Search Marquette County Deed Records
Marquette County deed records are maintained by the Register of Deeds office in Marquette, Michigan, the largest county by land area in the Lower 48 states outside of Alaska. The office holds land records dating back to the 1800s and offers online access to index data and document images for searches going back well over a century. This guide covers how to search, how to record, and what you will find in the Marquette County deed records system.
Marquette County Deed Records
Marquette County Register of Deeds Office
The Marquette County Register of Deeds is at 234 W. Baraga Avenue, Marquette, MI 49855. Phone is 906-225-8415. Fax is 906-225-8420. Office hours are Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM. The office is the official custodian of all real property instruments in the county and operates under a mission of timely, secure, and accurate recording.
Every deed, mortgage, lien, easement, and related document must be recorded here to be legally effective against third parties in Marquette County. Marquette County follows Michigan's race-notice recording statute, which means the first party to record in good faith and without prior notice of a competing claim wins a priority dispute. This makes prompt recording critically important after any real property transaction.
The Marquette County Register of Deeds page has full details on services, fees, and office procedures. The screenshot below shows the department's website.
Bookmark this page if you regularly search or record documents in Marquette County. It is the most current source for office policies and contact information.
How to Search Marquette County Deed Records
Marquette County provides an online database with both index records and document images. This means you can not only find out who owns a parcel but also pull up and view the actual recorded deed or mortgage without visiting the office. The database is one of the more complete online systems among Upper Peninsula counties.
To search, you typically need a grantor or grantee name, a parcel identification number, or a legal description. For property ownership searches, the grantee index shows who received title. For title chains, the grantor index shows who transferred it. Going back and forth between those two indexes lets you trace ownership across multiple transactions.
Records date back to the 1800s, so historical title research is possible through the online system or in person at the office. For very old records, physical deed books may be the primary source, and staff can help locate the right volume. The Michigan Treasury ROD directory also lists Marquette County and can help you find contact information if you need to reach other Upper Peninsula offices.
Recording Deed Records in Marquette County
The recording fee in Marquette County is $30 per document under MCL 600.2657. This is a flat fee that applies to deeds, mortgages, discharges, assignments, liens, and virtually all other recorded instruments. Copies of recorded pages cost $1.00 per page. Certified copies require an additional $5.00 certification fee beyond the per-page charge.
Documents must meet the formatting requirements under MCL 565.201. These requirements cover first-page layout, margin sizes, font legibility, and paper weight. A document that does not meet these standards may be rejected or assessed a non-standard document fee. If you are preparing a deed yourself, review the statute before you finalize the document or ask the office to confirm it qualifies.
You can submit documents in person at the Baraga Avenue office, mail them with a check payable to the Marquette County Register of Deeds, or use e-recording if your firm is set up with an approved vendor. The recorded original is returned to the address on the document's cover sheet.
Transfer Tax on Marquette County Deed Records
Real estate transfers in Marquette County carry both a state and a county transfer tax. The state portion is $3.75 per $500 of value under MCL 207.521. The county adds $0.55 per $500 under MCL 207.501. Together the total is $8.60 per $1,000 of sale price.
Transfer tax is typically paid by the seller at closing, though the parties can agree to split it or shift it to the buyer. Certain transfers are exempt, including transfers between spouses, gifts with no consideration, and some trust transfers where the beneficial owner does not change. A transfer tax valuation affidavit must accompany every deed at recording so the Register of Deeds and the local assessor can verify the correct amount was paid.
When a Marquette County property sells, its taxable value resets to the state equalized value in the following year under MCL 211.27a. Buyers should check the current SEV and factor in the potential tax increase before closing.
Types of Deed Records in Marquette County
The Marquette County Register of Deeds holds a wide range of property instruments. Warranty deeds and quitclaim deeds are filed most often. You will also find recorded mortgages, discharge of mortgage documents, assignments of mortgage, land contracts, easements, and judgment liens.
Other instruments include condominium master deeds, plat maps, restrictive covenants, and affidavits of survivorship. The affidavit of survivorship is used when a joint tenant dies and the surviving owner wants to clear title without probate. They file the affidavit along with a certified copy of the death certificate. This creates a clean public record of the ownership change. Given Marquette County's large land area, you will also find mining claims, mineral rights instruments, and easements for utility corridors in the records.
The Michigan Treasury explains transfer tax rules for easements on its easement conveyances page, which is relevant for the many easements filed across this large Upper Peninsula county.
Electronic Recording in Marquette County
Marquette County accepts electronically recorded documents. Michigan's Uniform Real Property Electronic Recording Act (MURPERA), codified at MCL 565.841, gives counties the authority to accept e-recorded documents in place of physical submissions.
E-recording is available through approved vendors. Major platforms used in Michigan include Simplifile (1-800-460-5657), ePN, CSC, and Indecomm. These vendors charge their own fees on top of the county's $30 recording fee. If your law firm or title company handles volume work in the Upper Peninsula, e-recording is significantly faster than mailing documents or driving to Marquette.
Historical Deed Records in Marquette County
Marquette County's deed records go back to the 1800s, reflecting its long history tied to iron ore mining and the development of the Upper Peninsula. Early records captured transfers from the federal government to private owners, mining company acquisitions, and the subdivision of large tracts for farming and settlement.
These old records are valuable for title research, genealogy, and historical studies. Some early instruments may exist only in physical deed books at the office. Staff can help you locate records by volume and page number when you have a legal description or a rough date range. For researchers working on long historical chains, plan on spending time with the physical records or requesting a title searcher to handle the work.
Delinquent tax records from the state can supplement historical deed research when ownership gaps appear in the title chain.
Nearby Counties
Marquette County borders several other Upper Peninsula counties, each with a Register of Deeds office for property records in that area.