PORT ANGELES — Recording fees for most real estate documents will increase beginning in September, but fees for many non-real estate recordings will be reduced, said Patty Rosand, Clallam County auditor.
A new law dealing with the fees required to record real estate and other legal documents came out of the 2012 legislative session.
“We will have the new fees posted in our office and on our website, www.clallam.net, for citizens to view by Sept. 1,” Rosand said.
A new $40 fee applies only to those documents that are related to real property — anything that has a parcel number or legal description of the property, Rosand said.
At the same time, the Legislature cut one of the surcharges collected to support housing and shelter programs for homeless people from $62 to $32.
It will be helpful to people recording non-property documents, Rosand said
“Auditors from around the state have felt that some people are not recording their documents because the fees are so high,” she said.
The most common documents will cost $32 for the first page if the document is not real-property-related or $72 for the first page if the document is real property-related, and $73 for deeds of trust for the first page, with each additional page $1.
Recording staff will assess the fee based on either the document title or the appearance of a legal description and/or parcel number on the first page of the document to be recorded.
“We have provided title companies, surveyors, attorneys and other entities that record documents on a regular basis written notice and a list of documents that will be affected,” Rosand said.
Real estate documents with no fee are assignments of deed of trusts, substitution of trustee, appointment of trustee and resignation and appointment of trustee.
Assignments or substitutions of previously recorded deeds of trust or documents recording a birth, marriage, divorce or death are exempted from a recording fee under state law.
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Reporter Arwyn Rice can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5070, or at arwyn.rice@peninsuladailynews.com.
