Why People File a Quitclaim Deed in Placer County
Just Got Married
A property owned before the wedding doesn't automatically become joint property — a quitclaim deed is what actually changes the title.
Going Through a Divorce
Removing a former spouse's name from a jointly held title is one of the more common reasons a quitclaim deed gets filed here.
Inherited Property
Some families settle an estate quickly; others take years — either way, a quitclaim deed is what eventually updates the title.
Gifting to Family
Some families use a quitclaim deed to add multiple children to a title jointly, splitting future ownership evenly.
About the Placer County Clerk-Recorder
Placer County was carved out of Sutter and Yuba counties in 1851, right in the thick of the Gold Rush, and it took its name from the Spanish mining term 'placer' - gravel or sand deposits worked by hand for loose gold, as opposed to gold still locked inside rock. Auburn, the county seat, grew up as one of the original mining camps, and placer mining stayed a dominant part of the local economy for decades after the initial rush. The county's geography still reflects that boom-era spread: it stretches from the valley communities near Sacramento up through the Sierra foothills to Lake Tahoe's north shore at Tahoe City, giving it an unusually wide range of terrain and land use for one county.
Cities and Communities Served
Recording jurisdiction runs countywide, not by city limits — if the property sits anywhere within Placer County, this is the Placer County Clerk-Recorder that will accept the deed. That includes:
Incorporated cities: Auburn, Colfax, Lincoln, Loomis, Rocklin, Roseville.
Unincorporated communities: Foresthill, Meadow Vista, Granite Bay, Tahoe City.
Placer County spans from the Sacramento-area valley floor up into the Sierra Nevada, so unincorporated communities range from suburban foothill towns to Lake Tahoe's north shore.
Office Details
Address: 3715 Atherton Road, Rocklin, CA 95765
Phone: (530) 886-5600
Hours: Monday-Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (documents presented after the recording window closes are processed the next business day). A satellite office at 2954 Richardson Drive, Auburn, CA 95603 keeps the same hours. Closed weekends and county holidays; passport and Lake Tahoe marriage-license services run on separate, appointment-only windows.
Recording Fee: A flat per-page recording fee applies, with an added fee for each additional indexed title and for non-conforming pages (such as taped or stapled attachments), plus a county documentary transfer tax based on a percentage of the property's value. A completed Preliminary Change of Ownership Report (PCOR) must accompany most deeds; a penalty fee applies if it is missing or incomplete. Documents that don't leave the required blank margin at the top of the first page for recorder use typically need an added cover sheet, which carries its own fee.
E-recording: Electronic recording is available through Simplifile.
Good to know before you go: Placer County's recording requirements call out a reserved top margin on the first page for recorder use; documents that don't leave enough room there, or that include taped/stapled/pasted attachments, are treated as non-conforming and carry an added per-page fee rather than being rejected outright, so it's worth checking margin formatting before submitting.
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 Placer 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 Placer 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 Placer 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 Placer 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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