and require a separate request for the actual image. Even when the online system doesn’t give you the document, it will usually show the recording details — book and page number, instrument number, recording date — that make an in-person or mail request much faster.
Choose Between a Certified and an Uncertified Copy
You’ll be asked whether you want a plain copy or a certified one. The difference matters depending on what you plan to do with it.
An uncertified copy is a photocopy or digital image of the recorded document. It works for your personal files, for reviewing the legal description, and for sharing with a real estate agent. Most people looking for their own deed just need this version, and it’s the cheapest option.
A certified copy carries an official stamp or seal from the recorder’s office along with a clerk’s signature, confirming that it is a true and complete copy of the recorded document. You’ll need a certified copy for court proceedings, certain estate administration tasks, and occasionally when a lender or government agency specifically asks for one. If no one has requested a certified copy by name, the uncertified version will almost certainly do.
Fees vary by jurisdiction. Uncertified copies generally run $1 to $5 per page. Certification adds a flat fee on top, commonly $1 to $10, though some offices charge per page for certification instead. The recorder’s website lists the current schedule.
Submit Your Request
You have three main options, and the best one depends on how quickly you need the copy and whether you want it certified.
In Person
Walking into the recorder’s office is the fastest way. Bring the parcel number or recording information, a valid photo ID, and a form of payment. Many offices accept credit cards, but some require exact cash, money orders, or cashier’s checks. Check the website before you go. Staff can usually print your copy while you wait.
By Mail
Most offices accept mailed requests. Download the request form from the office website, fill it out with your property identifiers, and send it with payment (typically a money order or cashier’s check) and a self-addressed stamped envelope. Expect one to three weeks for the round trip. Certified copies requested by mail tend to take longer than uncertified ones.
Online
If the recorder’s office runs a digital portal, you can often order and download an uncertified copy immediately after payment. Certified copies typically still get mailed to you, since they require a physical seal. Online portals are the most convenient option when you just need a quick reference copy.
Ignore the Mail Solicitations Offering to Sell You a “Certified Copy”
New homeowners often receive an official-looking letter demanding $59 to $89 for a “certified copy of your property deed.” These solicitations are printed on heavy paper with seals and a bold “respond by” deadline. They are not from the government. They are from private companies that pull purchase information from public records and charge inflated prices for a document that costs a few dollars at the recorder’s office.
The same copy these companies sell for $89 or more can typically be purchased directly from your county recorder for around $1 to $5 per page. Some of these outfits have a history of not delivering the deed even after payment. No government agency requires you to buy a copy of your deed, and you do not need one in hand to sell your property later. A title company handling a future sale will pull the recorded copy from public records on its own.
When a Retrieval Service Is Worth Paying For
Professional title search companies and document retrieval services exist for situations where the recorder’s office is hard to reach. If the property sits in a rural county with limited office hours and no online portal, or if you need records from multiple counties across different states, a retrieval service can handle the legwork. These services charge a fee on top of the recorder’s copying costs, so they aren’t worth it for a straightforward single-deed request. For attorneys, title companies, and out-of-state property owners dealing with complicated chains of title, they can save real time.