Monterey County, California Recording Fees
Recording a deed in Monterey County costs about $26 and a mortgage about $68 (a 2-page deed ($23 + $3) and a 16-page deed of trust ($23 + 15 x $3); the SB2 fee is additional and applies once per document on most non-exempt deeds), per the Monterey County Assessor-Clerk-Recorder's fee schedule, effective 2026-03-03. Monterey County's own fee schedule (as of 3/3/2026, per search-indexed content of the county's ServiceDirectory fee page; the live page returned a 403 to automated fetch in this session): $23.00 standard recording fee per title/document, plus $3.00 for each additional page beyond what fits the standard recording-information reservation on the first page. Could not independently re-verify the exact SB2 fee wording for Monterey specifically within this session's budget; modeled here at the statewide-standard SB2 rate seen in other CA counties (Fresno, Santa Barbara).
Fee schedule
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Deed, first page | $23 |
| Deed, each additional page | $3 |
| Mortgage, first page | $23 |
| Mortgage, each additional page | $3 |
| SB2 Building Homes and Jobs Act fee per document, capped at $225 per transaction on a single-parcel deed subject to the documentary transfer tax; exemptions apply for owner-occupied residential transfers | $75 |
County transfer tax
No evidence found of the City of Monterey, Salinas, Seaside or Carmel-by-the-Sea levying its own city documentary transfer tax on top of the base California county rate (unlike Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oakland, Berkeley and San Jose); the base $0.55 per $500 county documentary transfer tax already captured in data/transfer/california.json is the whole rate here. California transfer tax →
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to record a deed in Monterey County?
$23 for the first page and $3 for each additional page, about $26 for a typical deed, per the Monterey County Assessor-Clerk-Recorder's fee schedule.
And the mortgage?
$23 for the first page and $3 per additional page, about $68 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.
Monterey County closing costs → Monterey County home buyer guide →
Fees as published by the recorder; e-recording and courier charges may apply. General information, not legal advice.
Monterey County overview