House Bill 1386

House Bill 1386

Brief History of the Bill

In 2005, the Washington State Legislature passed House Bill 1386, which increased the local document recording fee from $2 to $5. The fee is collected by each county auditor, who by law must record and file deeds and certain other documents related to real estate transactions. Every time a document is recorded a $5 recording fee is collected. One dollar of the fee is placed in the county general fund to be used by county commissioners for promotion of historical preservation and/or programs in the county and may include the preservation of historic documents.

Brief Summary of Bill

Increases the mandatory per instrument recording surcharge that county auditors charge for the preservation of historical documents from $2 to $5.

Provides that $1 of the $5 surcharge must be deposited in the county general fund to promote historical preservation or historical programs.

Establishes that the surcharge for documents presented for recording by the Employment Security Department is $2.