Recording & Copy Fees

Updated fee schedule for the Recording Division of the Lake County Clerk's Office:

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at 847-377-2575 or email us at [email protected]


Recording Fees

Public Act 100-0271 (PDF) was enacted in August 2017 and we updated our fee structure to meet the "predictable fee" intent behind it. The short explanation is that our fee schedule has been streamlined to only six (6) flat fee amounts, meaning our recording fees no longer vary based upon the number of pages a particular document contains.


NOTE: The only additional fees charged at the time of recording will be for any State and County Real Estate Transfer Taxes that are due to be collected.


These are the recording fees effective December 1, 2017 as authorized by County Resolution 17-0800 (PDF) and County Resolution 17-0801 (PDF)...


  • Federal and State liens (or releases of lien) and UCC Termination Statement filings will cost $43
  • UCC-1 (original filing of Financing Statement) and UCC-3 (Amendments, Assignments of Security Interest, Continuations, and Partial Releases of Collateral) filings will cost $58
  • A "standard document" will cost $60
  • A "standard document" submitted by a Federal, State or local government agency that is exempt from the $10 Rental Housing Surcharge Program fee will cost $50
  • A "non-standard document" will cost $72
  • A "non-standard document" submitted by a Federal, State or local government agency that is exempt from the $10 Rental Housing Surcharge Program fee will cost $62

NON-STANDARD and STANDARD are defined by 55 ILCS 5/3-5018.1 which reads as follows (with the conformance definitions inserted)...


Sec. 3-5018.1. Predictable fee schedule.

(a) As used in this Section: "Nonstandard document" means:

  1. a document that creates a division of a then active existing tax parcel identification number;
  2. a document recorded pursuant to the Uniform Commercial Code;
  3. a document which is non-conforming, as described in paragraphs (1) through (5) of Section 3-5018;

    (1) The document shall consist of one or more individual sheets measuring 8.5 inches by 11 inches, not permanently bound and not a continuous form. Graphic displays accompanying a document to be recorded that measure up to 11 inches by 17 inches shall be recorded without charging an additional fee.
    (2) The document shall be legibly printed in black ink, by hand, type, or computer. Signatures and dates may be in contrasting colors if they will reproduce clearly.
    (3) The document shall be on white paper of not less than 20-pound weight and shall have a clean margin of at least one-half inch on the top, the bottom, and each side. Margins may be used for non-essential notations that will not affect the validity of the document, including but not limited to form numbers, page numbers, and customer notations.
    (4) The first page of the document shall contain a blank space, measuring at least 3 inches by 5 inches, from the upper right corner.
    (5) The document shall not have any attachment stapled or otherwise affixed to any page.

  4. a State lien or a federal lien;
  5. a document making specific reference to more than 5 tax parcel identification numbers in the county in which it is presented for recording; or
  6. a document making specific reference to more than 5 other document numbers recorded in the county in which it is presented for recording.

"Standard document" means any document other than a nonstandard document.


Copy Fees

General summary of copy fees:

  • Recorded documents are $1 per page
  • Plats are $5 per page
  • PTAX forms are $1 per form
  • Military discharges are free to the veteran

Payment

Payment options include:

  • Cash
  • Check (made payable to Lake County Clerk)
  • Credit / Debit Card - Discover, MasterCard and VISA are accepted