Recorder

Recorder’s Office Fees:

Standards

Standards Approved by the State “County Recorder Standards Board”

• Title to Real Property Held in Trust
•  Name Discrepancies with Individuals
• Name Discrepancies with Trusts
• Name Discrepancies with Entities
• Blended Notary Methods

Standards voted and agreed upon by the Utah Association of County Recorders (UACR) and the Utah Land Title Association (ULTA) executive board

• Indexing Property Records
• Affidavit of Correction
• Parcel Numbers on Documents WHEN Required
• Joint Tenancy Presumed (Temporary? see 2024 HB37)

These standards are all initially created by a committee with members of the UACR and members of the ULTA as a collaboration to find the solutions to common issues and create consistency amongst all parties involved.  Once both the UACR and the ULTA have approved a the standard created by the committee it is sent to the County Recorder Standards Board made up from various members representing parties involved with real property recordings and overseen by the Utah Department of Commerce division of professional Licensing.  The Board reviews the standards and makes any adjustments before approving them as a state wide standard. 

Members of the County Recorder Standards Board:

County Recorder Standards Board members

• Rashelle Hobbs – Board Chair (Recorder 1-2 Class Counties)
• Chad Montgomery – Board Vice Chair (Recorder 3-6 Class Counties)
• Shelley Brennan (Utah Association of Counties)
• Robert Hartshorn (Property Rights Coalition)
•  Ryan Allred (Utah Council of Land Surveyors)
• Paul Newton (Utah Land Title Association)
• Gage Zobell (Utah Mining/Landmen)
• Ben Stanley (Utah State Bar/Utah Association of Counties)
• Kreg Wagner (State Bar/Utah Realtors)

Non Voting DOPL Members:

• Mark Steinagel (DOPL Division Director)
• Allison Pulisipher – Board Secretary (DOPL Staff)

Members of the Standards Committee:

UACR Standards Committee Members

• Andrea Allen – Chair (Utah County)
• Jason Monroe – UCAR President (Sevier County)
• Gary Christen (Washington County)
• Brenda McDonald (Uintah County)
• Brenda Nelson (Morgan County)
• Jerry Houghton (Tooele County)
• Cort Ashton (Cottonwood Title)
• Jeff Barnes (First American Title)
• Chad Montgomery – Non Voting (Box Elder County)
• Shelley Brennan – Non Voting (Duchesne County)

Requirements for Recording

For a document to be recorded in the Recorder’s Office, it must meet the following requirements:

1. It must be an original document or be an electronic document that satisfies the requirements under UCA 17-21a, Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act (UCA §57-3-106).
2. It must contain a brief caption stating the nature of the document (UCA §57-3-106).
3. It must contain a legal description (UCA §57-3-105).
4. It must contain the names and mailing addresses of the grantees (UCA §57-3-105).
5. It must be sufficiently legible for the recorder to make certified copies (UCA §57-3-106).
6. It must contain a notary certificate containing the words “subscribed and sworn” or the equivalent, that is signed and certified by the officer taking the acknowledgement, proof, or jurat (UCA §57-3-101).
7. The names of all persons whose signatures appear on the instrument must be typed or printed on the instrument (UCA §17-21-25).
8. When title to real property is granted to a person as trustee, the following terms of the trust must be included: the name and address of the trustee; and the name and date of the trust (UCA §75-7-816).
9. A court judgment or an abstract of a court judgment must be an original or certified copy and include the information identifying the judgment debtor as referred to in Subsection 78-22-1.5(4) (UCA §57-3-106).
10. Judgments, abstracts of judgments, and separate information statements of the judgment creditor do not require an acknowledgment or a legal description to be recorded (UCA §57-3-106).
11. A foreign judgment or an abstract of a foreign judgment recorded in the office of a county recorder must include the affidavit as required in Section 78-22a-3 (UCA §57-3-106).
12. To release or assign a judgment lien must include the name of any judgment creditor, debtor, assignor, or assignee; the date of recording; and the entry number creating the judgment lien (UCA §57-3-106).
13. The tax serial number of each parcel affected by the instrument should appear on each instrument, though it is not considered part of the legal description (UCA §17-21-20).
14. Document shall be an original or certified copy of the document unless otherwise provided by law (UCA §17-21-20).
15. Document shall be in English or be accompanied by an accurate English translation of the document (UCA §17-21-20).
16. Document shall contain a brief title, heading, or caption on the first page describing the document (UCA §17-21-20).
17. Document shall contain the legal description of the property that is the subject of the document (UCA §17-21-20).
18. Document shall be notarized with the notary stamp with the seal legible; and shall have original signatures (UCA §17-21-20).
19. Each paper, notice or instrument submitted for recording in the county recorder’s office shall be on white paper that is 8-1/2 inches by 11 inches in size (UCA §17-21-20).
20. Have a margin of one inch on the left and right sides and at the bottom of each page (UCA §17-21-20).
21. Have a space of 2-1/2 inches down and 4-1/2 inches across the upper right corner of the first page and a margin of one inch at the top of each succeeding page to provide room to affix recording data (UCA §17-21-20).
22. Shall not be on sheets of paper that are continuously bound together at the side, top or bottom (UCA §17-21-20).
23. Document shall not contain printed material on more than one side of each page (UCA §17-21-20).
24. Printed in black ink and not have text smaller than seven lines of text per vertical inch (UCA §17-21-20).
25. Be sufficiently legible to make certified copies (UCA §17-21-20).

Updated June 2016

SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS

Requirements for Recording 2016 (PDF)