Pennsylvania · Document Recording
Recording a Deed or Document in Philadelphia County, PA
Philadelphia County (population 1,574,281) records real-property documents through the Philadelphia Department of Records. Below is what it costs and how to submit. Filing a memorandum of contract? We record it with the county for $199, notary included — no trip to the courthouse.
Philadelphia County recorder — contact
- Recording office
- Philadelphia Department of Records
- Mailing address
- City Hall, Room 111, 1400 John F. Kennedy Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19107
- Phone
- 215-686-2290
- Recording hours
- Mon–Fri 8:00 a.m.–3:30 p.m.; in-person service by appointment
- Checks payable to
- Recording fees and city tax: "City of Philadelphia"; state tax: "Commonwealth of Pennsylvania"
- Electronic recording
- Available via Simplifile, CSC, ePN
Philadelphia County recording fees
- First page / base fee
- $278.75 per deed
- Other fees
- Deed to surviving spouse/partner $43.75; miscellaneous deed $263.75; certified copy $2.00 per document; 3.5% fee on card payments
- Transfer tax on deeds
- 4.578% total: 3.578% City of Philadelphia plus 1% Commonwealth realty transfer tax, paid to the Department of Records at recording
Counties change fees without notice. Check with the Philadelphia Department of Records before you mail a check.
What Philadelphia County requires
- Page formatting
- White 8.5 x 11 in. paper, one-sided; typed, black ink, 10-point minimum; 3-inch top margin on page 1 and 1-inch other margins; 1-inch margins on all later pages
- Submission & return
- By mail, returned in the self-addressed stamped envelope you include; in person, returned at the counter (more than 3 documents are picked up later)
Checked against official Philadelphia County and Pennsylvania sources on October 6, 2026: phila.gov. Part of Jurably’s open recording-fee dataset.
Can you e-record in Philadelphia County?
Yes. Philadelphia County accepts electronic recording through Simplifile, CSC, ePN, so a properly formatted document can be recorded the same or next business day without mailing paper.
How to record a document in Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania
- Prepare the document so it meets Philadelphia County's formatting rules (above): legal description, grantee address, signature block, and the blank space the recorder reserves for its stamp.
- Notarize it if the instrument requires acknowledgment. Most deeds and affidavits do.
- Submit electronically through Simplifile, CSC, ePN, or by mail to Philadelphia Department of Records.
- Pay the recording fee, payable to Recording fees and city tax: "City of Philadelphia"; state tax: "Commonwealth of Pennsylvania".
- Receive the recorded instrument back with its book/page or instrument number as proof of record.
Looking up a Philadelphia County property
Owner names, parcel numbers and legal descriptions for Philadelphia County property are searchable at Philadelphia Office of Property Assessment (OPA). A deed or memorandum needs the exact legal description, so pull it from there or from the last recorded deed.
Filing with Jurably in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania isn't available quite yet — it's coming soon. See the states we file in.