Why People File a Quitclaim Deed in Sonoma County
Just Got Married
Sharing a title with your new spouse doesn't require a new purchase agreement — a quitclaim deed simply updates who's on it.
Going Through a Divorce
If your ex agreed to sign off on the property, a quitclaim deed is the standard document for capturing that agreement.
Inherited Property
An inherited property held in a decedent's name can't easily be sold or refinanced until a quitclaim deed brings the title current.
Gifting to Family
Some parents transfer property to children early to help with financing, taxes, or long-term planning — a quitclaim deed makes that transfer real.
About the Sonoma County Clerk-Recorder-Assessor
The town of Sonoma was founded in 1835 by Mexican military commander Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo on the grounds of Mission San Francisco Solano, the northernmost and last-built of California's 21 Spanish missions, and the county's name comes from a Wintun word most often translated as "nose," tied to a local chief's name. While the mission's monks had planted grapevines as early as 1832, it was Hungarian immigrant Agoston Haraszthy, founder of Buena Vista Winery in 1857, who is widely credited with putting Sonoma on the map as a serious wine region, importing more than 100,000 European vine cuttings within a few years of arriving. Today the county is home to hundreds of wineries alongside its Russian River and Pacific coastline communities, spanning everything from redwood forests to the historic Sonoma Plaza where California's short-lived Bear Flag Republic was declared in 1846.
Cities and Communities Served
Recording jurisdiction runs countywide, not by city limits — if the property sits anywhere within Sonoma County, this is the Sonoma County Clerk-Recorder-Assessor that will accept the deed. That includes:
Incorporated cities: Santa Rosa (county seat), Cloverdale, Cotati, Healdsburg, Petaluma, Rohnert Park, Sebastopol, Sonoma, Windsor.
Unincorporated communities: Guerneville, Bodega Bay, Glen Ellen, Forestville, Occidental.
Office Details
Address: 585 Fiscal Drive, Room 103F, Santa Rosa, CA 95403
Phone: (707) 565-3800
Hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday: 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM; Wednesday: 8:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Phone support Monday - Friday, 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM. No new transactions are started within 30 minutes of closing.
Recording Fee: Sonoma County charges a flat per-page recording fee for the first page plus an additional fee for each subsequent page, along with a county documentary transfer tax based on a percentage of the property's value. The city of Santa Rosa levies its own additional city transfer tax on top of the county tax for property located within city limits. A separate penalty fee applies if a Preliminary Change of Ownership Report (PCOR) is not submitted or is incomplete at the time of recording.
E-recording: Sonoma County accepts e-recording through Simplifile.
Good to know before you go: The Sonoma County Clerk-Recorder's office has posted an active warning about scams involving services the office itself provides free or at low cost -- anyone contacted about paying a third party for standard recording, marriage license, or vital records services should check the office's own scam-alert page or call the office directly before sending money.
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 Sonoma County Clerk-Recorder-Assessor 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 Sonoma County Clerk-Recorder-Assessor 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 Sonoma County Clerk-Recorder-Assessor 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 Sonoma County Clerk-Recorder-Assessor?
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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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