Why People File a Quitclaim Deed in Riverside County
Just Got Married
Marriage changes a lot of paperwork, and the property deed is often one of the last things people think to update — a quitclaim deed fixes that in one filing.
Going Through a Divorce
A lot of divorces leave the property title untouched at first — a quitclaim deed is usually what finally brings it in line with the settlement.
Inherited Property
If you inherited property alongside relatives and want to consolidate ownership, a quitclaim deed is a common way to do that.
Gifting to Family
If you'd like a family member to co-own property with you starting now, a quitclaim deed is the usual way to add them.
About the Riverside County Clerk-Recorder
Riverside County was formed in 1893 out of a slice of San Bernardino County and a larger portion of San Diego County, and it took its name from its seat, the city of Riverside, which was founded in 1870 as a colony along the Santa Ana River by New Yorker John North. Riverside's early citrus economy - it's often credited as the birthplace of California's navel orange industry - helped drive the county's growth long before its desert cities like Palm Springs and Indio became known for tourism and agriculture in the Coachella Valley. Today it's one of the largest counties in the state by land area, stretching from the edge of Los Angeles County all the way to the Arizona border at Blythe on the Colorado River. 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 Riverside County, this is the Riverside County Clerk-Recorder that will accept the deed. That includes:
Incorporated cities: Riverside (county seat), Banning, Beaumont, Blythe, Calimesa, Canyon Lake, Cathedral City, Coachella, Corona, Desert Hot Springs, Eastvale, Hemet, Indian Wells, Indio, Jurupa Valley, La Quinta, Lake Elsinore, Menifee, Moreno Valley, Murrieta, Norco, Palm Desert, Palm Springs, Perris, Rancho Mirage, San Jacinto, Temecula, Wildomar.
Unincorporated communities: Bermuda Dunes, Idyllwild-Pine Cove, Mecca, Thousand Palms, Anza, Home Gardens, Highgrove.
Riverside County spans from the Inland Empire to the Coachella Valley and the Colorado River, so recording services are offered through several regional branch offices rather than a single downtown counter.
Office Details
Address: 2724 Gateway Dr., Riverside, CA 92507
Phone: (951) 486-7000
Hours: Monday - Friday, 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM at the Gateway office; branch office hours vary by location (closed county holidays)
Recording Fee: a page-based recording fee with a base charge for the first page of a document and a reduced per-page rate for each additional page, plus a county documentary transfer tax calculated as a percentage of the property's value on transfers for consideration, plus a possible state Building Homes and Jobs Act surcharge depending on document type and exemption status; an online fee calculator is available to estimate the total before submitting
E-recording: Yes - Riverside County accepts electronic recording through approved SECURE-network vendors (Riverside is one of the four founding counties of the SECURE electronic-recording system, along with Los Angeles, Orange, and San Diego), including submitters such as Simplifile and CSC.
Good to know before you go: Because Riverside County is so large, the recorder maintains several regional branch offices in addition to the main Gateway location in Riverside - including Palm Desert, Temecula, Hemet, and a limited-hours branch in Blythe (open only Tuesday and Thursday) - so it's worth confirming which office is closest and its specific hours before making a trip. The office also flags missing the Assessor's Parcel Number and Tax Rate Area on a conveyance document as a specific, named reason a deed can be rejected at the counter, so double-check that both are filled in 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 Riverside 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 Riverside 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 Riverside 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 Riverside 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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