How to File Land Records in Dorchester County, Maryland

Land instruments are recorded at the Land Record Division of the Dorchester Circuit Court.

Maryland requires a uniform Intake Sheet to be completed in the county where the land relating to the recordation is located. Recordation of land instruments, such as deeds, mortgages or leases, must be filed with the Land Records Office of the Circuit Court. A deed or other instrument changing ownership must also be filed with the State Department of Assessments and Taxation (SDAT). A copy of the submission to SDAT must accompany the Intake Sheet when it is filed with the Circuit Court.

Things You'll Need

• Intake Sheet
• Addendum to Intake Sheet (if applicable)
• Pen with black ink
• Land instrument (ie, deed, mortgage, lease, etc.)
• Check

Instructions

Recordation

1. Contact the Land Records Division at 410-228-0480. Ask how much you will owe when you record your land instrument.

2. Complete the Intake Sheet. The Intake Sheet must be completed in black ink. Forms can also be completed on the computer, but you have to print four copies.

3. Retain the goldenrod copy. One Intake Sheet should be completed for each transaction involving the same property. The Addendum to Intake Sheet may be used if there are more than two instruments submitted for the same transaction. Itemize information relevant to grantors/grantees, such as considerations, recording fees and taxes.

4. Take the Intake Sheets to the Land Records Division of the Circuit Court.

5. File the Intake Sheets.

6. Pay the requisite filing fee and tax, if applicable. The recordation fees are $10 as of 2020 for releases of nine pages or less, $20 for releases of more than nine pages and for Termination of Finance Statements and $75 for any other instrument 10 pages or more.

Tips & Warnings

• There may also be a recordation tax, state transfer tax and county transfer tax. The recordation tax for Dorchester County is $5 per each $500 as of 2010 and applies to both instruments that transfer an interest in real property and instruments that create a security interest on real or personal property, such as mortgages or deeds of trust. State transfer taxes are ½ of 1 percent of the sale or lease of the property. Dorchester County transfer tax is 0.75 percent of the sale or lease of the property.

References

• Maryland Judiciary: Intake Sheet
• Circuit Court for Dorchester County Maryland