The Baltimore City Bureau of Revenue Collections will launch the Simplifile electronic recording system beginning on 6/21/2021.

The new system significantly improves the paper-based process for transferring real property.  Customers will now be able to record electronically, or “e-record,” land record documents, providing greater convenience, accuracy, security, and reliability while saving time and other resources.  The current paper process involves transporting papers to and from several locations and can take weeks, while e-recording can be accomplished online in minutes.

E-recording is another essential step forward as Baltimore City strives to meet citizens’ needs for convenient, streamlined services, increased efficiency, and improved access. 

As we go live, we believe that approximately 90 percent of land record documents will be eligible for e-recording. The initial scope will include *Basic Simple Deeds, Deeds of Trust, Mortgages, Releases, and Certificates of Satisfaction. A list of exceptions is listed below.

 *Please be advised that if a Deed requires a Lien Certificate AND one or more of the following notations are included on the Lien Certificate, the Documents will not be eligible for

E-Recording. These exceptions are:

• HTC to be pro-rated (this applies to New Construction Credits and any other Credits that are NOT transferrable).

• Advance Billing – advises customer to call 410-396-6969 to see if there are any open charges. This applies to Alley & Footway and Miscellaneous Billing.

• Tax Sale Redemption – “Must Obtain Clearance from Tax Sale”

In addition, there will be certain Deed types that will not be eligible for E-Recording.

• Foreclosure Deeds- If the property received a Homestead Credit and it is a foreclosure deed, the document will not be eligible for e-recording. If the property did NOT receive a Homestead credit, then it will be eligible for e-recording.

• Deeds that are conveying more than three (3) properties.

• Deeds in which one or more properties are being transferred multiple times.

• Deeds that have a Consideration that exceeds 1 Million Dollars and require the Collection of Yield Tax.

• Deeds that are conveying a property that is not situated entirely in Baltimore City, i.e. part city/part county, allocations.

• Deeds for Partial Conveyances.

• Deeds that are adding or removing someone from title and is followed by a Refinance DOT

• Deeds that have a zero consideration between two unrelated businesses.

• Deeds that have a zero consideration (gift) with an open mortgage.

In General, deeds that have a zero consideration however will be taxed on another basis such as a new loan, an existing loan, an open mortgage or an assessed value will not be eligible for Simplifile.

Please note that for land record documents that are not eligible for E-Recording our office will continue to serve our stakeholders through the current paper-based process for transferring real property.

E-recording is not for use by individuals, but for entities that record large volumes of documents in the public record, such as law firms, title companies, settlement and closing service providers.

Documents that require a Lien Certificate:

The Customer will not be able to pay open liens through the Simplifile System.

Therefore, if a property is being transferred and there are open liens on the Lien Certificate, the customer must pay any and all open liens online at least 3-5 business days prior to submitting their documents through E-Recording. This requirement will allow time for the payments to post and reflect the account as paid in full so that when the Clerk reviews the documents they can be successfully transferred and not rejected for non-payment.

Questions

We are pleased to provide customers with an option that is convenient, accurate, and efficient, while continuing to accept paper documents when necessary.

Additional information about E-Recording is available at: www.simplifile.com