Why People File a Quitclaim Deed in Inyo County
Just Got Married
Married and ready to put the home in both names? A quitclaim deed does exactly that, without the complexity of a new purchase or refinance.
Going Through a Divorce
If you're the spouse keeping the house, a quitclaim deed is how your ex's name comes off the title once the settlement is signed.
Inherited Property
If you've recently become the rightful owner of a family property, a quitclaim deed is how that gets made official with the county.
Gifting to Family
Adding a family member's name to a title as a gift is one of the more routine reasons a quitclaim deed gets filed.
About the Inyo County Clerk-Recorder
Inyo County was created by the state legislature on March 22, 1866 out of pieces of Mono, Tulare, Kern, and San Bernardino counties, and its name grew out of a linguistic mix-up: early white settlers asked local Paiute residents the name of the mountains east of the Owens Valley, and were told that land belonged to a Shoshone leader named Inyo, a personal name later misapplied to the range and then the county itself. Independence, the county seat since the county's founding, sits in the Owens Valley between two extremes found nowhere else in the contiguous United States within the same county: Mount Whitney, at 14,505 feet the highest point in the Lower 48, and the Badwater Basin in Death Valley, 282 feet below sea level and the lowest. The valley has been home to the Mono, Timbisha, Kawaiisu, and Northern Paiute peoples for thousands of years, and its more recent history is inseparable from the Los Angeles Aqueduct, completed in 1913, which diverted the Owens River south and reshaped the valley's economy and water politics for the century that followed.
Cities and Communities Served
Recording jurisdiction runs countywide, not by city limits — if the property sits anywhere within Inyo County, this is the Inyo County Clerk-Recorder that will accept the deed. That includes:
Incorporated city: Bishop.
Unincorporated communities: Independence, Lone Pine, Big Pine, Olancha, Death Valley, Tecopa.
Bishop is Inyo County's only incorporated city; recording is handled countywide out of the single Independence office, the county seat, even though Bishop is the largest town.
Office Details
Address: 168 N. Edwards Street, Independence, CA 93526 (mail: P.O. Drawer F, Independence, CA 93526)
Phone: (760) 878-0224
Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:00 AM-5:00 PM, closed 12:00-1:00 PM for lunch; the public lobby keeps a narrower window of 8:30 AM-4:00 PM. Electronic recordings submitted between 9:00 AM and 2:00 PM are recorded the same day.
Recording Fee: A flat per-page recording fee applies, plus a county documentary transfer tax based on a percentage of the property's value. A separate state-mandated fee applies to many real estate documents to fund affordable housing programs, with common exemptions including most owner-occupied residential transfers. A Preliminary Change of Ownership Report (PCOR) should accompany a deed, or a penalty fee applies.
E-recording: Available -- Inyo County accepts e-recordings from qualified submitters through the Simplifile network, with a same-day recording window of 9:00 AM to 2:00 PM.
Good to know before you go: Inyo County's e-recording window is narrower than most California counties -- documents submitted electronically between 9:00 AM and 2:00 PM are recorded the same day, but submissions outside that window roll to the next business day, which matters for anyone trying to close on a deadline. The public lobby also keeps shorter hours (8:30 AM-4:00 PM) than the office's official 8:00 AM-5:00 PM day, so arriving right at opening or closing can mean the counter isn't actually staffed yet.
How to File a Document
- Sign in Front of a Notary: California requires the grantor's signature to be acknowledged before a notary public before the Inyo County Clerk-Recorder will accept a deed for recording. California notaries also have to take the signer's right thumbprint in their journal specifically for deeds and other real-property documents -- a state-specific requirement that catches people off guard if their notary isn't prepared for it, so it's worth confirming ahead of time that whoever notarizes your deed has a journal and inkpad on hand.
- Attach a Full Legal Description, Not Just an Address: A street address alone won't satisfy California's requirements -- the deed needs the property's actual legal description (a metes-and-bounds description, a government survey reference, or a platted lot and block, depending on how the parcel was originally surveyed and subdivided). You can usually copy this directly from the deed that transferred the property to you.
- Complete a Preliminary Change of Ownership Report: California requires a separate Preliminary Change of Ownership Report (PCOR) to accompany most deeds when they're filed. It's a distinct form the county assessor's office uses to determine whether the transfer triggers a reassessment -- a penalty applies if it's missing or left incomplete, so it's worth getting right before you file. The Inyo County Clerk-Recorder or county assessor can supply the current version.
- Know Where California Stands on Remote Online Notarization: Unlike some states, California-commissioned notaries can't yet offer remote online notarization -- that's not scheduled to change until January 1, 2030. In the meantime, an out-of-state online notary can still validly notarize a California deed, since California recognizes notarial acts performed under another state's laws. See our online notarization page for how that works.
- Record with the County Clerk-Recorder: Bring, mail, or (where the county supports it) e-file the signed, notarized deed and its Preliminary Change of Ownership Report with the Inyo County Clerk-Recorder for the county where the property sits. California's recording fee is a flat, statute-set amount per document, and on top of that, a county documentary transfer tax applies based on a percentage of the property's value -- some cities also levy their own additional city transfer tax on top of the county's.
Still Have Questions About Filing With the Inyo County Clerk-Recorder?
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Other Counties in California
Filing somewhere else in the state? Here are a few other county pages:
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