How to Fill Out and Record a Minnesota Warranty Deed Form

A Minnesota warranty deed form transfers real property with the strongest title protections state law offers, and to make the transfer stick you need to use the state’s Uniform Conveyancing Blank that matches your transaction, complete every required field, get each grantor’s signature notarized, and file the deed with its supplemental paperwork at the county office where the property sits. The warranty covenants — that the grantor owns the property, that title is clear of undisclosed claims, and that the grantor will defend title against future challenges — are built into the statutory form automatically under Minnesota Statutes Section 507.07.¹ You don’t draft those promises yourself; you just use the right blank and fill it in correctly.

Which Form to Use

Minnesota county offices accept only Uniform Conveyancing Blanks approved by the Commissioner of Commerce. You cannot design your own layout or alter the form’s structure, and all versions are free to download from the Department of Commerce website.² Warranty deeds live in the 10.1 series, and the right one depends on who is on each side of the transaction:

Form 10.1.1 — individual(s) to individual(s)
Form 10.1.3 — individual(s) to a business entity
Form 10.1.7 — business entity to individual(s)
Form 10.1.9 — business entity to business entity

Each of those has a companion “Except Assessments” version (Forms 10.1.2, 10.1.4, 10.1.8, and 10.1.10) that excludes special assessments from the warranty covenants. Pick the “Except Assessments” version if the property has pending or future special assessments the buyer is agreeing to take on.

What to Gather Before You Fill It Out

Missing any of the following is enough to get the deed rejected at the recorder’s window, so pull it all together first:

Full legal names of every grantor and grantee, exactly as they appear on existing title records or identification. For business entities, include the full legal name and the signer’s title.
Marital status of each grantor — “single,” “married,” or “married to each other.” The notary acknowledgment has to state this, and leaving it out is one of the most common rejection reasons.³
The full legal description of the property from the prior deed or title records. A street address is not enough, and truncated or informal descriptions are rejected.
The consideration — the purchase price or value exchanged. This drives the deed tax.
The name and mailing address where future property tax statements should go.
The drafter’s name and address. Minnesota Statute 507.091 requires every deed to state who drafted it, in a line like “This instrument was drafted by [name], [address].” A deed missing this line will not be recorded.⁴

Filling In the Deed

The blank walks you through each field, but a few entries deserve extra care. The first page must have a three-inch blank space at the top: the right half is reserved for the recorder’s stamp, and the left half for tax certification. Do not write in that space.³

Enter grantor and grantee names exactly as they appear on existing records. Small discrepancies between the deed and the current certificate of title (for Torrens property) or the chain of title (for Abstract property) can trigger a rejection. Copy the legal description verbatim from the source document; do not paraphrase or abbreviate.

The consideration field takes the purchase price. If total consideration is $3,000 or less, add a statement on the deed to that effect — for example, “Total consideration for this transfer is $3,000 or less” — so the county knows no eCRV is required and the minimum deed tax applies. Fill in the “Send tax statements to” line with the new owner’s mailing address, and put the drafter’s name and address near the signature block.

Signatures, Notarization, and Spousal Signatures

Every grantor signs the deed in front of a notary. Minnesota’s notarial requirements sit in Sections 358.51 through 358.76 of the Revised Uniform Law on Notarial Acts. The notary verifies each signer’s identity, applies an official seal, and completes an acknowledgment showing the date, the notary’s signature, commission expiration date, and the marital status of each person acknowledged.⁵ A seal too faint to read, or an acknowledgment missing any of those elements, gets the deed sent back.

If the grantor is married and the property is the couple’s homestead, the non-owner spouse also has to sign, even if that spouse has never been on the title. Under Minnesota Statute 507.02, no conveyance of a homestead is valid without both spouses’ signatures.⁶ For non-homestead property, a married grantor can convey by separate deed without the spouse’s signature, though the spouse keeps certain marital rights in the property unless those are separately relinquished.

Supplemental Filings You Also Need

The deed alone is not enough. Most residential transactions require two additional filings, and the county will not record the deed without them.

Electronic Certificate of Real Estate Value

When real property sells for more than $3,000, either the buyer, the seller, or their agent must file an Electronic Certificate of Real Estate Value (eCRV) with the county auditor.⁷ The eCRV records the sale price and property characteristics, and the Department of Revenue and county use it to verify sale terms and assess property taxes.⁸ File it through the Department of Revenue’s online portal before you bring the deed in for recording, and reference the eCRV identification number on the deed itself. Without that number, the recorder will turn you away. If total consideration is $3,000 or less, no eCRV is needed; instead, include the consideration statement on the deed.⁹

Well Disclosure

Before signing the purchase agreement, the seller must disclose in writing the status and location of all known wells on the property, under Minnesota Statute 103I.235.¹⁰ At recording, the deed must include one of three things:

A completed Well Disclosure Certificate with a $50 filing fee paid to the county.
A statement that the seller does not know of any wells on the property.
A statement that the status and number of wells has not changed since the last previously filed well disclosure certificate.³

When a warranty deed completes a contract for deed, the well statement is signed by the buyer rather than the seller.

Lead-Based Paint Disclosure

For homes built before 1978, federal law adds a disclosure step. The seller has to tell the buyer about any known lead-based paint or hazards, hand over all available testing records and reports, and provide the EPA pamphlet “Protect Your Family From Lead In Your Home.”¹¹ The buyer gets a 10-day window to arrange a lead inspection; both sides can agree in writing to shorten, extend, or waive it. Both parties sign a Lead Warning Statement, and the seller keeps a copy for three years after closing.

Where the Deed Goes and What It Costs

Once the deed is signed, notarized, and your supplemental paperwork is ready, take everything to the county office where the property is located. Which office depends on how the parcel is registered.

Minnesota runs two parallel title systems. Abstract property relies on a chain of recorded documents, and the deed goes to the County Recorder. Torrens (registered) property uses a state-guaranteed certificate of title, and the deed goes to the Registrar of Titles, who cancels the old certificate and issues a new one to the buyer. If you don’t know which system applies, check the property tax statement (Torrens is noted there) or call the county recorder. For Torrens property, the legal description and grantor names on the deed must match the existing certificate of title exactly.

At the window you pay:

A recording fee of $46 per document, set by Minnesota Statute 357.18.¹²
State Deed Tax of 0.33 percent of the net consideration (sale price minus any liens the buyer assumes). If consideration is $500 or less, or the transfer is a merger or designated transfer, the minimum is $1.65. Hennepin and Ramsey counties add an Environmental Response Fund Tax of 0.01 percent, bringing the combined rate to 0.34 percent and the minimum to $1.70.¹³³
The $50 Well Disclosure Certificate fee, if a new certificate is being filed.
A $5 Agricultural Preservation fee on transfer documents in Anoka, Carver, Dakota, Hennepin, Ramsey, Scott, Waseca, Washington, Winona, and Wright counties.³

On a $300,000 sale outside Hennepin and Ramsey counties, that works out to $46 in recording fees plus $990 in deed tax, or $1,036 minimum before any well or agricultural fees.

One more gate: the county auditor must certify that no property taxes are delinquent before the recorder will accept the deed. Under Minnesota Statute 272.12, if taxes are overdue the auditor notes the delinquency and the recorder refuses to file the document until they are paid in full.¹⁴

Common Reasons Deeds Get Rejected

County recorders turn away deeds often, and almost every reason is preventable. Before you walk up to the counter, double-check:¹⁵

The notary acknowledgment is legible and complete. Faint stamps, missing expiration dates, and a blank notary county are the single biggest source of rejections.
A well disclosure certificate or one of the two approved well statements is included.
The drafter’s full name and address appear on the document.
The legal description is complete and, for Torrens property, mirrors the certificate of title word for word.
Each grantor’s marital status is stated, and the non-owner spouse has signed if the property is a homestead.
The deed tax and recording fees are calculated correctly, including the higher rate in Hennepin and Ramsey counties.
The eCRV is filed and its number appears on the deed, with Social Security numbers included on the certificate.
No white-out appears anywhere, type is 8-point or larger, and the three-inch top margin on the first page is preserved, per Minnesota Statute 507.093.

After the Deed Is Recorded

Once the county accepts and processes the deed, the original recorded document is returned to the grantee, usually within a few weeks depending on county workload. For Torrens property, the Registrar of Titles issues a new Certificate of Title in the buyer’s name.

On the tax side, the closing agent or other person responsible for the transaction generally has to file IRS Form 1099-S reporting gross proceeds from the sale.¹⁶ If the property was your primary residence and you owned and lived in it for at least two of the five years before the sale, you can exclude up to $250,000 of capital gain from federal income tax, or up to $500,000 filing jointly with a spouse.¹⁷ Those exclusion amounts are not adjusted annually for inflation, so they apply the same way in 2026 as in prior years.

1
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 507.07 – Warranty and Quitclaim Deeds
2
Minnesota Department of Commerce. Uniform Conveyancing Forms
3
Minnesota Association of County Officers. Recorders Checklist
4
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 507.091 – Conveyance to Include Name and Address of Drafter
5
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 358 – Oaths and Notarial Acts
6
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 507.02 – Conveyances by Spouses; Powers of Attorney
7
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 272.115 – Certificate of Value; Filing
8
Minnesota Department of Revenue. Electronic Certificate of Real Estate Value (eCRV)
9
Minnesota Department of Revenue. eCRV Guidelines
10
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 103I.235 – Real Property Sale; Disclosure of Location of Wells
11
US EPA. Real Estate Disclosures about Potential Lead Hazards
12
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 357.18 – County Recorder Fees
13
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 287.21 – Imposition of Tax; Determination of Tax
14
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes. Minnesota Code 272.12 – Conveyances, Taxes Paid Before Recording
15
Rice County, MN. 10 Reasons Real Estate Recording Documents Are Rejected
16
Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 1099-S
17
Internal Revenue Service. Sale of Your Home