Champaign County Recorder Information Illinois

Document Formatting Requirements

Documents presented for recording in the State of Illinois must:

- Be on white 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper.
- The top 3 x 5 inches on the top right hand side must be blank.
- The document must be written, printed or typed in black ink and with at least font size 12.
- No permanently bound or continuous forms.
- No attachments stapled or taped to any pages.

Deeds:
Must also have a complete name and address of where the tax bill is to be sent. All deeds require a State of Illinois PTAX declaration form or letter of exemption which is signed and dated.

Other requirements:
Names of the parties signing the instrument must be typed or printed below or next to the signatures, including the witnesses, if any, and the names of the parties or officers taking acknowledgment.

Signatures of the parties executing the instrument shall be acknowledged by a notary public.

A deed must contain the name and residence of the grantor, the consideration exchanged for the property, any covenants of warranty, the grantee’s name and address, and a legal description of the real property. In addition, the grantor’s original signature must be present.

Include a return address for the recorded deed.

Provide the full name and address of person who prepared the deed.

Whenever a metes and bound description is used in the legal description of real property, the metes and bounds description should contain the section, township, and range with an identifiable point of beginning.

An affidavit for purposes of the plat act is required to accompany a deed when 1) a metes and bounds legal description is given, 2) when roadway easements and right of way (ingress or egress) are designated, or 3) when a division of land five acres more or less is noted on a deed of transfer.

Transfer Tax Declaration:

An Illinois Real Estate Transfer Declaration (PTAX-203) must be filed with deeds and any non-exempt transactions. The information requested on this form is requested by the Illinois Real Estate Transfer Tax law. All parties involved in the transaction must complete the form truthfully. This form is used to collect sales data and to determine if a sale can be used in assessment ratio studies. It is also used to compute equalization factors, which are used to help achieve a statewide uniform valuation of properties based on their fair market value.

If the property transfer is exempt from transfer tax, the PTAX-203 form is not required. A specific exemption number should be noted on the deed presented for recording. The Illinois Department of Revenue webpage has a list of exempt transactions. The form can be completed online or as a hard copy.

Effect of Recording:

Deeds, mortgages, and other instruments of writing that are authorized to be recorded will take effect and be in force from and after the time they are filed for record as to all creditors and subsequent purchasers, without notice. All such deeds and title papers will be judged void as to all such creditors and subsequent purchasers, without notice, until the same is filed for record.

From the time they are filed for record, deeds, mortgages, and other instruments of writing related to real estate shall be deemed notice to subsequent purchasers and creditors, though not acknowledged or proven according to law; but the same shall not be read as evidence, unless their execution be proved in the manner required by the rules of evidence applicable to such writings, so as to supply the defects of acknowledgment or proof.

Recorder Office Locations

Champaign County Recorder Information

Recording Fees