File Updated October 12, 2026 First documented September 4, 2026

North Dakota Closing Cost Calculator

North Dakota has no transfer tax; recording is $20 per document of up to six pages and $65 for 7 to 25 pages. Enter the deed and mortgage page counts separately. Include required cover pages before adding the other charges from your closing statement.

Recording changes at six and twenty-five pages

North Dakota Century Code 11-18-05 charges $20 for a deed or mortgage of one through six pages, $65 for seven through twenty-five, then $3 for each page above twenty-five. Calculate each instrument independently.

The Stark County Recorder’s fee table confirms those thresholds. A 6-page deed and a 26-page mortgage cost $20 + $68 = $88 before additions. Combining their 32 pages as one document would produce $86, which is incorrect for this package.

Fargo, Bismarck and Grand Forks follow one fee schedule

Section 11-18-05 tells every county recorder what to charge, so Cass County (Fargo), Burleigh County (Bismarck) and Grand Forks County use the same brackets. A Fargo buyer recording a 4-page deed and a 20-page mortgage pays $20 + $65 = $85 at the recorder, the last row of the page-count table above. Whichever county records it, the deed generally still needs the county auditor's certificate of transfer under section 11-18-02 before the recorder accepts it.

A missing first-page margin can change the bracket

The recorder needs three inches across the top of the first page. When that space is missing, a page is added. Stark County specifically explains that a six-page document then becomes seven pages and costs $65. Include that page in the input; do not add a guessed flat cover-sheet charge.

A separate $10 charge can apply to an instrument lacking the required one-inch recording-label margin. Confirm whether that addition applies as well. The calculator keeps the surcharge distinct from the final page count.

Land sections and additional instruments

NDCC 11-18-05 adds $1 for each land section beyond ten per instrument entered in the tract index. If a deed has twelve qualifying sections and a mortgage has eight, the combined excess is two. It is not the total number of parcels or street addresses.

This model supports one deed and one mortgage. Releases, assignments involving prior instruments, multiple deeds, plats and other filings may use additional rules. Enter a full recording quote for such a package; it replaces the page calculation.

Check the deed’s consideration statement and tax certificate

Under NDCC 11-18-02 and 11-18-02.2, an ordinary deed needs the applicable auditor certification and a statement of consideration or statutory exemption. Verify tax and special-assessment clearance with the preparer before recording.

Sale-price tax and annual property tax are different lines

The Office of State Tax Commissioner’s business-tax inventory does not identify a sale-price deed transfer tax. This ordinary-resale worksheet models no such charge. The inventory separately identifies property taxes, which can affect prorations or amounts due at closing.

Allocate only the documents you pay

For a hypothetical $300,000 seller paying a $20 deed charge, $500 settlement fee and $200,000 payoff, listed proceeds are $99,480 before other expenses. If the contract instead assigns the deed charge to the buyer, enter zero deed pages on the seller side and the actual count on the buyer side.

Buyer cash to close also includes down payment, lender and title quotes, reserves and credits. Changing the purchase price changes those settlement calculations, but it does not change a document’s page-based recording bracket.

Last reviewed 2026-10-12. Worksheet methodology.

Report a correction / Editorial policy