(A) Except as otherwise provided in divisions (B) and (C) of this section, an instrument or document presented for recording to the county recorder shall have been prepared in accordance with all of the following requirements:

(1) Legible print size not smaller than a font size of ten;

(2) Minimum paper size of eight and one-half inches by eleven inches;

(3) Maximum paper size of eight and one-half inches by fourteen inches;

(4) Black or blue ink only;

(5) No use of highlighting;

(6) Margins of one-inch width on each side of each page of the instrument or document;

(7) A margin of one-inch width across the bottom of each page of the instrument or document;

(8) A three-inch margin of blank space across the top of the first page of each instrument or document to accommodate any certification or indorsement of the county engineer, county auditor, or county recorder, as may be required by law, with the right half of that margin being reserved for the indorsement of the county recorder required by section 317.12 of the Revised Code; and

(9) A one and one-half-inch margin of blank space across the top of each of the remaining pages of the instrument or document to accommodate any certification or indorsement of the county engineer, county auditor, or county recorder, as may be required by law.

(B)

(1) Except as otherwise provided in division (B)(2) of this section, the county recorder shall accept for recording an instrument or document that does not conform to the requirements set forth in division (A) of this section but shall charge and collect the following additional fees for each such instrument or document: an additional base fee for the recorder's services of ten dollars and a housing trust fund fee of ten dollars, which shall be collected pursuant to section 317.36 of the Revised Code.

(2) The county recorder shall accept for recording an instrument or document that does not conform to the requirements set forth in division (A) of this section but shall not charge and collect the additional fees specified in division (B)(1) of this section for page numbers, hand-written, typed, or printed initials, bar codes, copyright information, trailing portions of signatures, plat description of any oil and gas well location or drilling unit or lease, or any other incidental information that is not essential to the recording process or to the legal validity of the instrument or document and that may appear in either of the side margins or in the bottom margin. In addition, notary stamps and seals and any signatures and initials that may appear within the instrument or document need not satisfy the font size requirement and no additional fees may be charged or collected by the county recorder for such a nonconformance.

(C) This section does not apply to any of the following:

(1) Any document that originates with any court or taxing authority;

(2) Any document authorized to be recorded under section 317.24 of the Revised Code;

(3) Any plat, as defined in section 711.001 of the Revised Code, that is required or authorized by the Revised Code to be recorded;

(4) Any document authorized to be recorded that originates from any state or federal agency;

(5) Any document executed before July 1, 2009.

Amended by 128th General AssemblyFile No.17, SB 124, §1, eff. 12/28/2009.

Effective Date: 2008 HB525 07-01-2009