Lake County, Illinois Recording Fees
Recording a deed in Lake County costs about $50 and a mortgage about $50 (flat per-document fee for a standard-format document, regardless of page count), per the Lake County Recorder of Deeds (Recording Division)'s fee schedule, effective 2023-07-01. Lake County's most recently located published fee schedule (effective 7/1/2023) lists $50.00 flat for a standard real-estate document (deed or mortgage) and $62.00 for a non-standard one; this is not broken out by page. Illinois recorder fees include a statutory Rental Housing Support Program surcharge and other state add-ons that the legislature has raised more than once (Public Act 102-1135). Neighboring Will County, Illinois raised its equivalent standard real-estate document fee to $90.00 effective 10/1/2025, given that, Lake County's true current fee may also be higher than the $50 last confirmed here. Lake County's own recording-fees page and PDF both returned a Cloudflare 403 to automated fetch on 2026-09-22 and could not be reconfirmed; treat this figure as dated and verify against a current Lake County source before publishing.
Fee schedule
| Item | Fee |
|---|---|
| Deed, first page | $50 |
| Deed, each additional page | $0 |
| Mortgage, first page | $50 |
| Mortgage, each additional page | $0 |
| Non-standard document surcharge documents that do not meet Illinois formatting standards (paper size, margins, font) cost $62 total instead of $50 | $12 |
County transfer tax
Lake County Real Estate Transfer Tax: $0.25 per $500, paid by the seller. Illinois transfer tax →
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to record a deed in Lake County?
$50 for the first page, about $50 for a typical deed, per the Lake County Recorder of Deeds (Recording Division)'s fee schedule.
And the mortgage?
$50 for the first page, about $50 for a typical mortgage or deed of trust. The buyer pays this at closing.
Sources
- Lake County Recorder of Deeds (Recording Division) fee schedule
- Lake County, IL Code Sec. 34.17, Tax on Real Estate Property Transfer
Figures are computed from the documents above and rounded to the dollar. All sources.
Lake County closing costs → Lake County home buyer guide →
Fees as published by the recorder; e-recording and courier charges may apply. General information, not legal advice.
Lake County overview