San Joaquin County, California Recording Fees
Recording a deed in San Joaquin County costs about $19 and a mortgage about $144 (a 2-page deed (exempt from SB2 and the fraud fee because it is subject to the documentary transfer tax: $16 first page + $3 for page 2) and a 16-page deed of trust (not exempt from either fee: $16 + $75 SB2 + $8 fraud fee = $99 first page, plus $3 x 15 additional pages = $45)), per the San Joaquin County Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk's fee schedule, effective 2025-07-01. Per San Joaquin County's official 2026 recorder fee schedule (revised 12/02/25): standard first page is $16.00 for a document exempt from SB2 (Government Code 27388.1 exempts any instrument recorded in connection with a transfer subject to the documentary transfer tax, i.e. an ordinary sale deed), or $91.00 for a first page not exempt from SB2 ($16 + $75), or $99.00 if also subject to the $8 real estate fraud fee (GC 27388(a), which lists deeds of trust, liens, releases and similar security/cleanup instruments but not a plain sale deed). Each additional page is $3.00 either way. A deed of trust/mortgage is neither transfer-tax-exempt nor off the fraud-fee list, so it is billed at the full $99 first-page rate.
Fee schedule
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Deed, first page | $16 |
| Deed, each additional page | $3 |
| Mortgage, first page | $99 |
| Mortgage, each additional page | $3 |
| SB2 Homes & Jobs Act fee (GC 27388.1) per title, per parcel; only on instruments NOT subject to the documentary transfer tax, so it does not apply to a typical sale deed but does apply to a deed of trust/mortgage | $75 |
| Real estate fraud fee (GC 27388(a)) per title, on the enumerated document types (deeds of trust, liens, releases, reconveyances, etc.); a plain sale deed subject to transfer tax is not on the list | $8 |
| Survey Monument Preservation Fund fee only on documents that include a legal description by metes and bounds | $10 |
County transfer tax
California's Documentary Transfer Tax is authorized by Revenue & Taxation Code 11911 at $0.55 per $500 of consideration (0.11%), collected by the county recorder; nearly every county including San Joaquin has adopted exactly that rate, and it is already captured as the 'state' entry in data/transfer/california.json. Some charter cities layer an ADDITIONAL city-level documentary transfer tax on top (San Francisco, Los Angeles, Oakland, Berkeley, San Jose are already listed in data/transfer/california.json's local array); no city within San Joaquin County, including Stockton, has been found to impose such an additional city tax, so buyers here pay only the uniform countywide $0.55/$500 rate. California transfer tax →
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to record a deed in San Joaquin County?
$16 for the first page and $3 for each additional page, about $19 for a typical deed, per the San Joaquin County Assessor-Recorder-County Clerk's fee schedule.
And the mortgage?
$99 for the first page and $3 per additional page, about $144 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.
San Joaquin County closing costs → San Joaquin County home buyer guide →
Fees as published by the recorder; e-recording and courier charges may apply. General information, not legal advice.
San Joaquin County overview