Ohio Quitclaim Deed
An Ohio quitclaim deed (or quit claim deed) transfers your interest with no warranty. Take it to the county auditor to pay the conveyance fee, then record it.
Introduction
A quitclaim deed is a document that transfers whatever ownership interest you have in a piece of real estate to someone else, with no promise that your title is good or even that you own anything at all. That is the key difference from a warranty deed, which does promise clear title and lets the grantee sue if the title turns out to be flawed. A quitclaim simply passes along whatever interest you hold, so people use it for lower-risk transfers between people who already trust each other: adding or removing a spouse after a marriage or divorce, moving a home into a living trust, or clearing up a possible claim on a title. In Ohio the person giving up the interest is the grantor and the person receiving it is the grantee. Ohio codifies a statutory quit-claim deed at Ohio Rev. Code Section 5302.11, and that statute says the deed conveys but without covenants of any kind on the part of the grantor. To be recorded, the grantor must sign the deed and acknowledge it before a notary (Ohio Rev. Code Section 5301.01); Ohio no longer requires witnesses. Ohio then uses a two-office sequence: you first take the deed to the county auditor to pay the conveyance fee and file a statement of value, and only then record it with the county recorder. Attorney review is available as an option before you sign.
Key Things to Know
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A quitclaim deed (often typed quit claim deed) transfers only the interest you actually have. It passes whatever ownership you hold in the property to the grantee and makes no promise that the title is clear, or even that you own anything. A warranty deed, by contrast, guarantees the title, which is why a quitclaim is used mainly between people who trust each other.
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Record it with the county recorder. Under Ohio Rev. Code Section 5301.25 a deed is recorded in the office of the county recorder of the county in which the property is situated. Until it is recorded, the deed is treated as fraudulent as against a later good-faith purchaser who buys without knowing about it.
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You must sign before a notary. Ohio Rev. Code Section 5301.01 requires the grantor to sign the deed and acknowledge that signature before a notary public (or another authorized officer such as a judge, county auditor, or mayor), who certifies the acknowledgment. An acknowledgment is the notarized statement confirming who signed.
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No witnesses are required. Ohio removed the old two-witness rule for deeds executed on or after February 1, 2002. Under current Ohio Rev. Code Section 5301.01 a quitclaim deed needs only the grantor's signature and a notary acknowledgment, not subscribing witnesses.
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Pay the conveyance fee at the county auditor first. Before the recorder will record, you take the deed to the county auditor, file a statement of value on form DTE 100, and pay the mandatory conveyance fee of $1.00 or 10 cents per $100 of value, whichever is greater (Ohio Rev. Code Section 319.54(G)(3)). A county may add a permissive real property transfer tax of up to 30 cents per $100 (Ohio Rev. Code Section 322.02).
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Ohio has a statutory quit-claim form. Ohio Rev. Code Section 5302.11 sets out a short quit-claim deed form and states the deed conveys without covenants of any kind on the part of the grantor. Using that form is not mandatory, but a deed in substance following it has full statutory effect.
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A spouse may need to release dower. Ohio keeps dower, a spouse's life-estate interest in one third of real property the other spouse owned during the marriage (Ohio Rev. Code Section 2103.02). The statutory form at Section 5302.11 includes a line for the grantor's spouse to release all rights of dower. Common quitclaim uses include divorce transfers and adding or removing a spouse from title.
Key decisions before you file
Before you file a Quitclaim Deed in Ohio, a few decisions shape the document: which option to choose and what each one means. The Quitclaim Deed guide walks through them.
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Ohio Requirements for Quitclaim Deed
To record an Ohio quitclaim deed the grantor must sign it and acknowledge that signature before a notary public or another authorized officer, such as a judge, county auditor, or mayor, who certifies the acknowledgment (Ohio Rev. Code Section 5301.01). An acknowledgment is the officer's notarized statement confirming who signed.
Ohio removed the old two-witness attestation rule for deeds executed on or after February 1, 2002. Under current Ohio Rev. Code Section 5301.01 a quitclaim deed needs only the grantor's signature and a notary acknowledgment; no subscribing witnesses are required.
Ohio uses a two-office sequence. Before the recorder will record, present the deed to the county auditor, who transfers the property on the tax list and endorses the deed as transferred (Ohio Rev. Code Section 319.20). Ohio Rev. Code Section 317.22 bars the county recorder from recording the deed until it bears the auditor's endorsement.
Before the auditor endorses the deed, the grantee must file a statement declaring the value of the property conveyed, on the tax commissioner's form DTE 100 (Ohio Rev. Code Section 319.202). If the transfer is exempt from the conveyance fee, you file form DTE 100EX stating the reason for the exemption instead.
Ohio charges a mandatory statewide conveyance fee of $1.00 or 10 cents per $100 of the value of the property transferred, whichever is greater (Ohio Rev. Code Section 319.54(G)(3)). A county may also levy a permissive real property transfer tax of up to 30 cents per $100 of value (Ohio Rev. Code Section 322.02). The fee is paid at the county auditor before recording.
After the auditor endorses the deed, record it with the county recorder of the county in which the property is situated (Ohio Rev. Code Section 5301.25). Until it is recorded, the deed is treated as fraudulent as against a later good-faith purchaser who buys the property without knowing about the earlier deed.
Ohio Rev. Code Section 5302.11 sets out a short statutory quit-claim deed form and states that the deed conveys the property but without covenants of any kind on the part of the grantor. Using the statutory form is not mandatory, but a deed in substance following it has full statutory effect and carries no warranty of title.
Ohio keeps dower, a spouse's life-estate interest in one third of real property the other spouse owned during the marriage (Ohio Rev. Code Section 2103.02). The statutory quit-claim form at Ohio Rev. Code Section 5302.11 includes a line for the grantor's spouse to release all rights of dower, so a married grantor commonly has the spouse sign to release that interest.
Frequently Asked Questions
A quitclaim deed is a deed that transfers whatever interest you have in Ohio real estate to someone else, without any warranty that the title is good. It is often typed as a quit claim deed. Ohio codifies a statutory quit-claim form at Ohio Rev. Code Section 5302.11, and that statute says the deed conveys but without covenants of any kind on the part of the grantor. It simply passes along the interest you hold, if any.
The difference is the promise about title. An Ohio warranty deed guarantees that the grantor owns the property and that the title is clear, and the grantee can sue on those covenants if that turns out to be false. A quitclaim deed makes no such promise. Ohio Rev. Code Section 5302.11 states in plain terms that the statutory quit-claim deed conveys without covenants of any kind on the part of the grantor, so the grantee takes only whatever interest the grantor actually holds.
Yes. Ohio Rev. Code Section 5301.01 requires the grantor to sign the deed and acknowledge that signature before a notary public or another authorized officer, such as a judge, county auditor, or mayor. Without that notarized acknowledgment the county recorder will not record the deed. Ohio no longer requires witnesses for a deed executed on or after February 1, 2002.
Ohio uses a two-office sequence. You first take the signed, notarized deed to the county auditor, where you file a statement of value (form DTE 100) and pay the conveyance fee, and the auditor endorses the deed as transferred (Ohio Rev. Code Sections 319.20 and 317.22). Only then do you record it with the county recorder of the county where the property is located (Ohio Rev. Code Section 5301.25).
You pay the county recorder's recording fee plus a conveyance fee collected by the county auditor. The mandatory statewide conveyance fee is $1.00 or 10 cents per $100 of value, whichever is greater (Ohio Rev. Code Section 319.54(G)(3)), and a county may add a permissive transfer tax of up to 30 cents per $100 (Ohio Rev. Code Section 322.02). Some transfers, such as certain gifts between spouses or parent and child, are exempt and use form DTE 100EX instead.
No. In Ohio the deed is stamped by the county auditor and then filed with the county recorder (Ohio Rev. Code Section 5301.25), which moves your ownership interest to the grantee but never reaches the lender's lien. The mortgage stays on the property and your name stays on the note, so you remain liable for the loan even after you quitclaim your interest away. Only the lender can release you, usually by refinancing or signing a release.
Yes, and it is common. One spouse can quitclaim their interest to the other to carry out a divorce settlement or to add or remove a spouse from title. Because Ohio keeps dower (Ohio Rev. Code Section 2103.02), the grantor's spouse often signs the dower-release line in the statutory form at Ohio Rev. Code Section 5302.11 to release that interest. A transfer between spouses can also be exempt from the conveyance fee under Ohio Rev. Code Section 319.54(G)(3).
No. Under Ohio Rev. Code Section 5302.11 the statutory quit-claim deed conveys without covenants of any kind, so you take only whatever interest the grantor actually holds and any existing liens or mortgages ride along untouched. It makes no promise the grantor even owned the property. Recording with the county recorder protects your interest against a later good-faith buyer who lacks notice (Ohio Rev. Code Section 5301.25), but only a title search and title insurance guard against hidden liens a quitclaim leaves in place.