A: The Clerk of Superior Court is "an officer of a court of justice who has charge of the clerical part of the court's business and who keeps the court's records." In Georgia, the Clerk of Superior Court is also responsible for the recording of all land records. Actually, the Clerk wears three hats - one as the "Clerk of Court," one as the "Registrar of Land Records," and the third as "Tax Collector for intangible and transfer taxes."
Therefore, the Clerk's office in DeKalb County has two divisions: The Real Estate Division, and the Judicial Division.
A: It is the responsibility of the Real Estate Division to RECEIVE and RECORD all documents (land records) related to real property within DeKalb County.
This division is also responsible for personal property recordings. Personal property is recorded as a U.C.C. (Uniform Commercial Code) Financing Statement. The purpose of this recording is to provide public notice that personal properties located in DeKalb County have outstanding liens against them.
The Real Estate Division receives and processes over 120,000 documents effecting title to real estate each year, which is equivalent to more than 380,000 pages, and requires approximately 480 deed books to be placed in the Record Room for public access each year. Over 16,000 mortgages are cancelled each year, and more than 45,000 cross-references are entered as a result of changes or amendments to deeds or mortgages. There are also over 16,000 U.C.C. Financing Statement transactions filed each year.
A: It is the responsibility of the Judicial Division to RECEIVE and FILE all civil and criminal court records for the Superior Court of DeKalb County. This division provides support for all the Superior Court judges through management of case files and attendance of a Deputy Clerk in court during hearings.
This division is also responsible for assisting the public and attorneys in locating and copying court records, certifying these records upon request, transferring cases to other counties upon court order, receiving money paid into the Registry of the Court pending the disposition of an Action, accepting applications for and registering Trade Names, receiving and filing petitions for Adoption, preparing actions which have been appealed to the Georgia Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court of Georgia, and receiving, issuing, recording, and canceling Writs of General Execution (Fi Fa's).
A: The most common types of land records recorded in the Clerk's office are:
Warranty Deeds, Security Deeds, Quit Claim Deeds
Cancellations of Security Deeds
Federal Tax Liens, Federal Tax Lien Releases
Administrator's Deeds, Executor's Deeds, Cemetery Deeds
Deeds under Power of Attorney (foreclosures)
Right-of-Way Deeds, Trust Deeds
Assignments, Bonds, Bonds to Discharge Liens
Easements, Liens, Modification Agreements
Power of attorney, Revocations of Power of Attorney
To locate any land record it is helpful to have the following information prior to coming to the courthouse:
The buyer's name (grantee)
The seller's name (grantor)
The date of the transaction (especially the year)
1. CIVIL ACTIONS
General Civil
Domestic Relations
2. CIVIL PETITIONS
Domestic:
Name Change
Legitimation
Modification
Contempt
Family Violence/Temporary Protective Orders
URESA (child support)
DHR (child support)
Change of Custody
General:
Worker's Compensation
Personal Injury
Condemnation
Tax Appeal
Certiorari
Criminal Actions
Felony Indictments
To locate judicial records it is helpful to have the following information prior to coming to the courthouse:
The name of the plaintiff or defendant
The date the action was filed
For divorces - the date the action was filed or the date of the final decree.
Using the information, search the court index in room 203 to find a case number. Once a case reference number is located, request to review the case. You will be given the actual case file for review .
Go to: https://www.gsccca.org/docs/notary-documents/singlestatusaffidavit.pdf?sfvrsn=c67c2e20_2. Complete with a notary.
DEPARTMENTS LIST
Clerk of Superior Court
General Information
404-371-2836