Information About Recording Documents in Arizona

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Recording Docs in AZ

Information About Recording Documents in Arizona

by Richard Keyt, Arizona Real Estate Attorney

What you do not know about recording documents in Arizona can hurt you. The purpose of this article is to help people learn about Arizona statutes and other issues that can affect documents recorded with Arizona County Recorders.

If you are not familiar with Arizona laws applicable to recording documents with Arizona county recorders, you need to read and heed this article that explains the finer points applicable to recording documents in Arizona.

Arizona Statutes that Govern Recording Documents with AZ County Recorders

ARS §11-480 Requirements for Form of Instruments: All documents offered to an Arizona county recorder for recording must satisfy the requirements of this statute or recording will be denied. The law limits the size of paper, margins, font size and provides other rules applicable to documents to be recorded.
Arizona Revised Statutes Section 11-1133. Affidavit of Legal Value: All deeds recorded in Arizona must be recorded simultaneously with an Affidavit of Property Value or the deed must contain language that the deed is exempt under ARS Section 11-1134 from the Affidavit of Property Value requirement. DO NOT TRY TO RECORD A DEED IN ARIZONA WITHOUT FIRST READING THIS ARTICLE.
Arizona Revised Statutes Section 11-1134. Exemptions: If your deed is of a type of deed listed is subsection 11-1134.A or if the transaction is of a type listed in subsection 11-1134.B, the deed can be recorded without an Affidavit of Legal Value. The deed must contain language stating that the deed is exempt from the requirements of Section 11-1133 and the specific exemption in Section 11-1134 that applies to the deed or the transaction.
Affidavit of Property Value: This is the pdf fillable version of the Affidavit of Property Value, aka Affidavit of Legal Value, authorized by the Arizona Department of Revenue. If Section 11-1134 does not apply, then your deed must be recorded simultaneously with this document.
Arizona County Recorder Contacts & Information: This list of all 13 Arizona county recorders includes names of the recorders, office addresses, and other information provided by the county recorders.

Arizona Statutes that Affect People Who Record or Fail to Record Documents

Arizona Revised Statutes Section 33-411.01: A transferor of an interest in Arizona real property must record the document evidencing the transfer within 60 days of the transfer or the transferor is liable for harm suffered by the transferee.
Arizona Revised Statutes Section 33-420: A person who records a false document can be liable to the owner of affected real property for five thousand dollars or for treble the actual damages caused by the recording, whichever is greater, and reasonable attorney fees and costs of the action.
Arizona Revised Statutes Section 33-457: It is a felony for a married person to misrepresent that he or she can sell or encumber Arizona real property without the consent of the spouse when the consent is necessary.

About KEYTLaw.com

KEYTLaw.com and information about Arizona real estate matters are provided as a public service by Richard Keyt, a residential and commercial real estate attorney licensed to practice law in Arizona. Rick's telephone numbers are 602-906-4953, ext. 3 (voice) & 602-297-6890 (fax), and his email address is rickkeyt@keytlaw.com. Rick does not accept matters involving landlord / tenant disputes or litigation of any kind (other than tax lien foreclosures). Communicating with Richard Keyt via email or otherwise does not cause you to become a client or cause your communications to be confidential or subject to the attorney client privilege.

This page was last modified on December 12, 2009.

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