New York Quitclaim Deed: Requirements, Recording and Transfer Tax

A New York quitclaim deed passes whatever estate and rights the grantor has in a property, with no covenants about the title, and Real Property Law section 258 prints statutory short forms for it. To be recorded it must be acknowledged before a notary or other officer (RPL 291), and it goes to the county clerk of the county where the land sits, together with Form TP-584 for the state transfer tax and, outside New York City, the RP-5217 transfer report. For other states, see our guide to quitclaim deed rules by state.

Information last verified on 2026-10-08. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This article covers New York law on quitclaim deeds: the statutory forms (RPL 258), acknowledgment and recording (RPL 290, 291, 292, 309-a, 333; CPLR 8021), the state real estate transfer tax and its exemptions (Tax Law 1402, 1402-a, 1402-b, 1405), Forms TP-584 and RP-5217, abolished dower (RPL 190), transfer-on-death deeds (RPL 424) and deed theft protections, with New York City items labeled as city-only. It does not cover title insurance, mortgage lender requirements, county clerk fee schedules or cover sheets beyond what is verified here, local assessment rules, federal gift or income tax, or the law of other states.

What a quitclaim deed does in New York

A quitclaim conveys only what the grantor actually holds. New York's statutory quitclaim form transfers the described premises "together with the appurtenances and all the estate and rights of the party of the first part in and to said premises." It contains no covenants, so the grantor makes no promise that the title is good or free of other claims.

A warranty deed, by contrast, carries those promises. For a side-by-side comparison, see quitclaim vs. warranty deeds. Quitclaims are commonly used between people who already know the title, such as spouses, family members or an owner moving property into a trust.

A quitclaim is recordable like any other deed. RPL 290 defines "conveyance" to include "every written instrument, by which any estate or interest in real property is created, transferred, mortgaged or assigned, or by which the title to any real property may be affected."

A deed transfers ownership; it does not rewrite the mortgage loan. Recording a quitclaim does not by itself release anyone from the loan, so ask the lender about a refinance or an assumption with a release before relying on the deed. Under federal mortgage servicing rules, a person who receives a home as a successor in interest is not personally liable for the mortgage debt unless they assume it under state law, but the lender keeps its security interest and its right to foreclose (12 CFR 1024.32(c)(1)).

Federal law also limits when a lender can call a home loan due because of a transfer. For a loan on residential property with fewer than five dwelling units, a lender may not enforce a due-on-sale clause over certain transfers, including one where the borrower's spouse or children become an owner, one under a divorce decree or separation agreement, and one into a living trust in which the borrower is and remains a beneficiary (12 U.S.C. 1701j-3(d)). The federal regulation adds occupancy conditions: for example, a spouse or child who becomes an owner must live or plan to live in the home, and a borrower who moves the home into a living trust must remain its occupant (12 CFR 191.5(b)). None of those exceptions changes who owes the loan, and a quitclaim outside that list can let the lender call the loan due, so check the loan documents and talk to the lender first.

New York's statutory quitclaim forms (RPL 258)

RPL 258 prints short forms for deeds and mortgages, including two quitclaim forms: Schedule G (Statutory Form D, individual) and Schedule H (Statutory Form DD, corporation). The statute says "the use of the following forms of instruments for the conveyance and mortgage of real property is lawful, but this section does not prevent or invalidate the use of other forms." In other words, the statutory form is optional.

The individual form's operative words are "does hereby remise, release, and quitclaim unto the party of the second part." The form recites the residences of the parties and a dollar consideration, and calls for a description of the premises.

We do not provide deed language to fill in. Rather than a state agency fill-in quitclaim form, the forms printed in RPL 258 are the official reference. A New York lawyer can prepare the deed, and the county clerk's office can answer recording questions but cannot give legal advice.

Execution and recording requirements

New York's rules for a recordable deed come mostly from RPL 291 and RPL 333. This checklist pulls them together.

RPL 291 lets a conveyance "on being duly acknowledged by the person executing the same, or proved as required by this chapter" be recorded in the county clerk's office. Within New York, the certificate of acknowledgment must substantially follow the RPL 309-a form, which states that the signer was "personally known to me or proved to me on the basis of satisfactory evidence."

Witnesses

RPL 258, 291 and 292 set no witness requirement for an ordinary deed. RPL 292 treats a subscribing witness as an alternative to acknowledgment: proof "can be made only by some other person, who was a witness of its execution, and at the same time subscribed his name to the conveyance as a witness." A transfer-on-death deed is different and does need two witnesses (see below).

Statements recording officers look for

RPL 333(1-a) bars the recording officer from recording a conveyance "unless the residence of the seller and of the purchaser, including the street and street number of the residence if any there be, shall be stated therein." RPL 333(1-d) requires deeds to state the city, town and village where the property is located. Under both subdivisions, leaving the information out does not invalidate the deed itself.

RPL 333(2) also bars recording a deed unless the deed and its certificate of acknowledgment are in English (proper names may be in another language if written in English letters), or unless they come with an attached English translation as that subdivision directs.

Preparer and formatting rules

The statutes cited here set no statewide preparer statement or statewide page-size, margin or font rules. RPL 333 as read sets none beyond the English-language rule, and county clerks set their own formatting and cover-sheet rules. Check your county clerk's recording page before you submit.

Does a spouse have to sign?

New York abolished dower. RPL 190 provides that after August 31, 1930, "no inchoate right of dower shall be possessed by a wife during coverture," so there is no statutory dower signature for a deed. Any other spousal-signature rule (for example, one arising during a divorce or from a court order) is outside this page. If you are married and the other spouse has or may claim an interest, ask a New York lawyer before signing.

Recording a quitclaim deed in New York

Outside New York City, the deed is recorded "in the office of the clerk of the county where such real property is situated" (RPL 291). In New York City, deeds for the four boroughs other than Staten Island are recorded with the City Register through ACRIS, the Automated City Register Information System, and Staten Island deeds go to the Richmond County Clerk. To search recorded deeds, see our guide to New York property records.

Why recording matters

New York's recording act is race-notice. RPL 291 says "every such conveyance not so recorded is void as against any person who subsequently purchases or acquires by exchange or contracts to purchase or acquire by exchange, the same real property or any portion thereof," where that later buyer acts in good faith, pays value, and records first. Recording promptly protects the new owner against that risk.

Recording fees

CPLR 8021(a)(4) sets the base county clerk fee at $5 plus $3 for each page or part of a page (a cover page counts as a page), plus 50 cents for each additional index. The same provision lets "any county" raise the fee by local law from $5 to $20 and the per-page charge from $3 to $5. CPLR 8021(a)(4)(b) adds two more fees on every recorded instrument, $5 and $15, so before any county increase the statutory charges come to $25 plus $3 per page (or $40 plus $5 per page in a county that has opted in). Because counties can opt in, check your county clerk's fee schedule rather than relying on the base figure.

The RP-5217 filing fee and any transfer tax are separate payments.

Form RP-5217 (outside New York City)

The RP-5217 Real Property Transfer Report is filed with the county clerk when a deed is recorded outside New York City. The Tax Department says "the filing fee is generally $125 for residential and farm properties and $250 for all other properties." New York City uses its own forms filed through ACRIS.

RPL 333 says a recording officer "shall not record or accept for recording any conveyance of real property affecting land in New York state unless accompanied by" either a receipt issued under Tax Law 1423(c) or the transfer report form with its fee. The report form is not kept with the recorded deed.

E-recording

RPL 291-i lets a digitized paper document or an electronic record satisfy a recording rule that requires an original, paper or written instrument. Whether a particular county clerk accepts electronic recording is a question for that office. In New York City, the Department of Finance says: "You must create the packet of RPTT forms Online using ACRIS."

Transfer tax on a quitclaim deed

New York's real estate transfer tax applies "on each conveyance of real property or interest therein when the consideration exceeds five hundred dollars, at the rate of two dollars for each five hundred dollars or fractional part thereof" (Tax Law 1402). That works out to 0.4% of consideration.

The grantor pays. The Tax Department explains: "The base tax and additional base tax are paid by the grantor (seller), and such tax shall not be paid directly or indirectly by the grantee (buyer) except as provided in a contract between seller and buyer." If the grantor fails to pay or is exempt, the grantee must pay.

Consideration includes the amount of any mortgage or lien. For one-to-three-family houses, individual residential condominium units and conveyances under $500,000, the value of a lien that remains on the property is excluded.

Higher-value and New York City taxes

The NYC transfer tax applies to transfers of more than $25,000. Whether the city tax reaches a gift deed with no consideration is a question for the Department of Finance, so ask before relying on an exemption.

Some places outside New York City add their own transfer tax. Tax Law article 31-D, for example, authorizes the five towns of the Peconic Bay region in eastern Suffolk County (East Hampton, Riverhead, Shelter Island, Southampton and Southold) to adopt, subject to a referendum, a town tax of 2% of the consideration on conveyances over $500, paid at the same time as the state transfer tax, and a supplemental tax of one half of one percent. Ask the county clerk whether a local transfer tax applies where the property sits.

Exemptions that fit common quitclaims

Tax Law 1405 exempts several kinds of conveyances that often use quitclaims:

• Gifts: "Conveyances of real property without consideration and otherwise than in connection with a sale, including conveyances conveying realty as bona fide gifts."
• Corrective deeds: "Conveyances which, without additional consideration, confirm, correct, modify or supplement a prior conveyance."
• Change of form only: "Conveyances to effectuate a mere change of identity or form of ownership or organization where there is no change in beneficial ownership." A transfer into your own trust may fit here; this exemption is claimed with Form TP-584.1, Schedule F.

Divorce transfers

There is no blanket divorce exemption in Tax Law 1405. The TP-584 instructions say a spouse-to-spouse conveyance "pursuant to the terms of a divorce or separation agreement may be subject to transfer tax," and that "there is a rebuttable presumption in such situation that the consideration for the conveyance, which includes the relinquishment of marital rights, is equal to the fair market value of the interest in the real property conveyed." For the wider divorce process, see our guide to New York divorce laws.

Form TP-584

Form TP-584 is the Combined Real Estate Transfer Tax Return, Credit Line Mortgage Certificate, and Certification of Exemption from the Payment of Estimated Personal Income Tax (current edition 6/25). It is filed with the county clerk no later than the 15th day after the deed is delivered. Part 3, box d is where a gift with no consideration claims its exemption.

When an individual, estate or trust transfers a fee simple interest, the grantor also completes Schedule D of Form TP-584. A New York resident signs its residency certification. A grantor who does not live in New York either certifies one of its exemptions (for example, that the property qualifies in total as the grantor's principal residence) or completes Form IT-2663, Nonresident Real Property Estimated Income Tax Payment Form, which the instructions say is presented to the recording officer, with any estimated tax due, when the deed is presented for recording (Tax Law 663).

In New York City, file Form TP-584-NYC for the state tax and the NYC-RPT return through ACRIS for the city tax.

Property tax effects

This page does not address whether a transfer triggers a reassessment in New York; ask your local assessor. Ask your local assessor how a transfer affects your property's assessment and exemptions.

For the STAR school tax program, the Tax Department says: "if your property has an ownership change due to marriage, divorce, surrender of interest by a co-owner, survivorship, trust, life estate, or name change, you should update your registration." If a quitclaim changes ownership in one of those ways, update your registration. A new owner who makes the home a primary residence registers for the STAR credit, according to the Tax Department.

Deed theft protections

• Owner notice (statewide): when a conveyance of residential real property is recorded, RPL 291 requires the county clerk or city registrar to mail a written notice of the conveyance to the owner of record.
• 2023 deed theft law: Chapter 630 of 2023 (S6577, signed November 14, 2023) "provides certain protections for victims of real property theft" and "authorizes a stay of foreclosure proceedings pending an investigation into theft or fraud." It also creates a rebuttable presumption after a deed-theft conviction.
• New York City only: the City Register's Notice of Recorded Document program "will automatically mail you a notification when a new document is recorded against your property." The city tells owners to report deed fraud to the Sheriff's Office at (718) 707-2100 and to the district attorney.

Pending bills (not law)

A9172 and S9731, the proposed "homeowner fraud protection and property alert act," would add RPL 316-c and create a statewide recording alert. As of the legislature pages checked on 2026-10-08, A9172 was "In Assembly Committee" (referred to Ways and Means on May 20, 2026) and S9731 was in the Senate Judiciary Committee. Neither is law.

Transfer-on-death deeds

New York allows a transfer-on-death deed under RPL 424: "An individual may transfer property to one or more beneficiaries effective at the transferor's death by a transfer on death deed." The deed is revocable and nontestamentary and needs no consideration or delivery. It must state that the transfer occurs at death, be signed by two witnesses present at the same time, be acknowledged before a notary, and be recorded in the county clerk's office before the owner dies.

Unlike a quitclaim, a transfer-on-death deed does not move ownership during the owner's life. For what happens to property at death, see our guide to New York probate.

Common myths

"A gift deed has no paperwork." A gift with no consideration is exempt from the state transfer tax, but the exemption is claimed on Form TP-584, and RPL 333 still requires the transfer documents to accompany the deed for recording.

"Divorce transfers are always tax-free." The Tax Department treats a spouse-to-spouse conveyance under a divorce or separation agreement as possibly taxable, with a presumption that consideration equals fair market value.

"A quitclaim takes me off the mortgage." A deed changes who owns the property, not who owes the loan. Talk to the lender about the loan itself.

Related

• Quitclaim deed rules by state
• New York property records
• Quitclaim vs. warranty deeds
• New York divorce laws
• New York probate

This article provides general legal information about New York law on quitclaim deeds, verified on 2026-10-08. It is not legal or tax advice. For your situation, contact your county clerk (or, in New York City, the City Register), who cannot give legal advice, a legal aid office, or a lawyer licensed in New York.

Last updated: 2026-10-08.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I file a quitclaim deed in New York?

After the grantor signs and acknowledges the deed before a notary (RPL 291), record it with the county clerk where the property is located, with Form TP-584 (and, for a grantor who does not live in New York, either a Schedule D exemption or Form IT-2663) and, outside New York City, Form RP-5217 and its fee. In four New York City boroughs you record with the City Register through ACRIS; Staten Island deeds go to the Richmond County Clerk.

Does a quitclaim deed need to be notarized in New York?

To be recorded, yes. RPL 291 requires the deed to be duly acknowledged by the person who signed it, or proved by a subscribing witness, and an acknowledgment taken in New York uses the RPL 309-a certificate form.

Does a New York quitclaim deed need witnesses?

RPL 258, 291 and 292 set no witness requirement for an ordinary deed; a subscribing witness is an alternative way to prove the deed for recording. A transfer-on-death deed under RPL 424 does need two witnesses.

How much does it cost to record a quitclaim deed in New York?

CPLR 8021 sets a base fee of $5 plus $3 per page and 50 cents per additional index, plus statewide add-on fees of $5 and $15 per instrument, and any county may raise the base fee to $20 and the page fee to $5, so check your county clerk. The RP-5217 filing fee outside New York City is generally $125 for residential and farm property and $250 for other property.

Do you pay transfer tax on a quitclaim deed in New York?

Only if there is taxable consideration over $500. The state tax is $2 per $500 of consideration (Tax Law 1402), paid by the grantor; bona fide gifts without consideration and corrective deeds are exempt under Tax Law 1405, but you still file Form TP-584 to claim the exemption.

Is a quitclaim deed between divorcing spouses tax-exempt in New York?

Not automatically. The TP-584 instructions say a spouse-to-spouse conveyance under a divorce or separation agreement may be subject to transfer tax, with a rebuttable presumption that consideration equals fair market value.

Do I need to update STAR after a quitclaim deed in New York?

The Tax Department says to update your STAR registration if ownership changes because of marriage, divorce, surrender of interest by a co-owner, survivorship, trust, life estate or name change. A new owner who makes the home a primary residence registers for the STAR credit.

Does a quitclaim deed remove me from the mortgage?

No deed rewrites a loan by itself. A quitclaim changes who owns the property; whether you stay responsible on the loan depends on the loan documents and the lender, so ask the lender before you sign. A transfer outside the federal list in 12 U.S.C. 1701j-3(d) can also let the lender call the loan due.