Perry County Recorder: Search Deeds & Land Records

Perry County, Ohio · Deeds, mortgages, liens, releases and recorded land documents

Perry County Recorder: Search Deeds & Land Records

Use the Perry County Recorder when you need the recorded document behind a property transaction: a deed, mortgage, mortgage release, lien, easement, land contract, plat reference or another instrument affecting real estate in Perry County, Ohio.

The fastest path is usually to identify the property or owner first, search the Recorder’s AVA land-record index, save the document number or volume/page reference, and then request the actual recorded document when the image you need is not available online.

Owner or former owner name Approximate recording date Parcel number Document number Volume and page if known
RECORDED LAND DOCUMENT PERRY COUNTY · OHIO
OFFICIAL RECORD INDEX
RECORDED
DEED MORTGAGE LIEN / RELEASE
Recorder, Auditor and Treasurer are not interchangeable. The Recorder maintains recorded land instruments. The Perry County Auditor is the better starting point for parcel ownership, property values, acreage, sales and parcel mapping. The Treasurer handles property-tax bills and payments. Using the correct office can save a substantial amount of searching.
Recorder office

212 S. Main Street, New Lexington, OH 43764.

Office hours

Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

Online record tool

AVA provides the county’s land-record index search.

Reviewed

Official county and Ohio sources checked October 19, 2026.

Start with the right record

Which Perry County property system should you use?

People searching for the Perry County Recorder often actually need one of four different records. Match your goal before opening a portal.

RECORDED DOCUMENT Deed, mortgage, lien or release

Use the Perry County Recorder and AVA index.

Search steps
PARCEL RECORD Owner, value, acreage or sale history

Use the Perry County Auditor property search.

Open Auditor search
PROPERTY TAX Tax bill, payment or balance

Use the Perry County Treasurer.

Open Treasurer
PARCEL MAP Location or parcel context

Use the Auditor’s GIS parcel viewer.

Open GIS map

Perry County Recorder guide

Jump directly to the task you are trying to complete.

Actual document copies

How to get a copy of a Perry County deed

The official Perry County Recorder page currently states that its online system provides record listings, but that actual document images are not available online through the process described on that page. The office instructs users to call or email for payment options and fee information.

Find the deed’s index entry first. Use AVA and save the document number or volume/page reference. If you cannot identify it, use the Auditor parcel search to find the present or former owner’s name and approximate transfer date.
Contact the Recorder with the exact reference. Call (740) 342-2494 or email pcrecorder@perrycountyohio.gov. State whether you need an ordinary copy or a certified copy.
Confirm the copy charge and payment method. Perry County’s page asks users to contact the office for copy-payment information. Do this before mailing a check or making a special trip.
Ask whether certification is actually required. A plain recorded copy is often sufficient for personal records and research. Courts, title companies, lenders or other agencies may specifically require a certified copy.
You normally do not receive a new deed when a mortgage is paid off. Your ownership deed was created and recorded when title transferred to you. Mortgage payoff is normally documented separately through a mortgage satisfaction or release.
2026 online-access note: Ohio Revised Code §317.13 requires county recorders, by June 30, 2026, to provide public electronic indexes and electronic versions of qualifying instruments recorded on or after January 1, 1980, subject to statutory exceptions. Perry County’s current Recorder information page still says its AVA service provides listings while document images are not online. Because the public-facing instructions and statewide requirement do not perfectly align, check the live AVA portal first; if the image you need is not available, contact the Recorder directly.
Read Ohio Revised Code §317.13
Understand the search result

What Perry County land-record terms mean

Common fields in a deed or Recorder index
Field What it means How to use it
Grantor The person or entity transferring an interest. Often the seller on a deed.
Grantee The person or entity receiving the interest. Search the current buyer as grantee to locate an acquisition deed.
Instrument / document number A unique reference assigned to the recorded document. Usually the most efficient identifier when requesting a copy.
Volume and page Book-style recording reference used to locate a document. Especially useful for older records or office copy requests.
Recording date Date the Recorder accepted the instrument into the public record. Do not assume it is identical to the signing or closing date.
Legal description The description identifying the land legally. Compare it when names or street addresses are ambiguous.
Marginal / cross reference Reference connecting one recorded instrument to another. Helpful for releases, assignments and later documents affecting an earlier record.
Ownership history

How to research a Perry County chain of title

A chain-of-title search is more involved than simply finding today’s owner. You follow recorded conveyances backward from one owner to the prior owner, checking whether each transfer logically connects to the next.

Identify the current parcel. Open the Perry County Auditor search and confirm the address, parcel number, owner and recent transfer information.
Locate the current owner’s acquisition deed. Search the Recorder index with the current owner as grantee and compare the approximate purchase date.
Read the grantor name from that deed entry. The grantor is your next prior-owner search target.
Repeat the process backward. Search the prior owner as grantee to locate the deed by which that person acquired the property.
Watch for non-standard transfers. Estates, survivorship interests, trusts, sheriff’s deeds, certificates of transfer, divorce-related instruments and entity transfers can interrupt a simple buyer-seller sequence.
Do not substitute this research for a professional title examination. A true title review may require checking liens, judgments, easements, probate matters, releases and other records beyond a sequence of deeds.
The Recorder’s staff does not perform title searches for you. Perry County states that its records are public and staff can help users access them, but the office does not perform the legal research necessary to decide whether title is clear.
Recording a deed or instrument

How to record a real-estate document in Perry County

Recording a prepared deed is different from asking the Recorder to create a deed. The Recorder accepts and preserves qualifying legal instruments; the office states that employees cannot provide legal advice or prepare legal documents.

Have the instrument properly prepared. For a deed, estate transfer, survivorship issue, trust transfer or other title change, consider an Ohio attorney or licensed title professional when you are unsure what instrument is required.
Check Ohio recording format before submission. Ohio generally requires legible print of at least 10-point size, 8.5 × 11 to 8.5 × 14 inch paper, black or blue ink, no highlighting, one-inch side and bottom margins, a three-inch blank top margin on page one and a 1.5-inch top margin on later pages.
See Ohio Revised Code §317.114
Include the preparer’s name when required. Ohio law requires qualifying instruments to identify the person who prepared the instrument, subject to statutory exceptions.
See Ohio Revised Code §317.111
For a real-estate transfer, complete the Auditor conveyance step. Perry County’s Auditor states that documents presented for transfer need the proper conveyance or exempt form. Use its official conveyance forms and fee information before the Recorder step.
Open Perry County conveyance forms
Confirm fees before presenting or mailing the document. Page count, formatting, marginal references and a possible preservation surcharge can affect the total. A mailed instrument can be delayed if the payment is wrong.
Submit through an accepted recording method. For an individual filing, call the Recorder at (740) 342-2494 if you need confirmation about walk-in, mail or current electronic-recording procedures.
Auditor transfer timing: Perry County’s Auditor states that real-property transfers are accepted Monday through Friday and that no transfers are accepted after 4:00 p.m. Incomplete forms or incorrect fees may be returned rather than held for correction.
Current fee guidance

Perry County Recorder recording fees

The Perry County Recorder’s current public page lists the following standard recording charges. Always verify the final amount before mailing a document because state law also permits certain additional charges.

Recorder and related Perry County transfer charges
Charge Published amount Important detail
Recording — first 2 pages $34 Listed by the Perry County Recorder.
Each additional page $8 Applies after the first two pages.
Non-compliant format Additional $20 County page references the statutory document-format requirements.
Marginal reference $4 each Added when the document requires a reference.
Auditor transfer fee $0.50 per parcel Paid to the Perry County Auditor for applicable transfers.
Auditor conveyance fee $4 per $1,000 of sale price Perry County lists a $4 minimum.
Possible preservation surcharge: current Ohio Revised Code §317.32 authorizes a county recorder to charge a document-preservation surcharge of up to $5 for applicable recordings. Because Perry County’s public FAQ lists its core page charges without separately stating this surcharge, confirm the exact total with the Recorder before submitting payment.
Read Ohio recording-fee law
Payment method: Perry County’s Recorder FAQ says the office does not accept credit cards and accepts cash and checks. If you are sending a document rather than paying in person, call first for the current mailing/payment procedure instead of mailing cash.
Mortgage payoff

How to check whether a Perry County mortgage was released

Paying a mortgage does not delete the original mortgage record. A later satisfaction or release should connect to the recorded mortgage and show that the lien was discharged.

Find the original mortgage in the Recorder index.
Save its document number or volume/page reference.
Search the borrower and lender names after the payoff date.
Look for a release, satisfaction, cancellation or related reference.
Compare the release reference to the original mortgage.
Call the Recorder if the release cannot be located.

Perry County specifically tells property owners they may contact the office at (740) 342-2494 or pcrecorder@perrycountyohio.gov to ask whether a mortgage has been released and to obtain a copy of the release.

Oil, gas and mineral research

Can the Perry County Recorder tell you who owns the mineral rights?

The Recorder maintains documents that may be relevant to mineral ownership, but the office expressly states that it cannot perform the research for you. Mineral-title questions can require following deeds, reservations, severances, leases, assignments, affidavits and estate records over many years.

Start with the surface deed

Read the legal description and watch for language reserving or excepting coal, oil, gas or other mineral interests.

Follow referenced instruments

A deed may point to an older document that created or reserved the mineral interest.

Use professional title help

When ownership affects a lease, sale, drilling right or substantial money, consider an Ohio title professional or attorney experienced in mineral-title work.

Property protection

Perry County’s free property fraud alert

The Perry County Recorder advertises a free property-fraud alert service for county landowners. The county explains that the alert does not stop an otherwise recordable document from being recorded, but it can notify a subscriber after a document associated with the property is recorded.

Contact the Perry County Recorder. Call (740) 342-2494 and ask to enroll in the property fraud alert.
Provide the information requested for matching. Follow the office’s current enrollment instructions rather than giving sensitive information to an unrelated third-party property site.
Treat an alert as a prompt to investigate. If you receive notice of a document you do not recognize, contact the Recorder promptly and obtain the document details.
Perry County says subscribers can be notified within 24 business hours of a recorded document under the fraud-alert service.
Common problem solving

What to do when you cannot find a Perry County deed

Fix common Recorder-search problems
Problem Likely reason Best next move
Street address finds nothing Recorder indexes are document/party oriented rather than ordinary address directories. Search the Auditor parcel first, then use the owner name in AVA.
Owner name finds too many records Common surname or many years of filings. Add a date range or document type and compare legal-description clues.
Current owner has no obvious deed Transfer may involve an estate, trust, survivorship or different legal name. Check sale history, prior owner and alternate names.
Mortgage appears open Release may be recorded under lender/assignee name or later date. Search after payoff and contact the Recorder with the original mortgage reference.
Need the actual page image County instructions say the AVA listing may not provide the image. Give the Recorder the document number or volume/page and request the copy.
Need tax balance Tax collection is not the Recorder’s job. Use the Perry County Treasurer.
Owner changes and life events

Death, divorce or name change: do not simply “edit” the deed

Recorded deeds are historical legal instruments; the Recorder does not erase an old owner’s name from a previously recorded deed. A later legal instrument may be needed to document a change in ownership or title status.

Spouse has died

Perry County’s Recorder says the office cannot prepare the document needed to resolve a deed issue after a spouse’s death. The correct process may depend on survivorship language, probate, a transfer-on-death designation or another fact. Seek appropriate legal guidance before recording anything.

Name changed

A change in a person’s name does not mean the historical deed is rewritten. Ask an attorney or title professional what documentation is appropriate for the transaction you are planning.

Official contacts

Perry County Recorder office and related property offices

Perry County Recorder
212 S. Main Street
New Lexington, OH 43764

Phone: (740) 342-2494
Fax: (740) 342-5539
Email: pcrecorder@perrycountyohio.gov
Hours: Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.

Official Recorder page
Perry County Auditor
212 S. Main Street
P.O. Box 127
New Lexington, OH 43764

Phone: (740) 342-2074
Use for parcel ownership, values, sales, conveyance forms and GIS.

Official Auditor search
Perry County Treasurer
212 S. Main Street
P.O. Box 288
New Lexington, OH 43764

Phone: (740) 342-1235
Use for tax bills, payments and delinquent-tax questions.

Official Treasurer site
Perry County GIS

Use the Auditor’s parcel viewer to confirm where a parcel appears on the county map and to gather parcel context before searching recorded instruments.

Open official GIS parcel viewer
Frequently asked questions

Perry County Recorder FAQs

Where can I search Perry County, Ohio deeds online?

Use the Perry County Recorder’s AVA search at oh3laredo.fidlar.com/OHPerry/AvaWeb. Search the recorded-document index using the party name and other available filters, then save the document number or volume/page reference.

Can I search Perry County deeds by property address?

A property address is often more useful in the Perry County Auditor’s parcel search than in a Recorder index. Search the Auditor first, identify the owner and parcel, then search the owner name in the Recorder’s AVA system.

Can I view the actual Perry County deed online?

Perry County’s current Recorder page says AVA provides record listings and volume/page information while actual document images are not online through the process it describes. Check the live AVA portal because online access requirements changed statewide in 2026; if the image is unavailable, call or email the Recorder to request a copy.

How much does Perry County charge to record a deed?

The Perry County Recorder currently lists $34 for the first two pages and $8 for each additional page. A non-conforming document can add $20, and a marginal reference can add $4 each. Ohio law also permits a document-preservation surcharge of up to $5, so confirm the exact total before submitting a document.

Does the Perry County Recorder accept credit cards?

The county Recorder FAQ says no; it states that the office accepts cash and checks. Contact the office before mailing a recording or copy request so you use the correct current payment procedure.

Can the Recorder prepare a deed for me?

No. Perry County states that Recorder employees cannot provide legal advice or prepare legal documents. The office recommends professional help from an attorney or licensed title agency when a document must be prepared.

How do I find out whether my mortgage was released?

Search the Recorder index for a release or satisfaction recorded after payoff, or call the Recorder at (740) 342-2494. Perry County states that the office can tell you whether a mortgage release is recorded and can provide a copy.

Can the Recorder tell me whether I own mineral rights?

The Recorder can provide access to public records, but Perry County states that staff cannot perform the search for you. Mineral ownership can require a detailed chain-of-title examination, so professional title or legal assistance may be appropriate.

How do I remove a deceased spouse from a deed?

Do not assume the Recorder can simply delete a name. Perry County says its recording duties do not include preparing the legal documents needed to resolve deed issues. The correct instrument depends on the title language and estate circumstances, so obtain appropriate legal guidance.

Does Perry County offer a property fraud alert?

Yes. The Recorder advertises a free property-fraud alert for Perry County landowners. Contact the Recorder to enroll. The alert is a notification service; it does not prevent a qualifying document from being recorded.

Primary sources

Official Perry County and Ohio references

Use these primary sources when a fee, procedure or legal requirement affects a filing. County instructions can change, so the official office page should control over commercial directory listings.

Bottom line

Use the Recorder for the recorded document—not every property question

If your goal is to find a Perry County deed, mortgage, lien or release, start with the Recorder’s AVA index and capture the document reference. If you only know the property address, begin with the Auditor so you have the owner’s name, parcel number and transfer date before searching the Recorder.

For the actual deed copy, certification, mortgage-release confirmation or a difficult historical record, contact the Perry County Recorder directly. For a new deed or other legal instrument, make sure the document is correctly prepared, complete the applicable Auditor transfer requirements and verify all recording charges before submission.

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