Access Lee County Deed Records

Lee County deed records are filed and maintained by the Lee County Clerk and Recorder at 112 E. 2nd St. in Dixon, Illinois, where all property instruments are indexed by grantor and grantee name and held in the public archive. Anyone searching for deed records in Lee County, whether to confirm a title, trace prior ownership, or record a new instrument, works through the Dixon office at (815) 284-5234.

Lee County Clerk and Recorder

The Lee County Clerk and Recorder is at 112 E. 2nd St. in Dixon. Phone is (815) 284-5234. The office is open Monday through Friday. Lee County combines its Clerk and Recorder functions so that the same office handles county administrative records and the official deed and land records archive. If you need to record a deed or search property records in Lee County, the Dixon office is the only place to go.

When the Dixon office accepts a deed for recording, staff stamp it with the date, assign a document number, and enter both the grantor's and grantee's names into the public index. The index is free to search in person during office hours. It covers all instruments ever recorded in Lee County and is the primary tool for any title or ownership search in Dixon or anywhere else in the county.

The Lee County archive holds far more than basic deed transfers. The office records warranty deeds, quitclaim deeds, trustee's deeds, mortgages, mortgage releases, mechanic's liens, judgment liens, easements, plat maps, land contract memoranda, UCC filings attached to real property, and DD-214 military discharge documents. Each of those instrument types gets indexed the same way, under both parties' names with a unique document number.

The Illinois MyDec portal, shown below from mytax.illinois.gov, is where you file the PTAX-203 Real Estate Transfer Declaration online before bringing most taxable deeds to the Lee County Recorder's counter in Dixon.

MyDec produces a barcode confirmation page once the PTAX-203 is submitted. Print that page and bring it with the signed deed to 112 E. 2nd St. The Lee County Recorder needs the barcode confirmation before accepting any deed for recording that is subject to the transfer declaration requirement.

Deed Recording Requirements in Lee County

The Illinois Conveyances Act at 765 ILCS 5 sets the baseline requirements for all recorded deeds in the state. Lee County is no exception. The deed must name the grantor and grantee. A full legal description of the property must be included. The grantor's signature must be notarized by an Illinois notary public or another notary whose acknowledgment is legally recognized in Illinois.

Lee County deeds must carry the parcel identification number for the property being conveyed. The PIN appears in the county assessor's records and ties the deed to the correct parcel for indexing and tax purposes. Place the PIN on the first page near the legal description. Call the Lee County assessor in Dixon before you come to the recorder's office if you are not sure of the correct PIN for a given parcel.

The upper right corner of the first page must be clear. That 3-inch by 5-inch space is where the Recorder stamps the document. It captures the recording date, document number, and other data. Any printing, handwriting, or seals placed in that corner before recording will cause the document to be rejected at 112 E. 2nd St. The correction must be made before the deed can be brought back to the Dixon office.

For most real property sales in Lee County, the PTAX-203 must accompany the deed at recording. This applies even to transfers that are exempt from the transfer tax, though exempt transfers just need the correct exemption code filled in on the form. Submit the PTAX-203 through MyDec at mytax.illinois.gov and print the confirmation before coming to Dixon. Transfers between family members, conveyances to living trusts, and certain judicial transfers commonly qualify for exemptions under the PTAX-203 rules.

Transfer Taxes and Fees for Lee County Deeds

Illinois charges a real estate transfer tax on most deed recordings under 35 ILCS 200. The state rate is $0.50 for every $500 of sale price or portion of $500. Lee County adds $0.25 per $500 at the county level. On a $150,000 sale in Dixon, the state tax is $150 and the county portion is $75, for a total of $225. Revenue stamps are placed on the deed at the time of recording to show that taxes were collected.

Recording fees per page follow the limits set in 55 ILCS 5/3-5018. That statute caps what county recorders across Illinois can charge. Call (815) 284-5234 before submitting documents to confirm the current Lee County per-page recording fees. Fees can change when new county fee ordinances are passed, so always verify before recording.

The $18 RHSP surcharge is collected on every instrument recorded in Lee County. The Rental Housing Support Program fee is a flat amount per document, not based on page count or value. It is added on top of the recording fee and transfer tax for every deed filed at 112 E. 2nd St. Budget $18 per instrument over and above all other costs at the Dixon counter.

Veterans who need to file DD-214 military discharge documents can do so at no charge at the Lee County Clerk and Recorder. Certified copies of a filed DD-214 are also available free or at reduced cost to eligible veterans and their families. Confirm the current policy with the Dixon office at (815) 284-5234 before making the trip to 112 E. 2nd St.

Searching Lee County Deed Records

The grantor and grantee index at 112 E. 2nd St. in Dixon is open to the public at no charge during business hours. Bring a full legal name, property address, or PIN. The staff at the Lee County Recorder's office will explain how the index is set up, but the actual search is yours to conduct. Each index entry gives you the recording date, document number, and both parties' names.

To build a chain of title for a Lee County parcel, use the grantee index to find when each owner took title, and the grantor index to find when each owner transferred it. Move through each link in the chain from the current owner back as far as the records go. The chain tells you the full ownership history of any parcel in the county. Use document numbers from each entry to pull copies of the actual recorded instruments from the Dixon archive.

Copies of instruments are priced per page under the 55 ILCS 5/3-5018 fee schedule. Certified copies cost more but are required for legal filings and some title insurance purposes. Request copies at the Dixon counter or by mail. Mail requests go to 112 E. 2nd St., Dixon, IL 61021. Include party names, approximate recording dates, document numbers if known, and a check for the estimated fee.

The Illinois Legal Aid recording guide at illinoislegalaid.org is a practical free resource for anyone who is new to searching or recording at an Illinois county recorder like the Lee County office in Dixon. It explains the indexing system, what documents look like in the archive, and how to handle common situations that come up during a title search.

Illinois operates under a race-notice recording system. The first party to record a deed, who had no prior notice of a competing unrecorded transfer, holds the stronger legal claim to the property. Record Lee County deeds promptly after any transaction closes. Do not let signed deeds sit unrecorded in a file drawer. Get them to the Dixon office as soon as possible to protect the buyer's title position.

eRecording Lee County Deeds

The Illinois Electronic Recording Act at 765 ILCS 33 authorizes county recorders to receive deed filings through approved digital platforms. When eRecording is active in Lee County, title companies and lenders can use vendors such as Simplifile, CSC, EPN, Hopdox, or Indecomm to submit deed packages online, have the Dixon office process them, and receive stamped copies back electronically. No trip to 112 E. 2nd St. is needed for eRecording customers.

Call (815) 284-5234 to ask whether eRecording is currently available at the Lee County Clerk and Recorder and which vendor platforms are approved. Individual sellers and buyers who are not set up with an eRecording vendor bring their signed, notarized deed and MyDec barcode confirmation to the Lee County counter at 112 E. 2nd St. in Dixon. That over-the-counter path is the standard option for one-time recordings and requires no vendor account setup.

What Is Recorded and Kept in Lee County

The permanent archive at the Lee County Recorder's office in Dixon holds every instrument ever recorded in the county. That includes warranty deeds, quitclaim deeds, trustee's deeds, sheriff's deeds from tax and foreclosure sales, land contract memoranda, mortgages and their releases, mechanic's liens and lien releases, judgment liens, easements, right-of-way documents, subdivision plat maps, survey records, UCC financing statements tied to land, and DD-214 military discharge papers. Each instrument is in the grantor-grantee index and is retrievable by document number at 112 E. 2nd St.

Sale price data from PTAX-203 forms submitted with Lee County deeds goes to the county assessor in Dixon. The assessor uses those figures to evaluate market conditions for property tax assessment purposes. The revenue stamps on older recorded deeds give a window into historical sale prices for any Lee County parcel. That information is part of the public archive and available to anyone who visits the Dixon office during business hours or sends a mail-in copy request to 112 E. 2nd St.

Nearby Counties

Property near a Lee County border may have deed records at a neighboring county recorder. Each office listed below maintains its own separate land records archive.