SPOKANE COUNTY, July 20, 2021– The fee to record documents at County Recording Offices in Washington State will increase by $100 on July 26. The increase will bring the total fee to $203.50 for a single page document. Examples of recorded documents are deeds, mortgages, liens and community property agreements. Recorded surveys and plats will also increase by $100 to $272.50 and $287.50, respectively.
The Washington State Legislature passed the increase to fund programs for affordable housing and ending homelessness. Of the $203.50 recording fee, housing and homelessness surcharges now amount to $183.61. Funding to support state document archival efforts is $7.11. Counties receive $10.89 to support operations of the County Recording Offices.
“Since 2002, the Legislature has utilized the recorded document as a vehicle for raising funds for affordable housing and programs to end homelessness,” said Spokane County Auditor Vicky Dalton. “The base fee my office retains to record deeds has remained $5 since 1985. Since then, the Legislature has provided just over $5 per document that allows us to use computers rather than bound books.”
Businesses are encouraged to remit the appropriate fee as of July 26. Documents received without the proper fee must be returned to the submitter. This could delay real estate closings and the recording of plats and surveys. The new fee schedule is available on the Spokane County website, spokanecounty.org, under Auditor/Recording. https://www.spokanecounty.org/DocumentCenter/View/38394/FEE-SCHEDULE-2021-July-25-1
“These recorded documents are the foundation of the real property records in each county,” said Auditor Dalton. “Each County Auditor wants to ensure that records submitted to our offices can be recorded promptly. If a submitter has a question, please check our websites or call our offices for information.”