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The County Auditor is responsible for transferring deeds that are presented to them. Each deed must be reviewed after it is prepared to make sure the grantor (seller) is the same one as is listed on the tax duplicate kept in the office. In addition the County Auditor’s office must examine the deed for proper form by following deed standards that were adopted January 1997. The steps for the transfer of a parcel of land include the following. The Defiance County Engineer’s Office must review the legal description and locate the parcel on the tax maps. They are required to place their approval on each parcel of land, which is done with a stamp that includes the date of approval and the signature of the person that reviewed the description. The Auditor’s office will not transfer any deed that does not have a stamp on it. In certain instances the Defiance County Planning Commission must also approve splits or subdivisions of less than 5 acres or with a residue of less than 5 acres.
Each deed must have an accompanying conveyance form. In land transactions that involve a consideration of money, a conveyance fee of $3.00 per $1000 must be paid at the time of transfer. Certain conditions apply that may cause a deed to be exempt from this conveyance fee. On any deed that requires a transfer of any interest, whether exempt or with a conveyance fee, a $0.50 transfer fee per parcel number is required. Any land split must be figured for tax purposes in the Real Estate Assessors division of the Auditor’s office after approval by the Engineer’s office. The purpose is to make sure that factors such as whether there are buildings being transferred or whether there is CAUV recoupment charges that may apply to the land (among others) are taken into consideration. The Auditor’s office must review the deed and the tax duplicate to be sure that the legal descriptions on each match. When the Auditor’s office is satisfied that all information is correct on the deed, it is stamped stating the fee has been collected and how many parcels have been transferred. The deed is then ready to be recorded in the Recorder’s office where it becomes the official record.