Some documents must be recorded

Probably the most commonly recorded documents related to real property are transfer deeds, affidavits of death of tenant or trustee, life estate deeds, and deeds upon death.

When recording real property related documents, the general recording rules addressing the type of paper, format, font, contact information, and such should be followed. In Nevada, real property related documents presented for recording typically state the title of the document on the first page. The title should be sufficiently detailed to allow identifying the nature of the document being recorded. While general recording rules apply to most of the documents presented for recording, each type of document may have to meet additional specific requirements.

A transfer deed must contain the mailing addresses of the new owner and the person requesting the recording, if different than the owner, as well as the mailing address of the person to whom tax statements for the property will be mailed.

A transfer deed presented for recording must state the names of the parties involved: the name of the current owner of the property (the grantor) and the name of the new owner of the property (the grantee). Further, a deed must contain conveyance language, thus stating that the grantor is transferring the real property to the grantee. Any additional transfer terms should also be included.

A transfer deed in Nevada must also contain a complete legal description of the real property being transferred. A legal description of real property is a description of a specific parcel of real estate complete enough for an independent surveyor to locate and identify it. It typically contains the subdivision name, lot, and block in a platted subdivision, or parcel map. The assessor’s parcel number alone does not constitute a complete legal description. A deed must either identify by name and address the preparer of a legal description or it must provide identifying information to locate an earlier document that contains the legal description.

Each Nevada county has a website where typically a legal description and an owner of any real property in that county, except for timeshares, can be located.

A transfer deed should not state any sensitive personal information such as a social security number. In fact, this information should be redacted unless specifically required by the statute.

A transfer deed should be signed by the current property owner. The name must be typed or legibly printed below the signature and the signature must be acknowledged by a notary public or another authorized officer.

Like all other real property related documents, a transfer deed has to be recorded and the filing fee for the recording has to be paid. The exact recording fee varies from county to county. A transfer deed presented for recording must be accompanied by a declaration of value. This document states the sale price or value of the real property and includes a calculation of the transfer tax due for the transaction. In Nevada, certain transfer deeds are exempted from the transfer tax, but the qualifying exemption must be stated on the declaration of value.