Mountrail County Recorder Information

Land records in Mountrail County are recorded by the County Recorder. The office is held by Melissa Vachal.

Mountrail County is no longer submitting to NDRIN as of October 29, 2018; online vault access is through ServND.

Checked October 2026 against official publications. Sources: N.D.C.C. Chapter 11-18 Recorder · Recorder's Office - Mountrail County

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

Other charges

Fee schedule effective July 1, 2017.

StatewideDocuments listing more than ten sections of land: $1 for each additional section listed to be recorded in the tract index. Three dollars of the fee collected for each instrument must be placed in the document preservation fund. Instruments satisfying, releasing, assigning, subordinating, continuing, amending, or extending more than ten previously recorded instruments: same page fees plus $3 for each additional document number or book and page after the first ten. Plats: $20 for twenty lots or fewer and $50 for more than twenty lots. Filing any instrument: $10. Certified copies: $5 for the first page and $2 for each additional page. Noncertified copies: not more than $1 per instrument page. Electronic data extracted from a recorded instrument: not more than 50 cents per instrument. If a 3-inch space is not provided across the top of the first page, the recorder adds a page and an additional page charge is levied.

If the same section is listed more than once it will be counted every time it is listed. If a document is recorded in more than one county and there is not a 3-inch margin, each county will add a page.

Transfer tax

No transfer tax. None is collected when a document is recorded. (statewide, N.D. Const. art. X, § 27)

StatewideThe constitution bars the state and any county, township, city, or other political subdivision from imposing mortgage taxes or sales or transfer taxes on the mortgage or transfer of real property. A grantee or agent presenting a deed must certify on its face a statement of the full consideration paid or a statement designating a statutory exemption; the recorder may not record a deed that does not comply.

Checked September 2026 against official publications. Sources: N.D.C.C. Chapter 11-18 Recorder · Constitution of North Dakota, Article X · Mountrail County Recorder fee notice

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

StatewideEach page must contain a one-inch top, bottom, or side margin for the placement of computerized recording labels. If a 3-inch space is not provided across the top of the first page, the recorder adds a page and charges an additional page fee.

The top 3 inches of all documents must be blank and free of any lines, return addresses, or anything else.

StatewideWords must be considered legible by the recorder before a page will be accepted. Each real estate instrument must have a legal description considered adequate by the recorder. Deeds and contracts for deed with a metes and bounds legal description must show the name and address of the individual who drafted the legal description (instruments executed on or after January 1, 2000, within the state). The document and any acknowledgment must be executed with an original signature, except as otherwise provided by law. A document including a social security number may not be recorded unless a law requires it. Deeds and other instruments that change the property description require the county auditor's certificate of transfer showing taxes and special assessments paid, except instruments listed in section 11-18-03.

Starting July 1, 2016, pursuant to Section 57-02-39, the Mountrail County Auditor will not accept deeds presented for transfer that contain metes and bounds descriptions, either in the document itself or attached to it; all metes and bounds descriptions must be surveyed and platted by a North Dakota Registered Surveyor before the deed is presented.

Forms filed along with a transfer

• Statement of full consideration (certified on the face of the deed) Statewide State Board of Equalization (prescribes the forms)
  Any grantee or grantee's authorized agent who presents a deed; also affidavits of affixation of a manufactured home acquired before affixation

Submitting documents

Checked October 2026 against official publications. Sources: N.D.C.C. Chapter 11-18 Recorder · N.D.C.C. Chapter 47-19 Recording · Recorder's Office - Mountrail County · Mountrail County Recorder fee notice · Notice to the Public - Metes and Bounds