Recorded Documents – Guest Browse - Name Search Only
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Recorders Duties
- Record any document submitted for recording, as long as it meets essential requirements.
- Records and/or Files the following types of documents: Deeds, Mortgages, Assignments, Releases, Affidavits, various types of Liens, Uniform Commercial Code documents, various types of Corporation and Business documents, Subdivision Plats and Condominiums, Military Discharges, various Court documents, and all other Miscellaneous documents.
- Provide copies of any document that is recorded, including certification, upon request.
Essential Recording Requirements
- Notarization or Acknowledgement – Most documents must be notarized or acknowledged to be recorded. Notary must include County of Residence, Commission Expiration Date, and Notary Seal.
- Legibility of Names – All signatures must be printed or typed beneath them exactly as signed.
- Name of Person Preparing Document – Documents notarized, executed, or acknowledged in the State of Indiana, must have a Prepared By Statement at the conclusion of the document, including the preparer’s name, which can be printed.
- Transfer of Documents for Taxation – All documents purported to convey title, transfer title, or change title, must have the endorsement of the Auditor’s Office prior to recording.
- Social Security Numbers on Documents – Beginning January 1, 2006, it is illegal to present for recording a document that contains a Social Security Number, unless the Social Security Number is required to be on the document by Federal or State statute. At this time the only documents that require a Social Security Number are DD-214’s (military discharge papers), Federal Tax Lien documents, and Death Certificates.
Beginning July 1, 2006, every document acknowledged, executed, or notarized in the State of Indiana, must have the following Affirmation statement at the conclusion of the document, at the point of Preparer By:
I affirm, under the penalties for perjury, that I have taken reasonable care to redact each Social Security Number in this document, unless required by law.
This Affirmation Statement must be followed by an individual’s name that can be hand written or typed. If it is a signature, it is required that the name be printed underneath the signature.
- All documents must have a CLEAR two (2) inch margin at the top and bottom of the first and the last page, and CLEAR one-half (1/2) inch margins everywhere else. If the document does not have the CLEAR margins, it will be subject to the non-conforming fee, per page that does not conform.
Regular documents are to be no smaller than 8 ½ by 11 inches and no larger than 8 ½ by 14 inches. Anything over that will be charged as an oversized document.
Plats, Surveys, and Horizontal Properties are to be 18 by 24 inches, no more, no less.
Basic Recording Fees
- Deeds (1st Page)...........................................$16.00
- Mortgages (1st Page).....................................$14.00
- Assignments & Releases (1st Page)................$12.00
Includes One (1) Cross Reference
- Other Miscellaneous Documents.....................$11.00
- Oversized Documents.....................................$20.00
- UCC Fin. Statement (2 page or less)................$9.00
- UCC Fin. Statement (3 pages or more).............$13.00
- UCC Search (1 name).....................................$10.00
Additional Recording Fees & Other Fees
- Additional Pages............................................$2.00 per page
- Oversized Additional Pages.............................$5.00 per page
- Cross References...........................................$1.00 per reference
- Non-Conforming Fee.......................................$1.00 per page non-conforming
- UCC Search Additional Names........................$5.00 per name
- Copies of Recorded Documents.......................$1.00 per page
- Copies of Oversized Documents......................$2.00 per page
- Certification of Recorded Document.................$5.00 per document
Make Checks Payable To: Elkhart County Recorder
There will be a $20.00 Returned Check Fee to the Elkhart County Treasurer on any returned check, no matter what the reason.
All fees for the Elkhart County Recorder’s Office are set by state statute and cannot be waived, increased or decreased.
Transfer & Sales Disclosure Fees
- Sales Disclosure Fee.................$10.00 per document
- Transfer Fe................................$5.00 per parcel number to a maximum of $50.00
The absolute maximum total for Transfer & Sales Disclosure Fees would be $60.00.
Use a separate check made payable to the Elkhart County Treasurer. The new three (3) page state disclosure form is required. Include Sales Disclosure form and check with deed submission to Recorder.
Sales Disclosure fee is not required on exempt transactions.
If you have any questions, please visit the Auditor’s Office Webpage, or contact them at (574)535-6720.
Real Estate Searches
- For liability reasons, this office does not conduct real estate searches. Please contact an abstractor, a title company, or visit our office to view our records.
- For liability reasons, this office does not give out recording information over the phone. Please use the Recorded Documents – Guest Browse link at the top of this page, contact an abstractor, a title company, or visit our office to view our records.
Miscellaneous Document & Recording Notes
Document Referencing System – Prior To 1987 – Volume and Page
1987 Thru 1999 – 95-99999
2000 Thru Current – 2001-99999
Blanket assignments and releases are not accepted. Each assignment or release must be an individual document. The original document will always be returned after progressing through the archival process. Self Addressed Stamped Envelopes are required for document returns.
Beginning July 1, 2001, all financing statements that deal with personal property are to be filed with the Indiana Secretary of States Office. Failure to file in the appropriate office may affect the perfection of the filing.
Effective May 15, 2007, in response to the ongoing identity theft crisis, a Military Discharge Document (DD-214) is considered by Indiana State Statute to be a confidential document. According to Indiana Code 10-17-2-4, only specific persons and/or entities are allowed to view and obtain copies of these documents after providing photographic identification. The list is very specific and set out within the statute. In order to comply with this statute, the Elkhart County Recorder's Office will require that a Military Service Discharge Copy Request form be filled out and submitted at the time of request. You will be asked to provide photo ID so that this office has an identification record of those who have requested a copy of a DD-214. The request form is strictly for office use and will be kept confidential, unless under court order to produce. If you have any questions, please ask for the Recorder or the First Deputy.
The Real Estate Recording Guide presents
The Ten Commandments of
Real Estate Recording
I.
Prepare documents legibly according to the statutory requirements of each state, or in the
absence of statues, according to the best practices, leaving sufficient blank
space for recorder's stamp.
II.
Properly title, date and execute the document including typed names and titles beneath
all signatures. Make sure each name and signature is consistent throughout the
document.
III.
Properly witness and/or acknowledge all documents according to the laws of the state of
recording, including a complete, legible notarial
certificate.
IV.
Include the complete legal description of the property with all
initial recordings and
on subsequent recordings where required by the statute.
V.
Properly reference previously recorded documents when you submit subsequent related
documents for recording. This may include document numbers, book and page
numbers and recording dates.
VI.
Include the name and address of preparer and the return-to address for the
document. Also include your telephone number because some jurisdictions will
call if they notice a minor, correctable problem.
VII.
Identify schedules and exhibits clearly and number the pages so the jurisdiction can tell
that they belong with the document. Do not attach taped, stapled or glued items
to any page of a document.
VIII.
Include the correct fee and applicable taxes and use a separate check for taxes.
IX.
Include a self addressed stamped envelope large enough to handle documents to
ensure their expeditious return.
X.
Check your work, especially for extra fees to make sure your document is complete
for recording in order to avoid rejection.
Dedicated to Eliminating Document Rejects
Courtesy of
Ernst Publishing Co. LLC
PO Box 338
,
Ravena
,
NY
12143-0338
Phone: 800.345.3822 / Web: www.ernst.cc
Dear Friends,
The
County
Recorder
’s
Office is required by law to furnish copies and certified copies of any
recorded document upon request. The
Indiana Statutes also instruct us to refuse to record illegible documents which
will not be able to provide a clear reproduction after filming and/or digitally
imaging. Unfortunately, filming and/or
digitally imaging cannot make a poor quality document better,
it stays the same, or in some cases, get worse.
The following qualities are
not good for reproduction:
1.
Too Light –
after filming and/or imaging, a portion of the document may disappear from
view.
2.
Too Dark – after
filming and/or imaging, a portion of the document may be obscured from view.
3.
Blurry – after
filming and/or imaging, a portion of the document may become too degraded to
read and reproduce.
4.
‘Bleeding’
Letters – after filming and/or imaging, the ‘bleeding’ could obscure
surrounding portions of the document rendering it unreadable.
5.
Words and Letter
Overlapping Others – after filming and/or imaging, overlapping words and letter
obscure each other from view.
6.
Parts of Words,
Letters, or Paragraphs Missing – after filming and/or scanning, these missing
parts do not ‘magically’ reappear. They
are gone and no one will ever know what was printed there.
7.
Streaks or
Shadings Over the Page – after filming and/or imaging,
these streaks and shading could obscure from view a portion of the document.
8.
Print too Small – State statute requires a minimum of 10 point
type. Type smaller than this makes the
document very difficult to read, and nearly impossible to produce a clean,
crisp reproduction after filming and/or scanning.
9.
Document is a
Copy – Original signatures are required on a document.
10.
Document is a
copy of a copy of a copy of a copy etc. – With each successive copy, the
document becomes less clean and crisp, resulting in a poor image after filming
and/or scanning.
11.
Document is a
fax copy with original signatures – Yes, the document has original signatures
as required, but in faxing the document, the quality of the rest of the
document is decreased to a point that it will not produce a clean, crisp
reproduction after filming and/or imaging.
12.
Form Does Not
Conform to Format Statutes – While we cannot wholly reject a document for this
reason, by making sure that the document meets the formatting standard set out
in the statutes, a clean and crisp reproduction is possible after it has been
filmed and/or imaged.
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