Ventura County Property Records

Recording Documents in Ventura County

Ventura County's Clerk-Recorder and Registrar of Voters office handles all real property recordings for a county that stretches from the Pacific coastline through the Santa Clara River Valley to the inland communities of Simi Valley, Thousand Oaks, and Moorpark. The county was formed in 1872 from the southern portion of Santa Barbara County, and its property records reflect a diverse landscape: coastal properties with Mello-Roos districts, agricultural parcels in the Oxnard Plain and Santa Paula citrus belt, master-planned suburban communities in the Conejo Valley, and rural ranches in the upper Ojai and Piru areas.

The Recorder's Division is led by Clerk-Recorder Mark A. Lunn. All recording functions operate under provisions of the State Constitution and applicable state and county codes. The office explicitly notes that it is not authorized to provide legal advice or conduct property research on behalf of the public — a common disclaimer, but one that carries particular weight in a county where coastal zone regulations, agricultural preserve contracts, and Mello-Roos Community Facilities District liens create layers of recorded encumbrances that require professional interpretation.

Recording Fee Schedule

* Involuntary lien notification increases to $21.00 per debtor effective July 1, 2025.

The Survey Monument Preservation Fee

One fee that distinguishes Ventura County from many other California counties is the $10.00 Survey Monument Preservation Fund fee charged on all deeds under Government Code Section 27585. This fee finances the County Surveyor's program to maintain and restore the physical survey monuments — brass caps, iron pipes, and concrete markers — that define property boundaries throughout the county. The only exemption: deeds with legal descriptions that reference a recorded subdivision map, since those parcels already have monument maintenance funded through the subdivision process. For title professionals processing high volumes of deeds, this is a line item that must be included in fee calculations even though it does not appear on every county's schedule.

Important Recording Notes

Ventura County does not conform copies. Do not include extra copies of your document for conformation — they will be returned without the recording stamp. This is a departure from some neighboring counties that still offer conformation as a courtesy. When two or more document titles are combined into one form, each title is priced separately: the base fee of $14.00 plus $3.00 per additional page applies to the entire document, with an additional $14.00 for each extra document title. Payment by check or money order payable to "Ventura County Recorder." Cash and debit/credit cards are accepted in person.

Transfer Taxes and Special Assessments

Ventura County assesses the standard California documentary transfer tax of $1.10 per $1,000 of consideration (exclusive of liens remaining at the time of sale). None of the county's 10 incorporated cities impose an additional municipal transfer tax, making Ventura County one of the simpler transfer tax environments in Southern California — a notable contrast to neighboring Los Angeles County, where the City of LA's Measure ULA adds a graduated tax of 4% to 5.5% on high-value transactions.

However, buyers and title professionals should be alert to special assessment districts that appear as recorded liens. Mello-Roos Community Facilities Districts are common in newer planned communities throughout Camarillo, Moorpark, and parts of eastern Ventura and Oxnard. These CFD liens are recorded instruments that carry annual special tax obligations and must be disclosed in title reports. Agricultural preserves and Williamson Act contracts are also present on the Oxnard Plain and in the Santa Clara River Valley, adding use restrictions that affect property valuation and transferability.