Recorder Of Deeds

Evie Rafalko McNulty
Recorder of Deeds

The Recorder of Deeds primary responsibility is to protect the people’s ownership in their homes and other real property. The two primary functions are to record and index documents relating to property in Lackawanna County and to act as a collection agent for the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, all municipalities and school districts in Lackawanna County.

The office handles many documents, some of which include deeds, mortgages, mortgage satisfactions, mortgage assignments, Power of Attorney, leases, Uniform Commercial Code filings, real estate agreements, charters of non-profit corporations, notary commissions, elected official commissions and veteran’s discharge documents.

The records in this office protect and establish an accurate and thorough official record of real property ownership. These records are essential to the individual property owner who wants to establish a “clear title” to his holdings.

The Recorder of Deeds is elected by the voters for a term of four years. The office is designated as a “fee office” since it collects fees set by the Pennsylvania State Legislature for the recording of documents. The Recorder’s office must be separate from all other county offices, elected or appointed, that are involved in the buying selling or confiscation of land. The Recorder of Deeds has no duties that would constitute a conflict of interest with regard to land transactions. The absence of these duties avoids conflicts of interests and thereby protects the property rights of our citizens.

This office does not depend upon the County tax dollars to operate. The office of the Recorder of Deeds is self-sufficient and generates a profit (over the operating expenses) for the Lackawanna County General Fund.

Lackawanna County Self Service
(Online Searching) Website

*Eagle Recorder Self Service runs best on Google Chrome and we recommend this browser*

To set up an account to make copies online use the same link

For anyone who would like to setup an account by phone or mail for online printing, you can make your deposits to the account by calling into our office at 570-963-6775 Option # 0 with your credit card number for the deposit onto the account.

Please know you will be charged a 2.5% fee on the amount of your transaction for each phone deposit placed onto the account or you can send in a check for the deposit payable to:

Lackawanna County Recorder of Deeds Merchant Services Acct.
123 Wyoming Avenue, Suite 218
Scranton PA 18503

(there will not be a 3% fee for this option)

THIS ACCOUNT AND THE FUNDS CAN BE USED IN OUR OFFICE AS WELL AS FOR THE ONLINE WEB ACCESS

Attention: Recording Fees Policy Update Effective January 2, 2021

In the past, it had been our policy to accept documents presented for recording using one check for the recording of multiple documents. A example of this would be one check submitted to cover the recording of multiple satisfactions pieces. We have been running into some internal auditing and receipting issues with this process.

Therefore, our recording fee policy which has been updated and published on our website several months ago will now be enforced. Clarification on the policy can be found under item #32 Recording Requirements on our webpage which states:

**All recording fees must be for the exact amount. We do not issue refunds. Any overages of $5.00 or less will be forfeited. If your overages are over $5.00 your document will be returned. Checks should be made payable to the Lackawanna County Recorder of Deeds.

a. One check will be accepted for a maximum of four documents per land transaction (deed, mortgage, assignment, etc.)
b. A maximum of three checks will be accepted for one land transaction batch (deed, mortgage, assignment, etc.)
c. A check will not be accepted if in the “memo” of the check it refers to another land transfer document.

Effective Monday, January 2, 2021, documents must be submitted for recording with individual checks for each related land transaction batch (i.e., deed, mortgage, assignment). Documents presented for recording, not meeting this new recording submission criteria, will be rejected for recording without exception effective January 18, 2021.

I’d would like to take this time to again remind you of the option of submitting your documents through the e-recording vendors that we offer in the Recorder of Deeds Office.

Documents can be electronically recorded by contacting one of the following e-recording vendors listed below

• Simplifile 800-460-5657 or email [email protected]
• CSC 866-652-0111 or email [email protected]
• ePN 888-325-3365 or email [email protected]

Lackawanna County Recorder of Deeds Re-appointed by Governor Wolf to County Records Committee

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