To file a quitclaim deed in San Diego County, prepare the deed with the required content, sign it in front of a California notary, pair it with a Preliminary Change of Ownership Report, and submit the package to the San Diego County Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk (ARCC) in person, by mail, or through an authorized e-recording platform. The base recording fee for the first page is $14.1San Diego Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk. Recorder/County Clerk Fee Schedule Additional fees and a transfer tax may apply depending on the type of transfer.
What the Deed Must Contain
The ARCC posts a courtesy quitclaim deed form on its website and keeps copies at its public service counters.2San Diego County Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk. Quitclaim Deed You can use it or draft your own, but the document has to include every one of the following:
- Full legal names of the grantor (the person giving up their interest) and the grantee (the person receiving it), spelled exactly as they appear on the current title.
- The legal description of the property, copied from the most recent recorded deed. A street address alone is not sufficient.
- The Assessor’s Parcel Number. San Diego County requires the APN on all deeds by local ordinance.3County of San Diego Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk. Recording
- Vesting language stating how the grantee will hold title (sole ownership, joint tenancy, community property, and so on).
- A return mailing address printed in the top left corner of the first page, where the county will send the recorded original.
Every word must be legible enough to reproduce as a photographic record. If any part of the document is hard to read, the recorder can require a certified legible copy to be attached before the deed is accepted.4California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 27361.7 – Recorder Fees Check the legal description against the current deed of record. Errors here are far more expensive to fix later than to catch now.
Notarization
The grantor must sign in front of a California notary public. The notary verifies identity and attaches an acknowledgment certificate to the deed. Without that acknowledgment, the recorder will reject the document.
California also requires the notary to capture the grantor’s right thumbprint in the notary journal for any deed affecting real property. If the right thumb is unavailable, the notary uses the left thumb or another finger and notes the substitution. A California notary may charge up to $15 per signature.5California Secretary of State. 2026 California Notary Public Handbook Mobile notaries typically add a travel fee on top of that statutory maximum.
Preliminary Change of Ownership Report
Every deed recorded in San Diego County must be accompanied by a Preliminary Change of Ownership Report, form BOE-502-A.6San Diego County Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk. Preliminary Change of Ownership Report The form tells the assessor what kind of transfer is happening (sale, gift, transfer to a trust, divorce-related change) and whether the grantee will use the property as a primary residence.
If you skip the PCOR at recording, the county charges an additional $20 fee.7Justia. California Code Revenue and Taxation Code 480-487 – Change in Ownership The deed still gets recorded, but the assessor will send you a formal Change of Ownership Statement to complete afterward. Filing the PCOR with the deed avoids both the surcharge and the follow-up paperwork.
For parent-to-child transfers, the PCOR is where the assessor first learns of the relationship. Under Proposition 19, a parent-to-child transfer of a primary residence can qualify for a reassessment exclusion, but the child must move in as their primary residence within one year and file for the homeowners’ exemption within that same period.8California State Board of Equalization. Proposition 19 Fact Sheet Intergenerational Transfer Exclusion A separate form, BOE-19-P, must be filed with the San Diego County Assessor within three years of the transfer to claim the exclusion.
Fees and Transfer Taxes
Getting the total wrong is a common reason submissions are rejected at the counter. Three charges are in play.
Recording Fees
Quitclaim deeds are not subject to San Diego County’s real estate fraud surcharge. The first page costs $14, and each additional page costs $3.1San Diego Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk. Recorder/County Clerk Fee Schedule Most single-parcel quitclaim deeds fit on one page.
Building Homes and Jobs Act Fee
An additional $75 per parcel applies to most recorded real estate documents under the Building Homes and Jobs Act.9California Legislative Information. California Code GOV 27388.1 – Fees Transfers of a residential property to a grantee who will occupy it as their owner-occupied residence are exempt. To claim the exemption, write the exemption statement on the face of the deed before submitting it. Something like “Exempt from fee per GC 27388.1(a)(2); transfer of residential dwelling to an owner-occupier” is what the recorder expects to see.
Documentary Transfer Tax
San Diego County charges $0.55 per $500 of value conveyed, or $1.10 per $1,000.10California Legislative Information. California Code Revenue and Taxation Code 11911 – Documentary Transfer Tax Act Property inside the City of San Diego is also subject to a separate city transfer tax of $0.275 per $500, bringing the combined rate to $1.65 per $1,000 within city limits.11City of San Diego. Article 7 Documentary Transfer Tax on the Sale of Real Property On an $800,000 city property, that combined tax comes to $1,320.
The tax applies to consideration or value conveyed in a sale. Transfers by gift or by reason of death are exempt.12California Legislative Information. California Code Revenue and Taxation Code 11930 Because many quitclaim transfers involve no money changing hands, many filers qualify for this exemption. If the transfer is exempt, print the reason and the code section on the face of the deed. If money did change hands, the tax amount must appear on the deed instead.
Three Ways To Submit the Deed
Once the deed is signed, notarized, and paired with the PCOR, you have three ways to get it recorded.
In Person
The ARCC operates multiple office locations across the county. Bring the notarized deed, the completed PCOR, and payment for all fees and taxes. Staff review the documents at the counter to confirm signatures, notary acknowledgments, and required statements are in order. The county accepts cash, checks, and credit cards. Walking in lets you catch and fix problems on the spot instead of waiting for a rejection letter.
By Mail
Mail the full package to the main ARCC office. Include a check made payable to the San Diego County Recorder for the exact total. Add a self-addressed stamped envelope or a cover letter listing your return address. Processing takes longer, and any defect comes back to you as a rejection letter explaining what to fix.
Electronic Recording
San Diego County accepts submissions through authorized e-recording platforms. Title companies and attorneys use this route most often, but individuals can also register with an approved platform. The deed still needs to be notarized before it is scanned and submitted.
After Recording
Once the recorder accepts the deed, it is scanned into the Official Records Index and assigned an instrument number. The original is mailed back to the return address printed on the first page. If you have not received the original or a rejection notice after about six weeks, the ARCC advises contacting their office.3County of San Diego Assessor/Recorder/County Clerk. Recording You can also search the county’s digital index by grantor or grantee name to confirm the deed made it into the public record.
When a Quitclaim Deed Is the Wrong Tool
A quitclaim deed transfers whatever interest the grantor holds, with no promise that the interest is valid or the title clean. That makes it suitable for transfers between people who already trust each other: adding a spouse after marriage, removing an ex-spouse after divorce, moving property into your own revocable living trust, or clearing a cloud on title from a prior recording error. Interspousal transfers are typically exempt from both the Documentary Transfer Tax and property tax reassessment. Moving property into your own revocable living trust triggers no reassessment and no transfer tax.
A quitclaim deed is the wrong instrument for buying property from a stranger. The grantor makes no promises about liens, back taxes, boundary disputes, or competing ownership claims. A grant deed paired with title insurance is the standard for arm’s-length sales in San Diego County.
Federal Tax Consequences Filers Often Miss
The recording process is local, but two federal tax issues ride along with any quitclaim transfer and are easy to overlook.
When you transfer property for no consideration, or for less than fair market value, the IRS treats the shortfall as a gift. If the gift to any single recipient exceeds $19,000 in 2026, you must file IRS Form 709.13Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 709 Married couples can elect gift splitting to push the threshold to $38,000 per recipient. Filing the return does not necessarily mean tax is owed; the excess counts against a lifetime exemption that is $15,000,000 for 2026.14Internal Revenue Service. Whats New Estate and Gift Tax Failing to file, though, means the IRS statute of limitations on assessing gift tax never starts to run.
The other issue is cost basis. Property received as a gift carries the donor’s original basis.15Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1015 – Basis of Property Acquired by Gifts and Transfers in Trust Inherited property, by contrast, receives a stepped-up basis at date of death. Quitclaiming a highly appreciated home to a child during life can create a substantial capital gains bill on later sale that inheritance would have avoided. For families whose goal is probate avoidance, transferring the property into a revocable living trust rather than quitclaiming it directly to a child preserves the stepped-up basis while still keeping the property out of probate.