CLERK OF COURT & COMPTROLLER
HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, FLORIDA
The Clerk of Court Recording Department records, indexes, and archives all documents that create the Official Records of Hillsborough County. Approximately 25 million documents have been recorded in the Official Records since 1846 and 2,000 new documents are recorded each day. In addition to recording documents, the Recording Department collects money for documentary stamp taxes, intangible taxes, recording fees, and other miscellaneous fees.
Attention Official Records Customers -- REVISED DATES: The Hillsborough County Clerk of Court & Comptroller will replace its Official Records recording system on Monday, December 16, 2019. The new recording system will no longer assign book and page numbers. Only the instrument number will be used, with the exception of plats. From Tuesday, December 10th through Friday, December 13th, any documents that require immediate recording must be submitted in person at one of our offices. Electronic recording will resume on Monday, December 16, 2019.
ERecording, or electronic recording, is the process of recording documents with the Hillsborough County Clerk of Court's Recording Office via the internet. This process would otherwise require documents be submitted by express mail, courier service or personal visit.
If you are an eRecording vendor that would like to begin eRecording with Hillsborough County Clerk, please contact our office.
If you wish to begin sending your recordable documents electronically to Hillsborough County, please contact one of the following eRecord Vendors:
CSC Corporation Service Company |
e-Doc Solutions |
eRecordings Partners Network |
Indecomm Global Services |
Simplifile |
The Official Records Library provides access to recorded documents that are microfilmed and/or electronically imaged. The earliest records available date back to 1836. Official Records Library staff will provide instructions regarding the research of these older documents. Copies of all documents are available upon payment of the statutory fee. Records Library staff also search records and prepare Clerk's Certificates on a fee basis.
The following documents cannot be displayed on publicly available Internet websites, pursuant to Florida Statute 28.2221:
To serve those entities that require access to the information limited by law, the Hillsborough County Clerk of the Circuit Court is offering a new web subscription service. For an annual usage fee, you will be given access to a secure, password-protected website with all Official Records document images recorded since January 4, 1965. Through this service, you will be provided the same information that is available on the public workstations in Official Records.
Annual payments of $100 must be paid in full on or before January 1 of each calendar year. If service begins on or after July 1, fees for the remainder of the calendar year are $50 per subscriber. If you subscribe on or after November 1, you must pay the annual fees for the following calendar year prior to the initiation of service; however, no fees will be charged for the balance of the calendar year. Prices are subject to change and fees are nonrefundable, except as noted in the Termination of Services section below.
The Clerk will attempt to provide continuous operation of the subscription website, except during periods of routine maintenance or under unusual circumstances such as "brownouts," emergency production requirements mandated by law, computer intrusions, adverse operational impacts, or other unforeseen events. Most routine maintenance will be scheduled between 5 p.m. and 8 a.m. or during weekends or holidays.
Microsoft Internet Explorer Version 5.0 or higher is recommended to view the subscription website. To view images in PDF format, you must use Adobe Acrobat Reader Version 5.0 or higher. This program can be downloaded for free from the Adobe website. The Official Records Public Search application is not compatible with Netscape browsers at this time.
Access to the subscription service will be provided through the Clerk of the Circuit Court Internet website. Customers are responsible for maintaining and repairing their own equipment and for connectivity to the subscription website through their Internet Service Provider (ISP). The Clerk may modify the categories, classifications, format, or appearance of the data on the subscription site without prior notification; however, updates will generally be made to conform to changes in Florida law or to improve service to the subscriber.
Upon execution of the agreement, the Clerk will provide limited customer service through e-mail. Requests for assistance on specific problems or questions about the subscription website should be e-mailed to oriweb@hillsclerk.com. Email assistance will be available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., excluding holidays. The Clerk does not guarantee results or imply that all errors or problems will be corrected.
The customer will ensure that unauthorized users do not access the subscription website and that the information gathered from the site is not made available for commercial resale or represented as the official government record. Failure to do so can result in immediate termination of the agreement and/or legal action.
The subscription may be terminated without cause by either party with fifteen (15) days written notice to the other party. The Clerk may immediately terminate this agreement with no prior notice to the subscriber if the subscriber fails to comply with the terms of this agreement.
The subscription agreement may be terminated immediately if the Clerk fails to receive appropriate and continued funding from the customer for the subscription service. The Clerk will notify the customer by fax or telephone and follow up with written confirmation. The Clerk may immediately terminate the agreement without notice in order to protect the contents the Official Records from unauthorized remote access, alteration, or if the security of the website has been breached.
The Clerk may issue full or partial refunds of subscription fees if the termination is not the result of an act of noncompliance by the subscriber.
To subscribe to the Official Records web-subscription service, begin by clicking here to download a copy of the Subscription Agreement for Electronic Access to Official Records. Mail the completed, notarized, agreement with your check made payable to the Clerk of the Circuit Court to the following address:
Clerk of the Circuit Court
CCC Accounting Department
P.O. Box 1110
Tampa, FL 33601
Redaction of Confidential Information From Images in the Official Records Under Section 119.071 of the Florida Statutes.
Section 119.071(4) of the Florida Statutes states that individuals in certain professions, as well as their spouses and/or children, may request the Clerk of Court to remove personal information such as a home address and telephone number that may be included on documents in the Official Records such as mortgages and deeds.
The Confidentiality Request Form is available online or in the Official Records department.
As provided under Florida Law, no county recorder or clerk of the court may place an image or copy of a public record, including an official record, on a publicly available Internet website for general public display if that image or copy is of a military discharge; death certificate; or a court file, record, or paper relating to matters or cases governed by the Florida Rules of Family Law, the Florida Rules of Juvenile Procedure, or the Florida Probate Rules.
Any records specified in this subsection made available by the county recorder or clerk of the court on a publicly available Internet website for general public display prior to June 5, 2002, must be removed if the affected party identifies the record and requests that it be removed. Such request must be in writing and delivered by mail, facsimile, or electronic transmission, or in person to the county recorder or clerk of the court. The request must specify the identification page number of the document to be removed. No fee may be charged for the removal of a document pursuant to such request.
The Internet Image Removal Request Form is available online or in the Official Records department.
Any person who prepares or files a document to be recorded in the official records by the county recorder as provided under Florida law, may not include a person's social security number or complete bank account, debit, charge, or credit card number in that document unless otherwise expressly required by law. Until January 1, 2007, if a social security number or a complete bank account, debit, charge or credit card number is or has been included in a document presented to the county recorder for recording in the official records of the county, such number may be made available as part of the official record available for public inspection and copying. Any person, or his or her attorney or legal guardian, may request that a county recorder remove from an image or copy of an official record placed on a county recorder's publicly available Internet website, or a publicly available Internet website used by a county recorder to display public records outside the office or otherwise made electronically available outside the county recorder's office to the general public, his or her social security number or complete bank account, debit, charge, or credit card number contained in that official record. Such request must be legibly written, signed by the requester, and delivered by mail, facsimile, electronic transmission, or in person to the county recorder. The request must specify the identification page number of the document that contains the number to be redacted. The county recorder does not have a duty to inquire beyond the written request to verify the identity of a person requesting redaction. A fee may not be charged for redacting such numbers.
The Private Numbers Internet Redaction Form is available online or in our office.
Forms and requirements are not available for download on the Clerk's website; however, forms can usually be purchased from office supply stores or downloaded from other websites. Legal advice cannot be provided by the Clerk's staff, nor can they help prepare legal forms. The public is encouraged to consult with an attorney or legal advisor to ensure that the correct form is used for their situation and that the recording criteria as outlined in Florida Statutes, Section 695.26 is followed. You can find a Florida real property attorney by contacting the Florida Bar Association.
To correct, add or remove a name from a deed, it is recommended that a real property attorney or a legal advisor be consulted.
To find out about recording fees for deeds, use our online Deed Calculator tool.
How do I obtain a deed to my property once I have received the lien satisfaction from my mortgage company? You should have received your deed at the time that you purchased your property. Once you have paid the mortgage in full, your mortgage holder will prepare and record a Satisfaction or Release of Mortgage with the Clerk’s Office. Once this document has been recorded with the Clerk, your mortgage holder is responsible for mailing the original document to you. If you have lost or misplaced your deed, you can purchase a certified copy from our office.
Mail. P.O. Box 3249 Tampa, FL 33601-3249 |
Email: Contact us |
Phone: (813) 276-8100 |
In person: Downtown Tampa, Brandon, Plant City, Ruskin (Southshore). See wait times. |
Document types include, but are not limited to, the following as delineated in Florida Statute 28.222.
Check the following before submitting documents to be recorded:
Foreign judgment requirements can be found in Florida statutes 55.501-509. To record a foreign judgment with the Clerk, you must provide:
Besides the Official Records Books which contain land records, here are examples of other recorded documents:
The Official Records Index from 1965 to the present is available online. If you do not require a certified copy, search the Official Records online.
You may request copies in person, by mail, or by calling (813) 276-8100, ext. 7805 to order using a credit card.
When mailing a request, include the name(s) and years to be searched and the legal description, if real estate is involved.
There is a charge of $2 for each year searched; $1 per page for copies of the document being requested; and $2 for certifying the document.
Website Security Changes
Beginning February 1, 2019, Hillsborough County Clerk websites will no longer support TLS versions 1.0 and 1.1. Only TLS version 1.2 will be supported. If you are using unsupported web browsers, old versions of the browsers or have not enabled your browser to use TLS 1.2 to connect to our records search websites after this date, you will begin receiving error messages.
Why are we disabling TLS 1.0 and 1.1?
We are disabling them to ensure that our websites are providing our customers and partners with safe and secure protocols for these connections. This change is enforced throughout the industry to maintain secure connections that encrypt and protect data from malicious data breaches.
Supported Browsers
Most of the latest versions of standard browsers will support TLS 1.2 by default. If you are unsure about whether your browser will support it, you can verify this by using the following website: https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/viewMyClient.html
Contact the State Health Department online or by calling (813) 307-8002.
The State Office of Vital Statistics also has marriage and divorce records for the entire state, and can be reached at (904) 359-6900.
Certified copies of birth certificates for Florida-born citizens are also available at the Tax Collector's Office.