Recording Division

Responsibilities

By Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 36.22.010, the County Auditor is the “recorder of deeds and other instruments in writing which by law are to be filed and recorded in and for the county for which he or she is elected.” In lay terms, that means that County Auditor staff:

• Maintain the official public record by indexing and organizing all deeds, plats and surveys for public retrieval. Surveys, short plats, long plats, and condominiums are examples of the Mylar map records that are recorded. Original maps are kept in the Auditor's Vault, and digital copies are filed with the Department of Natural Resources.
• Record all documents that affect real property in the county. For transfers or sales, escrow closes when the recorder labels the document with the time of recording. Document types include, but are not limited to: deeds, mortgages, deeds of trust, liens, land divisions, boundary line modifications, legal name changes, and county-generated documents.