Where do I record a deed in Carroll County?
A deed to land in Carroll County is recorded by the Clerk of the Circuit Court at 605-1 Pine Street, A230, in Hillsville, at the office or by electronic recording through the vendors the clerk lists. The clerk records it once it is acknowledged, its first page carries what the recording statutes require, and the fees and any recording taxes are paid.
A signed deed reaches the clerk, and the first page is read before anything is endorsed
A deed to Carroll County land, signed and acknowledged, arrives at the Clerk of the Circuit Court's office in the county complex on Pine Street. Before the clerk endorses on it the day and the time of day it was recorded, the clerk checks a short list of things on it.
It is acknowledged
Except where the Code provides otherwise, the clerk records a writing as to a person who signed it with an original signature once that person has acknowledged it, or it has been proved as the statute provides.
The parties are set out the way the index needs
Unless a cover sheet is submitted, the clerk may reject a writing that does not underscore or capitalize each individual party's surname in the first clause, number every page consecutively, and list in that first clause each party to be indexed, identified as grantor, grantee or both.
The consideration and value are on page one
Unless a cover sheet is submitted, the clerk may reject a deed subject to the recordation tax whose first page does not state the consideration and the actual value of the property. Separately, a deed subject to the grantor's tax is not admitted to record unless its first page states the consideration.
A residential deed carries two statements
A deed conveying residential property of not more than four dwelling units states on its first page the title insurance underwriter, or that title insurance is unknown to the preparer, and that it was prepared by the owner or by a Virginia-licensed attorney, with the attorney's name and Virginia State Bar number.
Once admitted, and unless otherwise provided, the deed goes into the deed book, the same book that takes deeds of trust, deeds of release, certificates of satisfaction and quitclaim deeds. A plat or map may, at the clerk's discretion, go into a separate plat book. Carroll County calls its parcel number a Tax Map/Parcel ID number; why another county's name for it gets borrowed is in the glossary entry on the GPIN.
Clerk's fees and two state recording taxes are paid before the deed goes on record
Under Va. Code 17.1-223, a writing is recorded upon payment of the fees for it and the tax on it, if any. The statutes set the three charges below, and together they are not necessarily the whole bill.
| Charge | What the statute says | Section |
|---|---|---|
| Clerk's recording and indexing fee | $18 for 10 or fewer pages, $32 for 11 to 30 pages, $52 for 31 or more pages; plat or map sheets larger than 8.5 by 14 inches are $17 per sheet | 17.1-275 |
| State recordation tax | 25 cents on every $100 or fraction of the consideration or the actual value of the property, whichever is greater, on every deed except one exempt by law; value means the most recent property tax assessment when the property is conveyed | 58.1-801 |
| Grantor's tax | When the consideration or value, whichever is greater, exceeds $100: 50 cents for each $500 or fraction, exclusive of any lien or encumbrance remaining on the property, paid by the grantor unless the parties arrange for the grantee to pay all or part; not imposed when the grantor is a locality at a judicial sale of tax-delinquent property | 58.1-802 |
The grantor's tax has its own questions about who pays and what counts toward the figure, which are worked through in what the grantor tax is in Virginia. For recording, what matters is the gate in 58.1-802: no such deed is admitted until the consideration is stated on its first page and the clerk certifies that the tax has been paid.
In person or electronically, and with the clerk for the place the land lies
Where the deed goes is fixed by where the land is, not by where anyone lives or signs.
The recording statute makes a deed void as to purchasers for value without notice and lien creditors until it is recorded "in the county or city in which the property" is located. Recording in one county does not protect land lying in another, so for a tract that crosses a county line, recording in one county leaves the part in the other unprotected until it is recorded there too. Where a statute says to record in the county, that means land in the county outside the limits of a city with its own court for recording.
The City of Galax is the local exception to think about. Under its charter, the Circuit Courts of Carroll County and Grayson County have concurrent jurisdiction in the city, and deeds are recorded in the clerk's office of the county where they had to be recorded before Galax became a city. Which county that is for a given Galax parcel is a question to confirm with the clerk, and the county question itself is answered in what county Galax is in.
The deed does not have to be carried in by hand. The Carroll County Clerk's Office offers remote electronic recording of land records, through the vendors it lists. How signing and recording can happen at a distance is covered in whether a closing can happen remotely. Who runs the settlement is its own question, taken up in who can close a real estate sale in Virginia. In short, a settlement agent does not have to be an attorney: Va. Code 55.1-1003 also lists a licensed title insurance company, a licensed title insurance agent appointed by a licensed title insurer, a licensed real estate broker, and a financial institution authorized to do business in Virginia or its subsidiary or affiliate, each subject to the section's condition on felony convictions.
What the recorded deed protects, and how to watch the record after
Recording does not make a deed a deed. It protects the grantee's position against people outside the deed, and the statute names who they are.
Under Va. Code 55.1-407, an unrecorded deed is void as to purchasers for valuable consideration without notice who are not parties to it, and as to lien creditors, until, and except from, the time it is recorded. That is protection against later buyers and creditors. The statute does not say an unrecorded deed fails between the grantor and the grantee, and what a deed does between the parties is laid out in what a Virginia deed does.
- Looking it up. Except as otherwise provided by law, records kept by the clerk are open to inspection in the office, with copies for a fee, and the ways into Carroll County's land record index are part of tracing who owns a piece of land.
- Knowing which side of the town line. The Town of Hillsville's own boundary is itself a record in this office, at Book 38, page 266 and following, and the county's other land desks on Pine Street, from the Commissioner of the Revenue to the Treasurer, are listed together on the Hillsville, Virginia page.
A Carroll County land sale headed for the clerk's office?
Send the road or tax map number and where the sale stands. Lowell will talk through what happens between contract and recording, and which parts belong with the settlement agent or an attorney. No cost, no obligation.
Got it. Thank you.
We'll be in touch shortly with an honest read.
Questions this raises
Can I record a deed in Carroll County without going to Hillsville?
Yes, through electronic recording. The Carroll County Clerk's Office offers remote electronic recording of land records, and to e-record you use one of the vendors the clerk lists on its e-recording page. Questions about a particular document or vendor go to the Clerk of the Circuit Court at 276-730-3070.
Does a Carroll County deed need the parcel number on its first page?
Virginia's recording statute ties that requirement to localities with a unique parcel identification system, where the number goes on the deed's first page or its cover sheet. Carroll County's own pages call that number a Tax Map/Parcel ID number. Whether the requirement applies to a particular Carroll County deed is a question for the Clerk of the Circuit Court at 276-730-3070.
Will I be told if someone records a document against my Carroll County land?
Not automatically, but the Clerk's Office encourages owners to sign up for VADeed Alert. It is a free service that sends an email when documents are recorded in the land records that match your name or your Tax Map/Parcel ID number.
Where this page's facts come from
Every rule, office and figure above traces to one of these. Rules change; check the office before you act on one.
- Clerk of the Circuit Court: address and phone Carroll County Circuit Court
- Land records: index, Secure Remote Access and VADeed Alert Carroll County Circuit Court
- Remote electronic recording of land records Carroll County Circuit Court
- Va. Code 17.1-223, requirements for writings admitted to record Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code 17.1-275, clerk's fees Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code 58.1-801, state recordation tax on deeds Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code 58.1-802, grantor's tax Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code 55.1-407, recording and notice to purchasers and lien creditors Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code 55.1-408, recording where other real estate lies Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code 55.1-411, meaning of the county for recording Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code 55.1-600, acknowledgment and recording of writings Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code 17.1-227, the deed book Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code 17.1-236, the plat book Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code 17.1-252, parcel identification numbers on recorded instruments Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code 17.1-208, clerks' records open to inspection Virginia General Assembly
- Va. Code 55.1-1003, who may act as a settlement agent Virginia General Assembly
- Charter of the City of Galax, sections 11.01 and 21.10 Virginia Law Library
- Charter of the Town of Hillsville Virginia Law Library