Recording Standard Documents
Fees for Recording Standard Documents 7-4-2637 MCA
The fee for recording a standard document as described in Document Standards is $8 for each page or fraction of a page. A document that does not meet the requirements is considered non-standard; the fee for recording is the same as standard document fee PLUS $10 per document.
Document Standards 7-4-2636 MCA: New Law Takes Effect 10/1/2011
All documents that are acknowledged as having been executed prior to 4/28/07 are accepted for recording as a standard document. The fee will be $7.00 per page.
Unless accompanied by the fee required in 7-4-2637(2), all documents submitted for recording must meet the following requirements:
- Margin requirements are: 3” at top of 1st page, at least 1” at top of all subsequent pages, 1” at bottom of each page, at least ½” on sides of each page. If an insignificant portion of the signature (such as the “tail-end” of the last letter) is in the margin the document will be standard. If a portion of the signature in the margin is a designation such as: Sr., Jr., II, III, POA or Attorney-In-Fact; these designations will be considered significant and cause the document to be non-standard.
- Include the name and mailing address of the person to whom the document is to be returned in the margin in the upper left-hand corner of the 1st page of each document which may be legibly printed in ink or typed. The document is non-standard if no return address is included in the upper left-hand corner of the 1st page. Documents will be returned to the address written on the document --- NO EXCEPTIONS! If the submitter would like the document sent to an alternate address, they MUST write it on the document BEFORE recording.
- Except for page numbers or other administrative information or designations all margins must be clear of all markings. The document standards committee has determined that other designations may be:
- Form numbers
- Form names
- Last date form updated
- Fax transmittal information
- Tribal information
- Initials
- Barcodes
- Order numbers
- Name of lending institution
- The document must be legibly printed or typed in blue or black ink on white paper that is either 8 ½ x 11” or 8 ½ x 14” in size. Addresses of grantees must be in blue or black ink when legibly printed in. A whole document legibly printed in blue or black ink, meeting all other document standards, is a standard document. A whole document that is written in cursive is non-standard.
- If a document conveys an interest in real property a legal description of the property must be provided. Documents that convey an interest in real property may include, but is not limited to, the following:
- Deeds
- Contracts for deed
- Reconveyances
- Deeds of trust/trust indentures/mortgages
- Easements
- Declarations of homestead
- Any document requiring an RTC
A street address is not a legal description of the property, nor is a deed reference. The full metes and bounds description; subdivision with lot number or certificate of survey number must be included on the document.
Substitutions of Trustee do not need a legal description, just a reference to a previously recorded document.
6. Provide the names of the parties to the conveyance on the 1st or 2nd page of any document with more than one page.
An acknowledgment by a notary is exempt from the color and margin requirements of this section. The notary seal must be legible.An officially certified court or other government document, whether from an in-state or out-of-state office, is exempt from the provisions of this section. Government documents include Department of Transportation documents and Declaration of Intent to Declare a Mobile Home real property. These documents will always be considered standard.
A document which includes highlighting is a non-standard document. Be sure to put in the note field of your program that the document contained highlights which may not show up on the scanned image and microfilm.