General Information

Effective January 1, 2012
Recording requirement change:
Senate Bill 382 regarding Oregon Revised Statute 205.234
Affecting First Page Recording Requirements
Requires Names and Addresses for ALL parties to appear on the first page of all documents presented to County Clerks for recording. Documents presented not meeting this requirement will be returned without recording. Documents with specified required addresses, not listed on the first page, may be accepted for recording upon on payment of an additional $20.00 nonstandard fee. (Oregon Revised Statute 205.327)
Please refer to Oregon Revised Statutes 205.125(1)(a) and (b), 205.244, and 205.327 for information regarding other first page requirements and nonstandard fee.

The Clackamas County Clerk will record all documents authorized by Oregon State or Federal law, rule or regulation affecting title to, or an interest in, real property. Documents must be properly executed and acknowledged, correctly identify the property, and meet all other form, titling and fee requirements to be recorded.

In accordance with state laws, the County recording office must maintain a reputation for the recording and storage of public recorded instruments in a fair and open manner. Recordation of a document makes it a public record, putting the public on notice. Since the public and courts may use recorded instruments to establish validity of certain claims, all pages must be readable. Oregon statutes and Clackamas County counsel support the need for legible text within recorded documents.

If the legibility of an instrument or notary seal is questionable and a deadline may be compromised should the county recorder reject the document, you may want to consider preparing a new, legible original prior to submission. Client demands may not always make this possible, but the client should be made aware if legibility problems exist, and informed that there may be delays if documents are rejected.