Why People File a Quitclaim Deed in Monterey County
Just Got Married
Blending finances after a wedding usually includes the property title — a quitclaim deed is the tool for adding a spouse's name to it.
Going Through a Divorce
A quitclaim deed doesn't reopen the divorce settlement — it simply carries out what the settlement already decided about the property.
Inherited Property
If a parent's estate left you the house, a quitclaim deed is the typical way that ownership gets formalized on paper.
Gifting to Family
If you're combining a property into a family trust or handing it to a relative outright, a quitclaim deed is often the tool used.
About the Monterey County Clerk-Recorder
Monterey served as the capital of Alta California for roughly seventy years, first under Spain and then Mexico, after being designated the seat of colonial government in 1776 -- a status it held from the founding of the Royal Presidio and Mission San Carlos Borromeo through California's transition to statehood in 1850. That colonial and maritime legacy is layered with a very different 20th-century identity: the sardine-canning waterfront that John Steinbeck fictionalized in his 1945 novel Cannery Row, set among the Monterey canneries where his friend, marine biologist Ed Ricketts, ran the Pacific Biological Laboratory. The street itself, informally called Cannery Row since World War I, wasn't formally renamed in Steinbeck's honor until 1958. Salinas, the current county seat and Steinbeck's actual birthplace, sits inland in the agriculturally rich Salinas Valley, giving the county a split identity between coastal tourism and one of the country's most productive farming regions. The office's full formal title is the Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder.
Cities and Communities Served
Recording jurisdiction runs countywide, not by city limits — if the property sits anywhere within Monterey County, this is the Monterey County Clerk-Recorder that will accept the deed. That includes:
Incorporated cities: Salinas, Monterey, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Pacific Grove, Seaside, Marina, Del Rey Oaks, Sand City, Gonzales, Soledad, Greenfield, King City.
Unincorporated communities: Castroville, Pebble Beach, Big Sur, Carmel Valley Village, Prunedale, San Ardo.
All 12 incorporated cities and the unincorporated areas of Monterey County record through the single Salinas office; the county has no branch recording locations on the Peninsula or elsewhere.
Office Details
Address: 168 West Alisal Street, 1st Floor, Salinas, CA 93901 (mailing: P.O. Box 29, Salinas, CA 93902-0570)
Phone: (831) 755-5041 (toll-free from the Monterey Peninsula: (831) 647-7741)
Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:00 am - 5:00 pm, closed for lunch from 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm; recording of documents is accepted until 4:00 pm. The office also closes early, from 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm, on the third Tuesday of March, May, August, and November for staff training.
Recording Fee: A per-page recording fee (with a higher first-page charge than each additional page, and a higher rate still for documents that carry no documentary transfer tax), plus a county documentary transfer tax based on a percentage of the property's value, plus a state Building Homes and Jobs Act (SB2) fee on most real estate documents unless the transfer is exempt (for example, owner-occupied residential transfers already subject to the documentary transfer tax).
E-recording: E-recording is available for Monterey County through the Simplifile network, used by title companies, banks, and attorneys; it is generally set up for repeat filers rather than a single one-off recording.
Good to know before you go: The Salinas recorder's office quietly closes an hour early -- 4 p.m. instead of the usual 5 p.m. -- on the third Tuesday of March, May, August, and November for a recurring staff training session; anyone planning a late-afternoon visit on one of those specific days should call ahead or simply come earlier, since it isn't obvious from the standard posted hours alone.
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 Monterey 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 Monterey 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 Monterey 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 Monterey 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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