Why People File a Quitclaim Deed in San Bernardino County
Just Got Married
Couples who married later in life, after already owning property separately, commonly use a quitclaim deed to bring both names together on one title.
Going Through a Divorce
If keeping the house was part of your divorce settlement, a quitclaim deed is how your ex's name actually comes off the record.
Inherited Property
If you're the one heir keeping the family property while others are bought out, a quitclaim deed usually finalizes that arrangement.
Gifting to Family
If the family decided property should stay with one particular child, a quitclaim deed is typically how that gets formalized early.
About the San Bernardino County Clerk-Recorder
San Bernardino County was carved out of Los Angeles and San Diego Counties in 1853, with the city of San Bernardino named county seat the following year. The name traces back to 1810, when Franciscan missionaries out of Mission San Gabriel named a nearby asistencia — and eventually the snow-capped peak above it — for St. Bernardino of Siena, whose feast day fell near the time of their visit. By land area the county is a genuine outlier: at over 20,000 square miles it is the largest county in the contiguous U.S., larger than several entire states, spanning everything from the Inland Empire's dense suburbs to the San Bernardino Mountains and a wide stretch of the Mojave Desert. The office's full formal title is the Assessor-Recorder-Clerk (ARC).
Cities and Communities Served
Recording jurisdiction runs countywide, not by city limits — if the property sits anywhere within San Bernardino County, this is the San Bernardino County Clerk-Recorder that will accept the deed. That includes:
Incorporated cities: Adelanto, Apple Valley, Barstow, Big Bear Lake, Chino, Chino Hills, Colton, Fontana, Grand Terrace, Hesperia, Highland, Loma Linda, Montclair, Needles, Ontario, Rancho Cucamonga, Redlands, Rialto, San Bernardino, Twentynine Palms, Upland, Victorville, Yucaipa, Yucca Valley.
Unincorporated communities: Joshua Tree, Lake Arrowhead, Crestline, Phelan, Lucerne Valley, Wrightwood.
San Bernardino County is the largest county by area in the contiguous United States, so its recording jurisdiction stretches from dense Inland Empire suburbs to remote high-desert and mountain communities far from the county seat — a major reason the county maintains recording branches outside the city of San Bernardino.
Office Details
Address: 222 W. Hospitality Lane, 1st Floor, San Bernardino, CA 92415-0022
Phone: (909) 387-8306
Hours: 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, at the main Hall of Records in San Bernardino. In-person recording is by appointment; the office also runs a High Desert branch (Hesperia) whose recording counter closes over a midday lunch break rather than staying open straight through.
Recording Fee: A flat per-page recording fee applies to the first page of a document, with a separate (lower) per-page fee for each additional page. Conveyances are also subject to the county's documentary transfer tax, calculated as a percentage of the property's value. If a Preliminary Change of Ownership Report is missing or incomplete when the deed is submitted, a penalty fee is added. Optional services, such as a conformed (stamped) copy returned to the submitter, carry their own added fee.
E-recording: Electronic recording runs through the county's Electronic Recording Delivery System (ERDS), administered in partnership with Orange County's SECURE program. It is limited to approved submitters (title companies, banks, attorneys, and similar entities) rather than open to walk-up members of the public; interested submitters apply through the Recorder-Clerk's office.
Good to know before you go: The main San Bernardino recording counter strongly encourages booking an appointment online rather than walking in, and caps each appointment at five documents with a two-appointment daily limit per customer — plan ahead if you're recording several deeds at once. For residents of the High Desert region, the county runs a separate recording counter at the High Desert Government Center, 15900 Smoke Tree Street in Hesperia, which closes for a midday break (roughly 11 a.m. to noon) rather than staying open through lunch like the main office.
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 San Bernardino 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 San Bernardino 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 San Bernardino 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 San Bernardino 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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