Transaction Coordinator in Cape May County, NJ.

What we handle on a Cape May County file

Cape May County has 16 municipalities, and they do not agree on how to price the pre-closing fire inspection. The City of Cape May charges $150 to $375 for the smoke and carbon monoxide certificate depending on lead time, Lower Township doubles its fee inside 10 business days and inspects sales only on Tuesdays, and Ocean City and North Wildwood add a zoning certificate that checks whether the house is still a permitted use, and in Ocean City whether it still matches the approved plans. Those municipal calendars, not the recording counter, are the critical path on a Cape May file. Well properties pick up a county-specific mercury test, and every deed records at the County Clerk in Cape May Court House, where a paper cover sheet counts as a billable page. Once your deal is ratified, PLS builds and manages the file in KW Command, tracks every deadline and contingency, routes documents for signature, and coordinates with lender, title, attorneys, and the co-op agent. See the full transaction coordination service for the complete scope, and the New Jersey overview for statewide notes.

• KW Command fileBuilds and manages the file in KW Command.
• Every deadlineTracks every deadline and contingency.
• SignaturesRoutes documents for signature.
• Every partyCoordinates with lender, title, attorneys, and the co-op agent.

Transfer tax in Cape May County

New Jersey's Realty Transfer Fee is imposed on the seller and runs on two mutually exclusive schedules, which must never be blended. At total consideration of $350,000 or less it is $2.00 per $500 up to $150,000, $3.35 per $500 from $150,000 to $200,000, and $3.90 per $500 from $200,000 to $350,000. Above $350,000 a different schedule applies to the whole amount: $2.90 per $500 up to $150,000, $4.25 per $500 to $200,000, $4.80 per $500 to $550,000, $5.30 per $500 to $850,000, $5.80 per $500 to $1,000,000, and $6.05 per $500 above that. Reduced schedules exist for senior, blind, disabled, and low and moderate income sellers, and a notarized Form RTF-1 must be annexed to the deed to claim one. Consideration over $1,000,000 also triggers the Graduated Percent Fee that replaced the old 1 percent mansion tax on July 10, 2025 under P.L. 2025 c. 69: 1 percent above $1,000,000, 2 percent above $2,000,000, 2.5 percent above $2,500,000, 3 percent above $3,000,000, and 3.5 percent above $3,500,000, charged as a straight percentage of the entire consideration rather than as brackets. Liability for it shifted from the buyer to the seller, and the Division of Taxation is explicit that the operative date is when the deed is submitted for recording, not the closing date. Form RTF-1EE must be annexed to every deed over $1,000,000 and to every commercial transfer. There is no separate Cape May County transfer tax.

Recording a deed in Cape May County

The Cape May County Clerk sits at 7 North Main Street, Cape May Court House, New Jersey 08210 (mail: P.O. Box 5000, Cape May Court House, New Jersey 08210-5000), 609-465-1010. The current recording fee is $45 for the first page of a deed ($30 recording, $5 Homelessness Trust Fund, $10 abstracting fee), plus $10 for each additional page. The 2025 fee schedule, dated 2.20.2025, builds every recorded instrument from a $30 first page plus $10 per additional page, then adds a $5 Homelessness Trust Fund charge to most instruments, a $10 abstracting fee on deeds and other land transfer documents to notify the tax assessor, a $10 noting fee where a recorded instrument is linked to an earlier one, and $6 per name beginning with the sixth. On a deed, the fronts of the RTF and GIT forms count as pages, but not their instructions. A mortgage is $30 first page plus $10 per page plus the $5 trust fund charge. A discharge, partial release, or subordination adds the $10 noting fee, and a cancellation of an original mortgage endorsed for cancellation totals $25. A notice of settlement is $20 for two parties and $40 for three, and its discharge is $25. Certified copies are $10 plus $1 per page. The Clerk accepts electronic recording through the New Jersey county recording portal and through fee-for-service vendors, and e-recorders satisfy the cover sheet rule automatically. Escrow account customers who omit a cover sheet are debited $20 per document; check customers get the unrecorded documents returned with a letter requesting the fee. The schedule also lists CAFRA permits and Tidelands grants as recordable instruments, which is a reminder to look for them in the chain on a waterfront file.

A cover sheet or electronic synopsis is required on every land document under N.J.S.A. 46:26A-5, and Cape May charges $20 when it is missing. On a paper submission the cover sheet itself counts as a page and the fee is adjusted, except on flat fee filings such as notices of settlement. The fee schedule states that a New Jersey Gross Income Tax form is required with the recording of a deed, with an estimated payment or waiver form required from an out-of-state seller, and that the Realty Transfer Fee is payable to the County Clerk at recording. Form GIT/REP-3 states that the county clerk will not record the deed if the form is incomplete or the original is not submitted with it. Any deed claiming a Realty Transfer Fee exemption needs the notarized RTF-1, and every deed over $1,000,000 needs the RTF-1EE. The most common avoidable delays are a missing cover sheet on a check-paid file, which sends the whole package back, and a page count that forgets the RTF and GIT form fronts.

Recording fees and transfer tax rates for every county we coordinate in are collected side by side on our recording fee and transfer tax reference.

What actually holds up a closing here

Pricing

Transaction coordination in New Jersey is billed per file, not as a monthly retainer. Contract to close is $450 per transaction, and the full rate card including dual agency, unrepresented party (FSBO or URB), and listing management is published on our pricing page. No fixed overhead, no minimum volume.

Where these figures come from

The county-level figures on this page come from the official sources listed below. Municipal fees and deadlines come from each municipality's own published schedules and ordinances, which are revised more often than they are archived. We publish what we could verify and leave out what we could not. Fees and ordinances change; if you are relying on a figure here for a live file, confirm it with the issuing office, and tell us if you find a discrepancy so we can correct the page.