Recording Requirements

Staff Requirements

Please note that staff make every effort to help patrons, however, the staff may not:

  • Give legal advice or state opinions on legal issues
  • Interpret the law
  • Select specific forms
  • Choose or recommend language for use on any form or other legal document

Recording Requirements

  1. The name of each person executing the instrument is legibly printed, typewritten, or stamped beneath the original signature or mark of the person, and the signature or mark is in black or dark blue ink as per MCLA 565.201 Sec. 1 (a).
  2. No discrepancy shall exist between names printed in the notary acknowledgment and as printed beneath signatures as per MCLA 565.201 Sec. 1 (b).
  3. The address of the grantees in each deed of conveyance or assignment of real estate shall contain the street number address or post office address as per MCLA 565.201  Sec. 1 (d).
  4. The name and address of the person who drafted the document must appear on the documents executed in Michigan as per MCLA 565.201 Sec. 1 (h)(i).
  5. Documents purporting to convey or encumber real estate executed in Michigan require acknowledgment by a judge, clerk of a court of record, or a notary public within this state as per MCLA 565.8.
  6. A certified copy of the death certificate must be filed concurrently as a separate document if an instrument of conveyance states "survivor of" in the grantor's section or shall show by liber and page on instrument reference that the death certificate has been recorded in the Register of Deeds office as per MCLA 565.48.
  7. Court orders must be certified and sealed by the clerk of the court to be eligible for recording as per MCLA 565.401, 565.411.
  8. The document submitted for recording must be legible as per MCLA 565.201 Sec. 1 (f)(iv).
  9. Documents executed in the State of Michigan after April 1, 1997, must have a margin of unprinted space at least 2.5 inches at the top of the first page and at least 0.5 inch on all remaining sides of each page. Exemptions to this include certified documents, surveys, and land corners as per MCLA 565.201 Sec. 1(f)(i).
  10. Documents must display on the 1st line of print on the 1st page a single statement identifying the recordable event that the instrument evidences as per MCLA 565.201 Sec. 1(f)(ii); 565.201 Sec. 3.
  11. The type on the form must be printed with black ink, type size at least 10-point type as per MCLA 565.201 Sec. 1 (f)(iii)(iv).
  12. The paper on which the document is printed must be white and not less than 20-pound weight as per MCLA 565.201 Sec. 1 (f)(iv).
  13. The size of the document and any attachment thereto must be at least 8.5 by 11 inches, at most 8.5 by 14 inches as per MCLA 565.201 Sec. 1 (f)(v)(vi).
  14. All Warranty Deeds, Land Contracts, or an Assignment thereof, or any Deed that contains a covenant of Warranty must have a Tax Certification from the County Treasurer's office.
  15. A trust agreement or certificate of trust existence and authority must be recorded as a separate document if it accompanies an instrument that is subject of or is affected by the trust as per MCLA 565.434
  16. If the instrument or any part of it is in a language other than English, a written English translation is attached to the instrument as per MCLA 565.201 Sec. 1(h)