Charles County Recorder Information

About Charles County Recorder

The Circuit Court Clerk's Office is responsible for recording and maintaining real property records in Charles County.

Recording Fees

* $20.00 for an instrument involving solely a principal residence, regardless of length (except as provided in next item)

* $10.00 for a release nine (9) pages or less in length (this does not apply to a termination of a financing statement)

* $20.00 for any other instrument nine (9) pages or less in length

* $75 any other instrument ten (10) pages or more in length

Recording Surcharge: $40.00 (collected on all instruments recorded in land records or financing statement records, other than a Power of Attorney, Request of Notice (Foreclosure sale), plats, and homeowners' association disclosures)

An instrument page means one side of a sheet of paper that is not larger than 8.5x14 inches.

TRANSFER & RECORDATION TAX

State recordation tax - $5 for every $500 or fraction thereof of consideration (exemptions in Tax Property Article, 12-108)

State transfer tax - one half of 1% of the consideration or 0.25% of the purchase price for first-time Maryland homebuyers purchasing a principal place of residence (exemptions in Tax Property Article, 13-207)

For county transfer tax rates, contact the Charles County Clerk of the Circuit Court.

Document Formatting Requirements

1. Names should be printed or typed above or below signatures.

2. Printing should be in a font size of at least 8 point in black letters on white paper of sufficient weight and thickness to be readable. The recording charges for an instrument that does not comply with these provisions will be triple the normal charge.

3. In a clerk's office that uses Photostat or microfilming, no instrument on which a rider has been attached in a way that obscures, hides, or covers any part of the instrument may be offered or received for record. An instrument not otherwise readily subject to Photostat or microfilming cannot be offered or received for recording until triple the normal recording charges have been paid, unless an affidavit with black type on white paper is attached and made part of the document. The affidavit should state the kind of instrument, the date, the parties to the transaction, a description of the property, and all other pertinent data.

4. A deed, deed of trust, or mortgage cannot be recorded unless it bears the certification of an attorney at law that the instrument has been prepared by an attorney or under an attorney's supervision, or a certification that the instrument was prepared by one of the parties named in the instrument.

5. A deed will be sufficient if it contains the name of the grantor and grantee, a description of the real property that is sufficient to identify it with reasonable clarity, and the interest or estate intended to be granted. It must also be executed, acknowledged, and recorded.

6. A clerk of the circuit court may record an instrument effecting a change of ownership if it is endorsed with a certificate from the collector of taxes in the county where the property is assessed, accompanied by a completed intake sheet or endorsed by the assessment office for the county, and if it is accompanied by a copy and any survey, for submission to the Department of Assessment and Taxation.

7. Property may not be transferred on the assessment books or record until all public taxes, assessments, and charges currently due and owed on the property have been paid to the treasurer, tax collector, or director of finance in the county where the property is located and all taxes on personal property in the county due by the transferor have been paid when all land that he owns in the county is being transferred. Also, property may not be transferred on the assessment books or record until a certificate from the collecting agent showing that all taxes, assessments, and charges have been paid is endorsed on the deed.

8. Include a certificate of residency and/or an affidavit of the total payment amount of the non-resident withholding tax.