Why People File a Quitclaim Deed in Lassen County
Just Got Married
There's no rule that says a title has to stay one name after a wedding — a quitclaim deed updates it to both, quickly and without a sale.
Going Through a Divorce
If your divorce is finalized and the house is yours, a quitclaim deed is what makes the county's records agree with the court's decision.
Inherited Property
If you and your siblings inherited a property together, a quitclaim deed is often used to sort out or simplify how the title is held.
Gifting to Family
A parent adding a grown child to the title, with no money exchanged, is one of the more common quitclaim filings we see.
About the Lassen County Clerk-Recorder
Lassen County was formed in 1864 out of pieces of Plumas and Shasta counties, its creation a direct result of the so-called Sagebrush War of 1863 -- a brief, largely bloodless standoff in the Honey Lake Valley after Plumas County tax collectors tried to collect from settlers who believed they lived in Nevada Territory, not California. When an official survey the following year confirmed the valley was on the California side of the line, the legislature carved out a new county rather than force the dispute again. The county is named for Peter Lassen, a Danish-born frontiersman, guide, and rancher who helped lead emigrant wagon trains into the region in the 1850s before he was killed under still-unclear circumstances near the Nevada border in 1859. Susanville, the county seat, is named for Susan Roop, daughter of early settler Isaac Roop, whose original 1854 trading post and cabin (Roop's Fort, later called Fort Defiance during the Sagebrush War) still stands downtown as a historic site. At roughly 4,700 square miles with a small population, Lassen is one of California's largest counties by area and one of its most sparsely populated, with its economy shaped heavily by two state correctional facilities based in Susanville alongside ranching and timber.
Cities and Communities Served
Recording jurisdiction runs countywide, not by city limits — if the property sits anywhere within Lassen County, this is the Lassen County Clerk-Recorder that will accept the deed. That includes:
Incorporated city: Susanville.
Unincorporated communities: Herlong, Janesville, Doyle, Standish, Bieber, Hayden Hill, Wendel, Termo, Ravendale.
Susanville is Lassen County's only incorporated city; recording is handled countywide from the single courthouse office, and the great majority of the county's roughly 4,700 square miles is unincorporated rural land.
Office Details
Address: Historic Courthouse, 220 S. Lassen St., Suite 5, Susanville, CA 96130
Phone: (530) 251-8234
Hours: General office hours Monday-Friday, 9:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.; recording is only accepted 10:00 a.m. to noon and 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. -- narrower than the general clerk window and closed entirely over the midday hour. Phones are answered 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Recording Fee: A per-page recording fee applies, with a higher per-page rate for non-conforming or oversized documents, plus separate charges for things like a survey monument fee, a penalty print fee for illegible documents, and a per-title fee on documents that combine more than one instrument. A county documentary transfer tax based on a percentage of the property's value is also due, along with a statewide real-estate-transaction fee (with common residential-transfer exemptions) and a possible penalty fee if a complete Preliminary Change of Ownership Report is not submitted with the deed.
E-recording: Lassen County is not currently listed on the major e-recording networks (CSC, Simplifile); documents generally need to be recorded in person or by mail rather than electronically.
Good to know before you go: Lassen County's recording counter keeps a narrower, split schedule than the rest of the clerk's office: even though the general public counter is open 9-to-noon and 1-to-4, documents are only accepted for recording from 10 a.m. to noon and again from 1 to 3 p.m., with no recording at all during the office's own 9-10 a.m. opening window, the noon lunch closure, or the last hour before closing. Anyone planning to record a deed in person should target the 10-11:30 a.m. or 1-2:30 p.m. windows to leave buffer, since the office confirms it will not record outside those hours.
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 Lassen 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 Lassen 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 Lassen 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 Lassen 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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