Penobscot County Recorder Information

Land records in Penobscot County are recorded by the Registry of Deeds. The office is held by Susan F. Bulay.

Free access and subscription options online. Subscribers pay $105 per quarter subscription fee and 50 cents per page for print images. Non-subscribers may pay by credit card on the site (50 cents plus a credit card transaction fee) or prepay by check at $1 per page. Indexes from 1814 to 1874 and from 1890 to 1966 are scanned in original form; indexes from 1875 to 1889 are searchable by name.

Verified September 2026 against official publications. Sources: Penobscot County Registry of Deeds – Online Research

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

Added at recording

Other charges

Fee schedule effective January 1, 2026.

StatewidePlans: $45 for recording, indexing and preserving plans. Paper copies of plans: $10 per page. Website images: no charge for the first 400 electronic images a person acquires in a calendar year, then 50 cents per electronic image; $1 per printed image. Downloads of 1,000 or more consecutive electronic images, under a written agreement with a registry that agrees to provide them: 25 cents per image. Fees are paid when the instrument is offered for record; fees payable by the State are billed monthly.

Paying the office

Transfer tax

Real estate transfer tax. $2.20 for each $500 or fractional part of $500 of the value of the property transferred. When the value of the property being transferred exceeds $1,000,000, an additional tax at the rate of $3.80 for each $500 or fractional part of $500 of the value of the property transferred that exceeds $1,000,000 is imposed. The tax is collected when the document is recorded. (statewide, 36 MRSA §4641-A; PL 2025, c. 388, Pt. V, §3)

StatewideThe tax is imposed 1/2 on the grantor and 1/2 on the grantee. The register of deeds computes and collects the tax when a deed is offered for recordation, based on the value in the declaration of value. A tax at the same rates is imposed on the transfer or acquisition within any 12-month period of a direct or indirect controlling interest in an entity with a fee interest in real property in Maine; it is reported to the register of deeds within 30 days (36 MRSA §4641-A(2), §4641-B(2)). Exemptions: 36 MRSA §4641-C.

Verified September 2026 against official publications. Sources: Title 33, §751: Schedule · Title 33, §653: Time of recording; verification · Title 33, §752: Records preservation surcharge · Title 36, §4641-A: Rate of tax; liability for tax · Title 36, §4641-B: Collection · Recording Fees and Contact Information

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

StatewideSide margin of 3/4 inch on all pages; top margin of 1 3/4 inches on the first page; 1 inch top margin on all other pages; bottom margin of 1 1/2 inches across the bottom of the last page. No punched holes, stickers or writing in any margins.

StatewideDeeds and other written instruments must be acknowledged before recording, with statutory exceptions (33 MRSA §203). The register of deeds may return documents that are not legible for recording and archival purposes (33 MRSA §651-A).

Forms filed along with a transfer

• Real Estate Transfer Tax Declaration (Form RETTD), declaration of value Statewide Maine Revenue Services (State Tax Assessor)
  Accompanies any deed offered for recording and any report of a transfer of a controlling interest, except as provided in 36 MRSA §4641-D

Submitting documents

Verified September 2026 against the sources below. Some of them are not official publications, so confirm with the recorder's office. Sources: Title 33, §651-A: Grantor, grantee names; form of indexing · Title 36, §4641-D: Declaration of value · Maine Registers of Deeds Association Document Recording Requirements (May 20, 2024) · Electronic Recording County – Submitter Agreement (Penobscot)