Sussex County Recorder Information

Land records in Sussex County are recorded by the Recorder of Deeds. The office is held by Alexandra Reed Baker.

The fee schedule lists online record access subscriptions: Online Web - Single User $50.00 per month and Corporate Web $300.00 per month, each for download/print of unlimited documents (Corporate Web, 10 total users).

Verified September 2026 against the office's own publications. Sources: Recorder of Deeds · Delaware Code Online - Title 25, Chapter 1, Subchapter V. Electronic Recording · Recorder of Deeds Fee Schedule | Sussex County

These government fees are separate from any Deeds.com service fees. Confirm current charges with the recorder's office.

Added to each recording

Other charges

Fee schedule effective July 1, 2024.

StatewideRecording fees are set by county ordinance rather than by a statewide schedule: the fees of the Recorders of Deeds in New Castle and Sussex Counties shall be established by ordinance, and the fees of the Recorder of Deeds in Kent County shall be established by ordinance. The $5.00 Housing Development Fund surcharge and the $25 Delaware Cultural Access Fund fee are collected for each document or paper recorded or filed and are included in the assessment fee collected by each county in accordance with § 103(c)(6) of Title 8. If a county, by ordinance, waives county recording fees for common interest communities or civic associations, the recorder for that county does not collect the $5.00 surcharge or the $25 fee for any document or paper recorded or filed by a common interest community or civic association.

The schedule states the following document and page fees will be charged unless otherwise noted, effective July 1, 2024. Plots: Document Surcharge Fee ($30.00) + Maintenance Fee ($1.00) + $30.00 per page (no larger than 36" in length or considered 2 pages). Uniform Commercial Code - UCC: no page fee or non-conforming fee; financing statements, continuations, amendments and assignments are $30.00 surcharge + $20.00 recording fee, partial releases + $5.00, terminations + $10.00. Federal Tax Liens: $30.00 surcharge + $10.00; Federal Tax Release: $30.00 surcharge + $1.00. Notary charge $3.00 per document. Online Web single user $50.00 per month; Corporate Web $300.00 per month. The forms page states there is a fee to record a Transfer on Death Deed or its revocation, $31.00 plus $9.00 for each page.

Paying the office

Limit of 5 document recordings per check/money order per receipt transaction. Checks payable to Recorder of Deeds in correct amount. Incorrect checks will be returned. All checks must have a phone number on them. All payments must be correct or they will be returned. We no longer issue refunds.

Transfer tax

Realty Transfer Tax. A realty transfer tax at the rate of 3 percent of the value of the property represented by such document, unless the municipality or county where the property is located has enacted the full 1½ percent realty transfer tax authorized by § 1601 of Title 22 or § 8102 of Title 9, in which case 2½ percent. The tax is collected when the document is recorded. (statewide, 30 Del. C. § 5402(a))

StatewideRecording is conditioned on proof of payment: no document upon which the tax is imposed is to be recorded in the office of any recorder of deeds of any county of this State unless proof of payment of the realty transfer tax appears on the document as provided in 30 Del. C. § 5405(a). Every document lodged with or presented to any Recorder of Deeds for recording is to set forth the true, full and complete value, or be accompanied by an affidavit setting forth that value and the reason, if any, why the document is not subject to tax. A transfer on death deed authorized under Chapter 2 of Title 25 does not require a transfer-tax affidavit under § 5409 to be recorded with or accepted by a Recorder of Deeds to be effective.

The office publishes a Town Transfer Tax table listing towns that accept First Time Homebuyers: Delmar 1% Transfer Tax; Ellendale Exempt; Georgetown .75% (seller's portion) effective 10/1/2024; Greenwood .75% (seller's portion) effective 9/4/2019; Laurel .75% (seller's portion) effective 7/1/2021; Milford Exempt; Seaford .75% (seller's portion) effective 1/8/2018. Deeds received to be recorded within town limits without the proper Town Stamps will be returned.

Verified September 2026 against the office's own publications. Sources: Delaware Code Online - Title 9, Chapter 96. Recorders · Delaware Code Online - Title 30, Chapter 54. Realty Transfer Tax · Recorder of Deeds Fee Schedule | Sussex County · Recording Information Requirements | Sussex County · Recording Tax Information | Sussex County

Confirm current requirements with the recorder's office before submitting documents.

2" top first page, 2" bottom last page and 1" margin top & sides of each page; otherwise, non-compliance fee will be charged

StatewideFormatting standards are county-level in Delaware: the recorder is authorized to issue regulations concerning the format and size of instruments to be accepted for recordation including, but not limited to the map scale, type size, paper size, margins and requirements for open areas within an instrument to assure that the document is in a form proper for micrographic or electronic reproduction. Statewide document-content rules in Title 9, Chapter 96 include the parcel identification number, the "prepared by" name and address on the first page, and, for a document containing a certificate of a notarial act, identification of the name and title of the notarial officer who executed the certificate in a legible manner which is suitable for micrographic or electronic reproduction. Where real property in an unincorporated suburban community has road frontage on a private road or street not maintained by the State, the recorder shall not record such deed unless the deed contains a statement that such private street or road is not maintained by the State.

All signatures must be original and notarized. Legible and suitable for indexing/imaging. All pages, including attachments and inserts, must be numbered sequentially. Any document with tape or correction fluid will be returned, otherwise non-compliance fee will be charged. $30.00 noncompliance fee will be assessed per document that does not comply with recording requirements. Exceptions: With the exception of #15, none of these regulations apply to UCC forms, IRS filings and plots.

Forms filed along with a transfer

• RTT-TAX – Realty Transfer Tax Return and Affidavit of Gain and Value Statewide Delaware Division of Revenue
  Every document when lodged with, or presented to, any Recorder of Deeds in this State for recording shall set forth the true, full and complete value thereof, or shall be accompanied by an affidavit setting forth such value and the reason, if any, why such document is not subject to tax (30 Del. C. § 5409).
• REW-EST – Real Estate Tax Return – Declaration of Estimated Income Tax Statewide Delaware Division of Revenue
  Before the recorder shall record a deed conveying title in Delaware real estate by a nonresident individual, a nonresident pass-through entity, or a nonresident corporation, the recorder shall receive the tax return or report, and collect the estimated income tax reported due, if any (9 Del. C. § 9607(e)(1)).
• General Information Sheet Sussex County Recorder of Deeds
  required when recording all deed documents
• Sussex County Realty Transfer Tax Affidavit Sussex County Recorder of Deeds

Submitting documents

StatewideDelaware has adopted the Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act at 25 Del. C. §§ 180-184. An electronic recording commission, consisting of the recorder for each county of the State and 2 members at large appointed by the Secretary of State, adopts standards to implement the subchapter, and a recorder who implements any of the functions described in § 183 shall do so in compliance with those standards. A recorder who accepts electronic documents for recording shall continue to accept paper documents and shall place entries for both types of documents in the same index. Any fee or tax that a recorder is authorized to collect may be collected electronically. Whether a given office accepts electronic documents, and through which submitters, is set by that office.

Sussex County will not accept void requests. Once a document is on record it will stay on record. If a document needs to be corrected due to an error by our office, the submitter will not be charged. If the error is determined to be on the submitter, corrections will need to be submitted by re-recording and fees will be charged accordingly. If original document is lost or misplaced, contact Office Manager for recording requirements.

Verified September 2026 against the office's own publications. Sources: Recorder of Deeds · Delaware Code Online - Title 9, Chapter 96. Recorders · Delaware Code Online - Title 25, Chapter 1, Subchapter V. Electronic Recording · Recording Information Requirements | Sussex County · Electronic Recording | Sussex County · Business Tax Forms 2025-2026 - Division of Revenue - State of Delaware