Look Up Property Records in Richmond County, NY

Where the number comes from. CPLR § 8021(a)(4) prices recording by a county clerk in three parts. (a)(4)(a) sets $5 to record an instrument plus $3 a page, and lets any county opt by county law to raise those to $20 and $5; a cover page counts as an additional page. (a)(4)(b) then adds $20 on every instrument— $5 for the state's records management improvement fund and $15 for the cultural education account. In an opt-in county the first page is $20 + $5 + $20 = $45, which is the figure most county clerks publish. A county's own figure is the one to bring.

Two more charges that are the same everywhere. A deed needs a Real Property Transfer Report (RP-5217) — $125 for residential or farm property, $250 otherwise — and a TP-584 transfer-tax affidavit at $5. Mortgage tax and transfer tax are separate again, and are the reason a recording bill rarely looks like the recording fee.

New York City is split, and this county is on the County Clerk side. Real Property Law § 290(4) makes the recording officer “the county clerk of the county, except in a county having a register”. Richmond County has no register, so Staten Island deeds are recorded with the Richmond County Clerk, which calls itself the borough's Chief Recording Officer. The city's ACRIS system does not cover it, and a paper filing is required.