To remove a racially restrictive covenant from your deed, you file a document called a Restrictive Covenant Modification with your county recorder’s office. The modification identifies the discriminatory language in the original record and declares it stricken from the active chain of title. The original historical document stays in the archive, but the public record going forward reflects that the language is void. In most jurisdictions you can do this yourself, often for no fee.
These covenants have been legally unenforceable since the Supreme Court’s 1948 decision in Shelley v. Kraemer,1Library of Congress. Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1 (1948) and the Fair Housing Act of 1968 made it illegal to discriminate in housing on the basis of race.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 U.S.C. Chapter 45 – Fair Housing County recorders, however, don’t go back and edit historical records. The language sits in the books until a property owner takes action to remove it.
Find the Exact Language and Where It Was Recorded
Most homeowners first see a restrictive covenant in a preliminary title report during a purchase or refinance. Title companies list every encumbrance and restriction in the property’s history, and discriminatory language usually appears as a flagged exception.
The language itself typically lives in one of three documents:
- The original subdivision declaration, often titled “Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions,” filed by the developer when the neighborhood was platted.
- An early grant deed that either repeats the restriction or incorporates it by reference.
- The recorded plat map itself, where restriction language sometimes appears directly on the survey.
Before you file anything, you need the recording date, the document number, and the book-and-page reference for the original covenant. You also need to know the specific wording. If the title report doesn’t spell these out, the title company or the county recorder’s office can help you pull them.
File the Modification With Your County Recorder
You are not altering or destroying the original document. You are recording a new one that references the old document and strikes the discriminatory passages from active effect. The historical record is preserved; the active chain of title is cleaned up.
The general steps:
- Get the modification form from your county recorder or registrar of deeds. Some states supply a single statewide form; others leave the format to each county.
- Fill in the legal description of your property, the recording information for the original document, and either a transcription of the offending language or a marked-up copy of the original.
- Sign the form. Most jurisdictions require notarization.
- Submit the package to the county recorder’s office in person or through an online portal where one exists.
What happens next depends on where you live. Some counties route the submission through county counsel or a similar legal office to confirm that the cited language qualifies as an unlawful restriction. Others treat it as a standard recording and process it the same way as any other property document.
Cost and Whether You Need a Lawyer
Many states and counties have waived the recording fee for restrictive covenant modifications entirely. Where a fee still applies, it tracks the ordinary per-page recording charge in your jurisdiction, generally under $30. Ask the recorder’s office about a waiver before you pay. More jurisdictions drop these fees every year.
The forms are built for property owners to complete without legal help. The Uniform Unlawful Restrictions in Land Records Act, which a growing number of states have adopted, was drafted specifically so owners could handle removal “inexpensively and without needing an attorney.”3American Land Title Association. ALTA Supports ULC’s Model Act for Discriminatory Covenants If the discriminatory language is spread across several documents, or your county has no standard form, a real estate attorney can prepare and record the modification for a few hundred dollars.
How Long It Takes
Where the recorder processes the modification like any other document, it can be done quickly. Where county counsel has to review the submission first, a reasonable expectation is up to three months from the day you file.
If Your Home Is in an HOA
Properties in a homeowners association often carry the discriminatory language in two places: the individual deed and the master declaration of covenants, conditions, and restrictions that governs the whole community. Removing the language from your own deed follows the process above. The master CC&Rs are a different matter, because those belong to the association rather than to any single owner.
Historically, amending an HOA’s governing documents required a majority vote of all owners. Several states now allow the association’s board of directors to strike discriminatory provisions by a board vote alone, with no community-wide ballot. If your state hasn’t adopted that shortcut, the board has to follow whatever amendment procedure the governing documents prescribe, usually a drafted amendment, notice to all owners, and a vote. These amendments tend to pass easily when they go to a vote.
Selling a Home That Still Has the Language
Restrictive covenants surface routinely during title searches, and buyers often react before anyone explains that the language has no legal force. Federal law doesn’t require you to proactively disclose a void covenant, though state rules vary, and some states require title companies or escrow agents who find discriminatory language to notify the buyer and help with modification.4Fannie Mae. Restrictive Covenants
Recording a modification before you list avoids the issue. The next title report will reflect the corrected chain of title and the language won’t appear as an exception. If you find the covenant mid-transaction, most title companies can file the modification alongside the sale so it doesn’t hold up closing.
Why Do This When the Language Is Already Void
You are not required to remove it. Your rights in the property are the same whether the historical record is scrubbed or not.4Fannie Mae. Restrictive Covenants But the text is still there, and anyone who pulls a title report still reads it. A buyer of color shouldn’t have to encounter a clause declaring that their home was never meant for them. One homeowner told NPR the experience was “disgusting” and said “it made my stomach turn to see it there in black-and-white.” Another said, “Yes, it’s illegal and it’s unenforceable, but you’re still recycling this garbage into the universe.”
There is also a practical benefit. A title report cluttered with void restrictions creates friction at closing even when every party knows the restrictions have no effect. Recording a modification clears the active record while leaving the historical document intact in the archive, which is the balance the Uniform Act was designed to strike.3American Land Title Association. ALTA Supports ULC’s Model Act for Discriminatory Covenants