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Background Information
The Land Records Branch of the Fairfax Circuit
Court is located on the third floor of the Judicial Center
at 4110 Chain Bridge Road in Fairfax. The Branch records documents
from property transactions in Fairfax County and the City
of Fairfax. Customers submit over-the-counter land documents
(separated into batches of no more than 20 sets) for recording
from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. The recording line closes at 4 p.m.
and all remaining batches of documents that have not been
recorded, are returned to the customer. Over-the-counter documents
cannot be left overnight and customers must be present when
their documents are being recorded in case any questions arise.
All documents must include the Fairfax Land Records' cover
sheet. The Branch is open to the public for research from
8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday, and is designed
for the public to do its own research. For Land Records questions,
call (703) 691-7320 and press 3 and then 4.
The mailing address for the Land Records
Branch is:
Fairfax
Circuit Court
4110 Chain Bridge Road
Fairfax, VA 22030
Attention: Land Records
All Documents presented
for recordation at the Land Records Branch must be signed
and original notarized documents.
Forms for Certificates of Satisfaction, Certificates of Partial
Satisfaction, Certificates of Transfer, Memoranda for Mechanic's
Lien, Releases of Mechanics' Lien, Authorization for Partial
or Full Release of Judgment Lien and Releases of Lis Pendens
are available at the Land Records Office and some may be downloaded
from the link to the Virginia Judicial System Web site below.
Real property transactions
involving property located within the City of Falls Church
must be recorded with the Arlington County Circuit Court.
Land Records Research
Land records are public documents and individuals
who need information must do their own research. Clerks are
available to aid you with your research, but they cannot do
it for you. For assistance with extensive land record's research,
you should consider hiring a local title company or an attorney
familiar with Land Records.
The Land Records' documents have all been
converted from microfilm and books into digital images. These
images may be retrieved and researched at public computer
terminals in the Research Room or via the web by subscription
to the Court's Public Access Network (CPAN) (see below for
subscription information). The Research Room is open to the
public from 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.
Documents from 1742 to the present are available for retrieval
and deed books prior to 1945 are maintained in Historical Records
located in Room 315 of the Judicial Center.
The Land Records
Branch of the Circuit Court does not record nor maintain information
regarding the assessed value of real estate. Real estate information
is available via the Internet at http://icare.fairfaxcounty.gov/Main/Home.aspx
or subscription to CPAN. Any questions regarding real property
taxes, assessments, or property owner, should be directed
to the Department of Tax Administration, Real Estate Division
at 703-222-8234 or www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dta
Land Records Forms Available for Download
You may download the forms below from the
Virginia Judicial System Web site:
Certificate of Extension of Deed of Trust - Form CC-1525
Obtaining Copies of Land Records
To order copies of deeds and other land
records, you must know the instrument number or deed book
and page number reference of the document. You may obtain
the deed book and page number reference by searching the land
records in the Research Room or through a subscription to
CPAN. Subscribers to CPAN are able to make non-certified copies
from their own computer.
The Copy Center is open from 8 a.m. to
4 p.m., Monday through Friday. If you already know the instrument
number or deed book and page number reference, you may mail
a request for a copy of the document(s) to the Fairfax Circuit
Court at the address listed above, Attention: Land Records
Copy Center. Include a self-addressed, stamped envelope of
sufficient size with your request for return of the documents.
Fees for ordering copies are:
$ .50 per page
$2.00 per certification
Payment for copies must be made by cash
(not for mailed copy requests), Fairfax Court debit
or credit card, cashier's check, certified check, business
check, or money order made payable to the Clerk of the Court.
Personal Checks are not Accepted. Visa and Mastercard are also accepted for payment in Land Records. Please note that a 4% surcharge is added when using a credit card.
Certificate of Satisfaction
for Trust/Mortgage
To release a trust
or mortgage from record, an original and notarized Certificate
of Satisfaction signed by the lender or the settlement agent
who has paid the obligation secured by a mortgage or deed
of trust must be recorded in the Land Records Branch. All
information on the form must be completed in full. Most
lenders will mail the Certificate of Satisfaction form
directly to Land Records, however some will mail the
form to the borrowers with instructions how to record
the document. It is then the borrower's responsibility
to make sure the document is recorded in Land Records.
Certificates of Satisfaction
forms are available from the Land Records Branch or may be
downloaded from the above link to the Virginia Judicial System
Web site. The recording fee for a Certificate of Satisfaction
is $31.00. PERSONAL CHECKS ARE NOT ACCEPTED. Cashier checks,
money orders, certified checks and cash (not for mailed
requests) are accepted for payment of recording fees.
A return address
or box number should be inserted in the margin of the first
page of the Certificate of Satisfaction as well as a tax map
number. The tax map number can be obtained from a current
assessment notice or from the Department of Tax Administration
at 703-222-8234 or www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dta.
Please provide a self-addressed, stamped envelope of sufficient
size for return of the recorded document(s). Documents will
be returned to the address or box provided.
Cover Sheets
In January 2001, the Clerk of Fairfax Court
implemented the required use of cover sheets for documents
recorded at the Land Records counter. Section 17.1.227.1 of
the Code of Virginia permits Circuit Court Clerks to require
a cover sheet for deeds and other instruments. The cover sheet
is designed so that indexing information entered on the cover
sheet form is translated into a 2-D barcode. The cover sheet
and its 2-D barcode are then attached as the first page of
a document to be recorded and the indexing information is
automatically read when scanned into the system. There is
no fee associated with recording the cover sheet. There is,
however, a page charge for the cover sheet when making copies
of a recorded document, because recordation makes the cover
sheet an official part of the document.
Fairfax Court provides free software that
enables users to create a cover sheet and to calculate fees
for all types of documents recorded in Fairfax. The software
is available for downloading at www.fairfaxcounty.gov/courts/circuit/lr_cover_sheet.htm.
The cover sheet application is also available in the Research
Room.
The fee calculation application
creates a Fee Estimate form that may be printed for your information
only. It will not be included in the document recording and
it does not constitute a valid receipt.
Court Public Access Network (CPAN)
Internet access to Land Records' documents
is available through the Court's Public Access Network (CPAN).
All information pertaining to the CPAN (Court
Public Access Network) subscription service is available at
www.fairfaxcounty.gov/courts/circuit/cpan.htm.
Please be aware these documents are in Adobe Acrobat format and
you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed to be able to
view them.
If you have questions about CPAN, you may
call the Circuit Court Information Systems staff at (703)
246-2366 or send e-mail inquiries to ccrhelp@fairfaxcounty.gov.
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