Mortgages should be recorded in the Office of the County Clerk of the county in which the real property being mortgaged is located. When recording a mortgage, it is your lender's responsibility to take the proper steps to ensure that the document meets all of the legal requirements for recording. Please be sure to consult an attorney if necessary.
Submitting your mortgage to be recorded using PREP
In order to record a mortgage in the Office of the Westchester County Clerk, your mortgage must be accompanied by:
- A Recording and Endorsement Cover Page created on the PREP System; and
- A Payment Cover Page created on the PREP System and the proper recording fees and tax payments.
Mortgage tax
For the most current tax information please visit the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance website. Mortgage tax can be computed by calculating 1.3% of the mortgage amount less $30.00 for one or two family dwellings when indicated in the mortgage. For Yonkers properties, mortgage tax can be computed by calculating 1.8% of the mortgage amount less $30.00 for one or two family dwellings when indicated in the mortgage. For mortgages of $10,000 or less on one or two family dwellings, the tax rate is 1% except in Yonkers where the tax rate is 1.5%. In calculating the tax, amounts of $50.00 or below can be rounded down to the lower hundred and amounts of $50.01 should be rounded up to the next hundred.
Returning your mortgage
Once a mortgage has been accepted for recording, it is digitally scanned for easy retrieval and to safeguard the document. After scanning and digitally archiving the mortgage, the original will be returned to the address that appears in the Record and Return Box on the cover page. If you need a certified copy of the mortgage quickly, you should order a certified copy at the time the document is submitted for recording.
Questions? Call us at (914) 995-3094, (914) 995-3095, or email