Belmont County Recorder Information

Land records in Belmont County are recorded by the County Recorder. The office is held by Jason A. Garczyk.

StatewideBy June 30, 2026, each county recorder is required to post on its website electronic indexes and electronic versions of all instruments recorded on or after January 1, 1980, except veteran discharge papers and legally protected information. A username and password may be required, but no fee may be charged for access.

Records can be searched online as a guest without an account, by name, volume and page, instrument number, or recording date. The office is correcting indexing errors for deeds prior to 1992; some documents may appear as unverified with a red ‘X’ while awaiting review.

Checked September 2026 against official publications. Sources: Ohio Revised Code Chapter 317 Recorder · Recorder · Belmont County Now Accepting e-Recordings

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

Other charges

Fee schedule effective October 19, 2019.

StatewideEach fee in R.C. 317.32 is made up of a base fee for the recorder's services and a housing trust fund fee collected under R.C. 317.36. The recorder may charge and collect a document preservation surcharge of up to five dollars, deposited to the county general fund. Pages are measured at 8.5 x 14 inches or fraction of a page, including the caption page. Plats, maps, and prints recorded by photostatic or similar process: base fee of five cents and housing trust fund fee of five cents per square inch, with minimums of twenty dollars each. Zoning resolutions: $25 base plus $25 housing trust fund fee; zoning amendments: $10 plus $10. Notices of federal liens: $5 per notice; certificates of discharge or release: $3 (R.C. 317.09). The fees do not apply to instruments recorded by a county land reutilization corporation.

Copies made by the public in the Record Room are $0.10 per page printed.

Paying the office

StatewideFees are paid upon presentation of the instruments for record; payment of fees for electronic recording may be made by electronic funds transfer, automated clearing house, or other electronic means after presentation.

For e-Recordings, recording fees and transaction fees are paid through ACH (Automated Clearing House) payments.

Transfer tax

Real property conveyance fee. One dollar, or ten cents for each one hundred dollars or fraction of one hundred dollars, whichever is greater, of the value of the real property transferred. The tax is collected when the document is recorded. (statewide, R.C. 319.54(G)(3))

StatewideThe conveyance fee is paid to the county auditor, and a deed of absolute conveyance is not recorded until it bears the auditor's stamp showing compliance with R.C. 319.202 and is indorsed "transferred" or "transfer not necessary" (R.C. 317.22). Counties may also levy a real property transfer tax under R.C. 322.02 at a rate not to exceed thirty cents per hundred dollars of value conveyed, paid to the county auditor prior to presentation of the deed to the recorder. R.C. 319.54(G)(3) lists transfers on which no fee is charged.

The Recorder's FAQ gives the County Auditor's conveyance fee as $4.00 per $1,000 and the County Auditor's transfer fee as 50 cents per parcel (check with the Auditor's Office).

Checked September 2026 against official publications. Sources: Ohio Revised Code Chapter 317 Recorder · Section 317.32 | Recording fees · Section 319.54 | Auditor fees · Section 322.02 | Real property transfer tax · Belmont County Now Accepting e-Recordings · Recorder Fees Calculator · Frequently Asked Questions

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

StatewideRight half of the 3-inch first-page top margin is reserved for the county recorder's indorsement. A 1.5-inch margin of blank space is required across the top of each remaining page.

StatewideNonconforming instruments are accepted with an added fee; no fee for incidental items such as page numbers, initials, or bar codes in side or bottom margins. The format standard does not apply to documents from courts, taxing authorities, or state or federal agencies, to plats, or to documents executed before July 1, 2009. Illegible signatures must have the name legibly printed, typewritten, or stamped beneath them unless the name appears elsewhere in the instrument (R.C. 317.11). Instruments must be of a quality that allows legible reproduction (R.C. 317.112). Personal information such as Social Security numbers may not be included (R.C. 317.082). Instruments in a language other than English need a certified English translation (R.C. 317.113).

The office's list of documents not subject to the guidelines also includes exhibits and DD-214s. The office provides a Document Standards Template.

Forms filed along with a transfer

• DTE 100 Real Property Conveyance Fee Statement of Value and Receipt Statewide Ohio Department of Taxation; filed with the county auditor
  Conveyances of real property presented to the county auditor

Submitting documents

StatewideBy June 30, 2026, each county recorder is required to make available to the public a method for electronically recording instruments related to conveyances of real property and other instruments listed in R.C. 317.08(A) or (D), except plats and maps.

Conveyance instruments, such as deeds, certificates of transfer, and easements, must also receive stamps from the County Auditor and County Engineer’s Tax Map Office. e-Recorded conveyance documents are routed to the Auditor and Engineer Offices for stamps. e-Recordings are processed between 9:00am and 3:30pm, Monday through Friday; documents received after 3:30pm are processed the following business day.

Checked September 2026 against official publications. Sources: Ohio Revised Code Chapter 317 Recorder · Real Property Conveyance Fee Statement of Value and Receipt (DTE 100) · Recorder · Belmont County Now Accepting e-Recordings · Frequently Asked Questions · Document Standards · FraudSleuth Handout (edited 11/2025)