Transaction Coordination · Pennsylvania

Transaction Coordinator in Elk County, PA.

Precision Leverage Solutions coordinates real estate transactions in Elk County for Keller Williams agents, from ratified contract through settlement. Realty transfer tax here is 2.0%, deeds record through the Elk County Recorder of Deeds, and we handle the county and municipal steps that decide whether your file closes on time. Billed per file, no retainer.

Elk CountyEvery Pennsylvania county covered

At a glanceElk County, PA

Transfer tax2.0%realty transfer tax

Recording fee$92.75for a deed

PLS, per file$400contract to close, billed per file with no retainer

Figures from the sections below. Confirm with the issuing office before relying on one for a live file.

What we handle on an Elk County file

Elk County has only 12 municipalities, one city, two boroughs, and nine townships, and its one city carries the heaviest closing requirement in the county. The City of St. Marys does not allow an occupied property to change hands until its sewer connection, or its septic system, has been inspected and the City has issued a Certificate of Compliance or a written authorization to proceed, so that application belongs at the front of every St. Marys file. The Recorder of Deeds in Ridgway raised its fees on December 1, 2025 and wants the state transfer tax on its own check. Much of the rest of the county is camp and timber country, where recreational cabin notices and Clean and Green enrollment matter more than any municipal inspection. 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 Pennsylvania overview for statewide notes.

On every Elk County fileFrom ratified contract through settlement

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.

Realty transfer tax in Elk County: 2.0%

The total is 1% to the Commonwealth, 0.5% to the municipality, and 0.5% to the school district. The 2026 DCED tax register shows that 0.5% and 0.5% split for the City of St. Marys, Ridgway and Johnsonburg boroughs, and Benezette, Fox, Highland, Jay, Millstone, and Spring Creek townships. For Horton, Jones, and Ridgway townships the register prints 1.0% and 1.0%. Those are the only three municipalities it lists under two school districts (Ridgway Area and Brockway Area for Horton, Johnsonburg Area and Kane Area for Jones, Johnsonburg Area and Ridgway Area for Ridgway Township), and it doubles their earned income tax rows the same way, so the figures read as a reporting artifact and the rate there is treated as 2.0% as well. If a Horton, Jones, or Ridgway Township file turns on it, confirm the local rate with the Recorder at 814-776-1161. The St. Marys ordinance, Chapter 24, Part 2, section 204, imposes 1% and drops to one half of that rate automatically where another political subdivision taxes the same transfer. The Recorder's fee schedule requires every deed to set forth the true consideration. Where a full or partial exemption is claimed, the deed must state the reason or come with an original signed Statement of Value (form REV-183) plus one additional copy. If the property spans more than one taxing jurisdiction, the person recording must specify the percentage in each, which matters in the three townships split between school districts. The state realty transfer tax must be paid by its own check or electronic payment.

Where the 2% goesRealty transfer tax split, as described here

1%Commonwealth

0.5%Municipality

0.5%School district

Commonwealth1%
Municipality0.5%
School district0.5%

Recording a deed in Elk County

The Elk County Recorder of Deeds sits at Elk County Courthouse, 250 Main Street, Ridgway, PA 15853, 814-776-1161. The current recording fee is $92.75 for a deed, effective December 1, 2025. This is the current schedule published by the Recorder. Every price includes four names, four pages, and one parcel. Extra pages are $2.00 each, extra names are $0.50 each, and extra parcels on deed documents are $0.50 each. A mortgage is also $92.75. All fees exclude state and local realty transfer tax, and everything is due at recording. The office takes credit and debit cards through AllPaid, at a 2.5% convenience fee with a $3.99 minimum, but not for any transaction that involves realty transfer tax. E-recording runs through Simplifile and CSC. The office is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 4:00, and asks for a 1 inch top margin on every page for its stamping system.

Recording officeWhere the deed goes

OfficeElk County Recorder of Deeds
AddressElk County Courthouse, 250 Main Street, Ridgway, PA 15853
Phone814-776-1161
Deed recording fee$92.75 for a deed, effective December 1, 2025

Paperwork named hereWhat this office looks for

Statement of Value
UPI certification

When each one applies is explained in the requirements below.

Any instrument having any effect on land must carry the tax parcel identifier (UPI) on the document. All deeds must set forth the true consideration, and a claimed exemption has to be stated clearly in the deed or supported by an original signed REV-183 plus one copy. A deed for property in more than one taxing jurisdiction must give the percentage in each. The state realty transfer tax must be on its own check or electronic payment. The Recorder's e-recording page adds that when a transaction involves property going into or out of a trust, a copy of the trust has to be included, because the office forwards it to the Department of Revenue.

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

St. Marys Certificate of Compliance before any transfer of occupied property

St. Marys City Code Chapter 18, Part 6, Property Inspection, enacted June 2, 2003 by Ordinance 174, requires any person intending to transfer an interest in occupied real property to apply to the City for a Certificate of Compliance before the transfer. The inspection looks for illegal connections that send surface water or groundwater into the public sewer, such as downspouts, roof drains, sump pumps, and surface drains, using visual inspection and dye testing. Section 607 prohibits transferring occupied property without the certificate or an authorization to proceed, and also bars the buyer from accepting the conveyance without one. Section 604 gives the City 14 days from application to inspect and 5 days after inspection to issue the certificate where no illegal connection is found, so apply at contract. The application form states that the certificate must be approved before the closing can take place. The fee is $30.00 for residential uses, plus $25.00 per hour over one hour of time, and $50.00 for commercial and industrial uses up to 5,000 square feet plus $20.00 for each additional 5,000 square feet, paid in advance. Under section 610 penalties run up to $600 per violation, with each day a violation continues after notice a separate violation. Applications go to City Hall, 11 Lafayette Street, 814-781-1718, extension 231.

A failed St. Marys inspection can close with an escrow

Section 605 of the St. Marys property inspection ordinance gives the applicant 60 days to correct a violation before any transfer, and section 606 provides an escrow arrangement as the alternative to finishing the work before settlement. Under section 606 the applicant first gives the City a detailed estimate from a qualified plumber and a statement from the closing agent that 110 percent of the cost of the corrections will be held in escrow until the City issues the certificate of compliance, and the City then gives written authority to proceed with the transfer. Where an authorization to proceed is granted, all violations must be corrected within 60 days after the authorization. Section 607 bars both the transfer and the acceptance of the conveyance without a certificate or an authorization, and bars anyone from distributing the escrow until the certificate is issued. A file with a failed inspection therefore needs the plumber's written estimate, the escrow on the settlement statement, and the City's authorization in hand before the deed is delivered.

St. Marys properties on septic need the on-lot Certificate of Compliance

The City's Certificate of Compliance covers on-lot systems as well as public sewer connections: the forms page states that it includes the physical inspection of both sanitary sewer and on-lot septic systems when a person intends to transfer occupied real property in the City. The on-lot application carries an $85.00 fee for residential, commercial, and industrial uses, paid in advance, and states that the certificate must be approved before the closing will take place and that the septic tank must be pumped for the inspection. Section 608 of the ordinance calls for pumping by a certified pumper or hauler, a visual inspection of the septic field, and dye testing. The inspection is scheduled with the City's sewage enforcement officer at 814-781-3663. St. Marys covers a very large rural area, so check at intake whether the property is on public sewer or septic and book the pump-out and inspection together.

Recreational cabins need a notice in both the agreement and the deed

Section 104(b)(7) of the Pennsylvania Construction Code Act (35 P.S. section 7210.104), added by Act 92 of 2004, excludes a recreational cabin from the Uniform Construction Code where the owner filed an affidavit or proof of insurance with the municipality and the cabin has at least one smoke detector, one fire extinguisher, and one carbon monoxide detector in both the kitchen and sleeping quarters. Section 104(b.1) provides that, upon transfer of ownership of a cabin under that exclusion, written notice must be provided in the sales agreement and the deed that the cabin is exempt from the Act, may not be in conformance with the Uniform Construction Code, and is not subject to municipal regulation. Failure to give that notice renders the sale voidable at the option of the purchaser, and the state regulation at 34 Pa. Code section 403.1(c) repeats the same notice rule. The Elk County Recorder's fee schedule has its own line for recording a recreational cabin affidavit, at $40.50, and the City of St. Marys posts the state affidavit form with its permits. On any camp sale, ask the seller and the municipality whether an affidavit is on file, and get the notice language into both documents before signing.

Act 29 owner contact form belongs in the closing package

The Elk County Chief Assessor issued a public notice dated September 21, 2026 on Act 29 of 2026, effective September 18, 2026. Owners of non-owner-occupied properties must submit the required contact information to the Chief Assessor within 30 days of purchasing a covered property, and the notice strongly recommends that the form be built into the standard closing process for all non-owner-occupied properties. Under the statute a county may fine an owner up to $500 only for intentionally or knowingly providing false or incorrect contact information or intentionally or knowingly failing to update it. The county's form is posted on the Assessment Office page, and completed forms may be mailed to the Assessment Office at 300 Center Street, Ridgway, PA 15853 or emailed to assessment@countyofelkpa.gov. The office is at 814-776-5340.

Clean and Green land needs 30 days notice before the deed

Pennsylvania's Clean and Green regulations, which the Elk County Assessment Office reproduces on its Clean and Green page, require an owner of land enrolled under Act 319 to give the county assessor at least 30 days advance written notice of a change in ownership of the enrolled land or any part of it, of any transfer, split-off, or separation, and of a change of use. The county posts its own Notice of Conveyance form, which asks for the current and proposed owners, the parcel number, the date of enrollment, the acres being transferred, and the proposed use, and it is returned to the Assessment Office at 300 Center Street in Ridgway. The same page defines roll-back taxes as the difference between the preferential assessment taxes and what would otherwise have been due, reaching back up to seven tax years. On timber and farm tracts, confirm enrollment at listing and send the notice then, because 30 days is longer than many cash contracts.

Tax certifications: St. Marys city office and the county Tax Claim Bureau

The City of St. Marys Tax Office charges $20.00 for a 3-year tax certification under City Resolution No. 16-16, and is at 11 Lafayette Street, 814-781-8454, open Monday through Friday, 8:00 to 4:00. Unpaid taxes become delinquent on January 1 and are returned to the Elk County Tax Claim Bureau, which collects delinquent real estate taxes for the county, all 12 municipalities, and 6 school districts, with interest at 9 percent per year. A file with any prior-year balance therefore needs a second inquiry to the Bureau at the Courthouse Annex, 300 Center Street, Ridgway, 814-776-5326.

Pricing

Transaction coordination in Pennsylvania is billed per file, not as a monthly retainer. Contract to close is $400 per transaction, and the full rate card including dual agency, transaction licensee, unrepresented party (FSBO or URB), and listing management is published on our pricing page. No fixed overhead, no minimum volume.

Contract to close$400per transaction, billed per file

Listing management$150per listing, from the published rate card

Retainer$0no 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.

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FAQ

Elk County questions.

Do you provide transaction coordination in Elk County, PA?

Yes. Precision Leverage Solutions works exclusively with Keller Williams agents and coordinates transactions throughout Elk County and the rest of Pennsylvania, from the ratified contract through settlement. We also serve KW agents in New Jersey and Delaware. Pricing is per file with no retainer.

What is the realty transfer tax in Elk County?

How much does it cost to record a deed in Elk County?

$92.75 for a deed, effective December 1, 2025, through the Elk County Recorder of Deeds. This is the current schedule published by the Recorder. Every price includes four names, four pages, and one parcel. Extra pages are $2.00 each, extra names are $0.50 each, and extra parcels on deed documents are $0.50 each. A mortgage is also $92.75. All fees exclude state and local realty transfer tax, and everything is due at recording. The office takes credit and debit cards through AllPaid, at a 2.5% convenience fee with a $3.99 minimum, but not for any transaction that involves realty transfer tax. E-recording runs through Simplifile and CSC. The office is open Monday through Friday, 8:30 to 4:00, and asks for a 1 inch top margin on every page for its stamping system.

How much does a transaction coordinator cost in Elk County?

Contract-to-close coordination is $400 per transaction in Pennsylvania. Dual agency, transaction licensee service, unrepresented party coordination (FSBO or URB), multi-unit transactions, and listing management are each priced separately and published in full on our pricing page. There are no monthly fees, retainers, or minimum volume requirements.

What does the City of St. Marys require before a property can close?

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