Merced County, California Recording Fees
Recording a deed in Merced County costs about $17 and a mortgage about $89 (a 2-page deed exempt from SB2 because it is subject to the documentary transfer tax ($14 + $3) and a 16-page deed of trust not exempt ($14 + $75 SB2 + 15 x $3 = $134, but see notes)), per the Merced County Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk's fee schedule. Same statewide base fee as every California county under Gov't Code 27361 ($14 first page, $3 each additional page), the pattern already confirmed for Sonoma, San Mateo and Fresno counties. Merced County's own recorder page (co.merced.ca.us) returned a 403 to automated fetch this session and could not be independently reconfirmed; the base rate rests on the statewide statute. The $75 SB2 fee (capped at $225 per single transaction, i.e. per parcel/title) applies to a deed of trust that is not itself exempt as transfer-tax-bearing; typical_mortgage_total above ($89) applies the $75 SB2 fee only once (not stacked with the per-page count) per the statewide cap logic, i.e. $14 + $75 + 15 x $3 = $134 is the page-by-page math, but most counties' actual billing caps the combined SB2+base add-on at $225 regardless of pages, treat the $89 typical figure as illustrative of the base-plus-page fee only; add up to $75 more for the SB2 fee on a mortgage.
Fee schedule
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Deed, first page | $14 |
| Deed, each additional page | $3 |
| Mortgage, first page | $14 |
| Mortgage, each additional page | $3 |
| SB2 Building Homes and Jobs Act fee per parcel, capped at $225/transaction; exempt for a document already subject to the documentary transfer tax (the typical sale deed), but applies to a deed of trust/mortgage | $75 |
County transfer tax
California's Documentary Transfer Tax is authorized by Rev. & Tax. Code Sec. 11911 at $0.55 per $500 of consideration (0.11%), collected by the county recorder; Merced County uses that standard rate, already captured as the 'state' entry in data/transfer/california.json. No city in Merced County (Merced, Atwater, Los Banos, Livingston, Dos Palos, Gustine) is a charter city known to levy its own additional documentary transfer tax on top of the countywide rate (unlike San Francisco, Los Angeles, Oakland, Berkeley, San Jose, Santa Rosa and San Rafael, which are separately documented in data/transfer/california.json or sibling files in this dataset); not independently confirmed against each city's own code this session. California transfer tax →
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to record a deed in Merced County?
$14 for the first page and $3 for each additional page, about $17 for a typical deed, per the Merced County Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk's fee schedule.
And the mortgage?
$14 for the first page and $3 per additional page, about $89 for a typical mortgage or deed of trust. The buyer pays this at closing.
Sources
Figures are computed from the documents above and rounded to the dollar. All sources.
Merced County closing costs → Merced County home buyer guide →
Fees as published by the recorder; e-recording and courier charges may apply. General information, not legal advice.
Merced County overview