VIRGINIA RECORDATION COSTS TO INCREASE JULY 1, 2020
June 30th, 2020
By: Robert M. Gordon, Executive Vice President
The Commonwealth of Virginia has increased its recordation costs effective July 1, 2020. For all purchase and sale transactions after July 1, 2020, a “Regional Congestion Relief Fee” is added on each Deed transferring or conveying real property, in the amount of $0.05 for each $100 or fraction thereof of consideration or assessed value. This affects the closer-in Northern Virginia counties-Arlington, Fairfax, Loudoun, Prince William, City of Alexandria.
The existing WMATA Regional Transportation Improvement Fee of $0.15 per $100 or fraction thereof remains in place.
What this means is that the portion of transfer and recordation costs customarily paid by the Seller (Grantor) is increased from $0.15 per $100 to $0.20 per $100.
Some historical background:
In 2013 Virginia added to the long-standing Grantors tax of $0.05 per $100 or fraction thereof (i.e., $0.10 per $100 or 1/10 of 1%), a Regional Congestion Relief Fee of $0.15 per $100) to be utilized for highway transportation improvements in selected Northern Virginia counties. Large sums were raised and deployed for road improvements for a number of years until 2018, when the “Fee” was renamed the WMATA Regional Transportation Improvement Fee, and all funds were taken from roads and given to Metro (the “Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority” or “WMATA”). Now, in 2020 the $0.05 per hundred represents a return to some level of funding for road improvements in Northern Virginia.
Effective May 1, 2021 the WMATA Regional Transportation Improvement Fee will be reduced from $0.15 per $100 to $0.10 per $100 and the Regional Congestion Relief Fee will be increased from $0.05 per $100 to $0.10 per $100. In effect, the total combined amount of these two “Fees” will remain at $0.20 per $100 or fraction thereof.
If you have any questions about this, or if Loudoun Commercial Title LLC can be of assistance in any way, please contact Kate Gordon at kate@loudouncommercialtitle.com, or Bob Gordon at bob@loudouncommercialtitle.com, or call us at 703 737 3800.