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Office of the Ocean County Clerk

Records and Forms

Accessing Public Records: (732) 929-2053

Any person can locate a document on record with the County Clerk via a computer index and can immediately call up the image on the monitor or print out a hard copy. The entire process is fast and simple.

24-Hour Document Drop-off Service

A Doc-Drop Box is located in front of the Ocean County Courthouse, Curbside, Washington Street. All real-estate ownership/transfer documents can be placed in a sealed envelope and inserted in the box 7-days a week, 24-hours a day. The documents will be processed on the next regular business day.

e-Record

To help you avoid delays, eliminate errors, and speed-up the recording and filing of your documents, I urge you to utilize this e-Record service. This Secured electronic recording of Land Record documents is designed to support a wide range of submitters, including Banks, Law Firms, Mortgage Lenders, and Title Companies.
Visit NJCountyRecording.com

Recording Customer Portal

This Portal enables customers who maintain accounts with the Ocean County Clerk to log in to review transactions, deposits, account balances and print results. Please visit the Recording Customer Portal to login or for information on how to open an account.

Search Land Records

Please visit the Ocean County Clerk’s Office Official Records Public Search website to search for land records.

Having trouble searching or accessing the public search page?
Please call (732) 929-2018

Search Tax Records

Please visit the Ocean County Tax Board website to search for tax records.

Having trouble searching or accessing tax records?
Please call (732) 929-2008

Property Alert Service

The County Clerk's Property Alert Service notifies users when documents are filed for a specified property or party name, ultimately helping users identify unauthorized or fraudulent activity.

Alerts are sent by email when a document is recorded with data that matches the property legal description (municipality, block, and lot) or party name specified by the subscriber.

Sign Up Today

Payment Policy

This office will accept cash, personal and business checks as well as money orders in payment of services performed, subject to the following restrictions:
  • All checks in excess of $10,000 in the aggregate (this is violated if more than one check is used to avoid this requirement) must be a certified or bank check.
  • All checks must bear a name, address and bank account number.
  • All personal checks must have a personal and business phone number on the front of the check.
  • All business checks must have a business phone number on the front of the check.
  • No checks will be accepted from a third party, other than a party involved in the transaction (eg. Seller, buyer, their attorneys, licensed title company, or licensed financial institution).
  • No checks will be accepted after sixty (60) days of issue date.
Checks returned to this office unpaid by the bank will be subject to a $60 service charge.
Thank you for your anticipated cooperation with this policy.



Impact of P.L. 2006 c.33 on County Clerks and County Finance Offices


P.L. 2006, c. 33 took effect on August 1, 2006. Passed as part of the State's FY 2007 budget, this new law imposes a 1% Realty Transfer Fee (RTF) on commercial property valued in excess of $1,000,000 (these parcels are classified as "C4" property in the MOD IV system). County Clerks or Register of Deeds and Mortgages in each County are charged with collecting and transmitting these fees and documentation to the State.
Recent discussions with the Constitutional Officers Association of New Jersey (representing County Clerks), the New Jersey Association of County Finance Officers, and the State Divisions of Taxation and Local Government Services have jointly reviewed a number of issues related to the short and long-term implications of the law.

The parties consulted on the handling and receipting of funds and the types of instruments and checks that are processed to develop ways of preventing fraud, given the large sums that can be involved in these transactions.

Because commercial property is affected, checks can come from other states and countries and from a range of sellers who are corporate entities outside the state, financial institutions, and attorneys. The statutory requirements of immediately recording deeds upon presentation, offers the potential for repudiation of financial instruments, dishonored, and returned checks if strong policies are not put in place.

While certified checks are the current standard, other means of payment were discussed, such as ACH and wire transfers. Each of these methods has separate concerns related to cost, and timing of receipt of the documents and confirmation of the receipt of funds. It was agreed that additional study on the issues is warranted over the next few months prior to official guidance being issued.

The review has generated a recommended policy to protect the State and counties that can be considered and implemented by each County Clerk as a way of providing uniform and consistent practices in implementing the law statewide.

Recorders Document Manual

You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view these files. Get it here for free.

Check out our Recorders Document Reference Manual this is a valuable guide for:

  • Law Firms
  • Title Companies
  • Mortgage Companies
  • Financial Institutions
  • Government Agencies


Fees for Recording and/or Filing Documents

The Homelessness Trust Fund fee has been included in the various Recording Fees
DEED: (Transfer Fee Must be paid when deed is recorded)
Right of Way - Easements - Final Judgments
COMPUTE FEE: $30 First Page, Plus $10 Abstract Fee
FIRST PAGE $45
EACH ADDITIONAL PAGE (ONE SIDE) $10
MARGINAL NOTATION$10
Aerial and Utility Pole Easements - Contracts for Sale of Property - Power of Attorney - Lease - Agreements - Cemetery Deeds - Options - General Releases
FIRST PAGE $35
EACH ADDITIONAL PAGE (ONE SIDE) $10
MARGINAL NOTATION $10
Mortgage, Lis Pendens
FIRST PAGE $35
EACH ADDITIONAL PAGE (ONE SIDE) $10
Mortgage Discharge, Assignments, Postponement, Subornation, Releases, Discharge of Lis Pendens
FIRST PAGE $45
EACH ADDITIONAL PAGE (ONE SIDE) $10
EACH ADDITIONAL BOOK AND PAGE $10
Tax Sale Certificates (Except by Municipality)
FIRST PAGE $35
Recording, Redemption or Assignments
FIRST PAGE $45
EACH ADDITIONAL PAGE (ONE SIDE) $10
EACH ADDITIONAL MARGINAL NOTATION $10
Notice of Settlement
MORTGAGE COMMITMENT $25
CONTRACT OF SALE $25
Federal Tax Lien and Release $30
Mortgage Cancellation $25
EACH ADDITIONAL BOOK AND PAGE $20
Subdivision Maps: $60
Inheritance Tax Waiver $15
Construction Lien $15
NOTICE OF UNPAID BALANCE & DISCHARGE $15
MARGINAL NOTATION $5
BOND $25
Trade Name, Firms, Partnership $50
DISSOLUTION $25
Physician's & Hospital Liens - Recording, Discharge
$15
Veterans Discharge & Fireman's Exemption No Fee
Certified Copy of Veteran's Discharge & Fireman's Exemption Certificate
No Fee
Exemplification, Any Instrument $10
Road Vacation & Dedications $30
Indexing Any Recorded Instruments in Excess of 5 Names
EACH NAME $6
Uniform Commercial Code
UCC 1 WITHOUT ASSIGNMENT $25
UCC 1 WITH ASSIGNMENT $25
UCC 3 CONTINUATION $25
AMENDMENT STATEMENT $25
PARTIAL RELEASE STATEMENT $25
TERMINATION $25
ASSIGNMENT $25
REQUEST FOR UCC SEARCH (Each Name) $25
COPY OF ANY FILED STATEMENT (Each Page) $1
Re-recording of a Recorded Document
$30 first page, plus $10 each page after  $10 per book & page or reference