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Deeds, easements, mortgages, and other instruments pertaining to real property located in Sumter County can be recorded with the Register of Deeds. An instrument needs to be recorded in order to be valid as to subsequent purchasers.
South Carolina has a notice recording act. A later buyer who pays fair value for the property and does not have notice that there were any other earlier conflicting interests, wins and will have priority over any later recordings.
Recording Fees
Deed: $15 + deed tax (see below)
Agreement, Amendment, some Assignments, Contract, Declaration, Dissolution, Easement, Lease, Mortgage, Restrictive Covenant, UCC Document, Waiver: $25
Affidavit, Article, some Assignments, Mechanics Lien, Release: $10
Unless the document is exempt, both state and county taxes are due upon recording. State documentary stamps are $1.30 per $500, and county documentary stamps are $0.55 per $500, rounding up the per $500 to the nearest whole number. Consult the deed stamps table under supplemental forms for specific amounts.
Exempt affidavits are required on deeds with no consideration.
Contact the Sumter County Register of Deeds directly if you have questions about recording fees or transfer taxes.
Document Formatting Requirements
* Before a deed can be recorded, it must be signed and acknowledged by the grantor in the presence of two witnesses. Signatures will be checked against the typed name.
* Originals, not photocopies, should be submitted for recording.
* White paper, size 8.5x11 inches should be used. Black ink and a font size of at least 12 point is required for legibility requirements.
* The legal description of the real property must have a plat book and page reference, or a metes and bounds description.
* A tax number (parcel or PIN) is required for deeds. This does not need to be included in a mortgage.
* Before a deed can be recorded, it must be endorsed by the county auditor that it has been entered of record.
* All deeds conveying an interest in land and all mortgages of real estate must include a derivation clause in the property description. When the title was acquired by deed, the derivation clause must include the name of the grantor and the recording date of that deed. When the deed of derivation has been simultaneously executed and delivered and has not been recorded, it is sufficient to set forth in the deed the name of the grantor of the deed of derivation, its date, and that it is to be recorded. When the title was obtained by inheritance or devise, the derivation clause must include the name of the person from whom the title was acquired, the approximate date of acquisition, and in the case of property acquired under a probated will or administered estate, the probate court in which such estate was filed.