Why People File a Quitclaim Deed in Santa Clara County
Just Got Married
Weddings prompt a lot of small administrative updates, and updating the property title with a quitclaim deed is one of the most common.
Going Through a Divorce
A quitclaim deed is often the very last document tied to a divorce that people get around to filing.
Inherited Property
Property left behind after a death often needs a quitclaim deed before a bank, buyer, or title company will treat the new owner as official.
Gifting to Family
Some relatives use a quitclaim deed to formalize an informal arrangement — property that's been "understood" to belong to someone for years.
About the Office of the County Clerk-Recorder
Santa Clara County traces its urban roots to Mission Santa Clara de Asís, founded in 1777 as the eighth of California's 21 missions and the first named for a woman, on land long inhabited by the Tamien band of the Ohlone people. Established as one of California's original 27 counties in 1850, the valley was known through the mid-20th century as the 'Valley of Heart's Delight' for its vast orchards of prunes, apricots, and cherries before postwar defense electronics and semiconductor firms transformed it into Silicon Valley. Home to Stanford University, chartered in 1885, and San Jose — now California's third-largest city and the county seat — Santa Clara County remains the economic and population center of the tech industry, tracing a line from Hewlett-Packard's original Palo Alto garage to today's chipmakers and software giants headquartered within its borders.
Cities and Communities Served
Recording jurisdiction runs countywide, not by city limits — if the property sits anywhere within Santa Clara County, this is the Office of the County Clerk-Recorder that will accept the deed. That includes:
Incorporated cities: San Jose, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Cupertino, Milpitas, Campbell, Los Gatos, Saratoga, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Morgan Hill, Gilroy, Monte Sereno.
Unincorporated communities: Stanford, Cambrian Park, Alum Rock, Burbank, San Martin, Redwood Estates.
San Jose, the county seat and California's third-most-populous city, levies its own additional city real property transfer tax (Measure E) on higher-value transfers, on top of the county documentary transfer tax.
Office Details
Address: 110 West Tasman Drive, 1st Floor (Attn: Recording), San Jose, CA 95134
Phone: (408) 299-5688
Hours: Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m.; closed Saturday, Sunday, and county holidays.
Recording Fee: A flat per-page fee for the first page (which folds in a state real estate fraud prevention fee) plus a smaller fee for each additional page, a state Building Homes and Jobs Act fee per real estate instrument (capped per transaction, with common exemptions), a survey monument preservation fee, and a county documentary transfer tax based on a percentage of the property's value. Some cities within the county, including San Jose, layer on their own additional city-level real property transfer tax that scales upward on higher-value transfers. A Preliminary Change of Ownership Report must generally accompany a deed transferring ownership, or a penalty surcharge applies.
E-recording: Available through approved third-party e-recording vendors, including Simplifile, for submitters with the necessary equipment (a computer, high-speed internet, and a scanner) — recordings can be completed without mailing documents or visiting in person.
Good to know before you go: No appointment is required to record a real property document in person at the San Jose office, though the county recommends booking one online ahead of time to cut down on wait time at the counter.
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 Office of the 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 Office of the 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 Office of the 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 Office of the 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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