Essex County Recorder

Essex County is divided into two recording districts: Essex North and South. Each registry is responsible for recording and maintaining real property records in its district.

The Northern District includes the towns of Andover, Lawrence, Methuen and North Andover.

The Southern District includes the towns of Amesbury, Beverly, Boxford, Danvers, Essex, Georgetown, Gloucester, Groveland, Hamilton, Haverhill, Ipswich, Lynn, Lynnfield, Manchester, Marblehead, Merrimac, Middleton, Nahant, Newbury, Newburyport, Peabody, Rockport, Rowley, Salem, Salisbury, Saugus, Swampscott, Topsfield, Wenham, and West Newbury.

Recording fees regardless the number of pages.

Declaration of Homestead $35
Declaration of Trust $255
Deed $155
Mortgage $205
Mortgage Foreclosure Deed & Affidavit $155
Mortgage Discharge, Release or Partial Release $105
Municipal Lien Certificate $80
UCC Documents (up to 2 debtors) $75
Federal Tax Liens (and related documents) $5
Plans (per sheet) $105
All other Documents $105

Non-statutory marginal references are $1.

Certified copies are $1 per page.

Recorded Land or Registered Land: Most property is Recorded Land and fees are now the same. If the document refers to a "Book and Page" number, it probably is Recorded Land. If it refers to a "Certificate of Title" number, it is probably Registered Land.

Excise Tax: The effective tax rate is $4.56 per $1000 or fraction thereof of taxable value, rounded up to the nearest $500. No excise tax is due when the consideration is less than $100.00.

Cash and checks are acceptable forms of payment. Checks can be made out to 'Registry of Deeds' or 'Commonwealth of Mass.'

* Submit your deed on white paper no larger than 8.5 x 14 with printing on only one side. The printing or typing should be dark enough so that it will reproduce legibly.

* The first page of all documents must contain a recording information area in the upper right corner measuring 3 inches from the top edge of the document and 3 inches from the right edge of the document. This area should not have any writing. All other margins must simply be of sufficient size for legible reproduction.

* Documents that do not comply with the margin standards can still be recorded when attached to an official registry Document Cover Sheet or through the use of some other method adopted by the Registry of Deeds.

* Deeds submitted for recording must be acknowledged by a public notary.

* Unless approved by the court or its Chief Title Examiner, a deed of registered land or a mortgage will be accepted for filing only if it conveys a lot or lots shown on a Land Court Plan.

Massachusetts uses county designations as geographical reference points. Many functions that are handled at the county level in other states are handled at the state level in Massachusetts.