Washington County Recording Office
About the Washington County Recording Office
Washington County is the western half of the Portland metro area and, by a wide margin, the most populous county in this corner of Oregon — home to Intel's largest employee concentration (the heart of the region's "Silicon Forest"), Nike's world headquarters, and major operations for Tektronix and Columbia Sportswear. The county stretches from dense Beaverton and Hillsboro suburbs in the east to Coast Range foothills in the west, and it's unusual for how many residents live in large unincorporated communities — Aloha, Bethany, and Cedar Mill each have tens of thousands of people without being incorporated cities. With well over 600,000 residents, the Recording Office processes a high volume of filings, and it's the one Oregon county where a quitclaim deed can also trigger a separate local transfer tax (more on that below).
Cities and Communities Served
Recording jurisdiction runs countywide, not by city limits — if the property sits anywhere within Washington County, this is the office that will accept the deed. That includes:
Incorporated cities: Banks, Beaverton, Cornelius, Durham, Forest Grove, Gaston, Hillsboro (county seat), King City, North Plains, Rivergrove, Sherwood, Tigard, Tualatin, and Wilsonville.
Unincorporated communities: Aloha, Bethany, Cedar Hills, Cedar Mill, and Raleigh Hills/Garden Home — several of these are large, urbanized communities of tens of thousands of residents served by special districts rather than city government.
Rivergrove and Wilsonville both extend into neighboring Clackamas County; only the Washington County portion of each falls under this office's recording jurisdiction.
Washington County was historically Tualatin Kalapuya (Atfalati) territory prior to an 1855 treaty that relocated the tribe; descendants are enrolled today mainly with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde and the Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians. No reservation or trust land is located within present-day Washington County.
Office Details
Address: Charles D. Cameron Public Services Building, 155 N First Avenue, Room 130, Hillsboro, OR 97124
Phone: (503) 846-8752
Hours: Monday – Friday, 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM
Recording Fee: Oregon recording fees are set individually by each county and change periodically — check Washington County's current fee schedule or call the office to confirm the exact amount before filing.
Transfer Tax: Washington County is also the only Oregon county that still charges a local real estate transfer tax (grandfathered before the state banned new ones) — $1 per $1,000 of the sale price, separate from the recording fee above. Quitclaim deeds are specifically named as a taxable conveyance under the county's transfer-tax rules, so check with the Recording Office or your title company about whether an exemption applies before filing.
How to File a Document
- Prepare Your Document: Make sure your deed meets Oregon's formatting and content requirements before you file.
- Get It Notarized: Have the document signed in front of an Oregon notary public or other authorized official. No notary nearby in Hillsboro? Oregon allows remote online notarization — you can have your Washington County deed notarized online by an Oregon-commissioned notary instead.
- Meet Oregon's First-Page Requirements: Oregon law requires your deed's first page to show the title, grantor and grantee names, the true consideration, and an address for tax statements. If your document doesn't already include this, you'll need to attach a cover sheet, which adds $5 to the recording fee.
- Record It: You can file in person or by mail with the Washington County Recording Office.
- Pay the Recording Fee: Oregon recording fees are set individually by each county and change periodically — check the current fee schedule or call the office to confirm the exact amount before filing. Washington County also charges a separate local transfer tax on most conveyances, including quitclaim deeds.
- Keep Your Receipt: Your recorded document (or a certified copy) is your proof of filing.
Filing? Get a Deed the Washington County Recording Office Will Accept
FREE generic forms are the most common reason Oregon deeds get rejected — usually over formatting, the legal description, or notary acknowledgment.
Two ways to avoid that:
Both are Oregon-compliant and built for the Washington County Recording Office’s exact requirements.
Disclosure: affiliate links to Standard Legal, our partner — no extra cost to you.
You are not on the official Washington County government website. OregonQuitclaimDeed.com is a privately owned website and is not affiliated with any government agency.