Attorney Thomas B. Burton answers the following question: "How Do I Record a Land Contract In Milwaukee, Wisconsin?"
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Today's question comes from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and the reader ask the following:
“How do I record a land contract in Milwaukee Wisconsin? Buyer signed a three-year land contract effective July 1, 2018. They didn't finish paying their $5,000 deposit until February 2019. So, now I would like to record the contract, so that buyer is reflected and deed somehow. It is for the purchase of my condo. The condo association is requiring me to show that the buyer is on the deed.”
So, the land contract can be recorded just like any other document with the register of deeds. The transfer tax will be due on the sale of property to the state of Wisconsin. So be prepared to pay this amount plus $30 recording fee to the Milwaukee County Register of Deeds. You must also file an electronic real estate transfer return that accompanies the land contract before it will be accepted for recording by the Register of Deeds office.
So recording, it is not that complicated but filing that electronic real estate transfer return is. I recommend you contact an attorney who does it often to help you with this and then you can record that land contract and hopefully get the condo association the copy of the recorded paperwork and that will satisfy what they're looking for. Just remember that under a land contract title, it's not actually passed to the buyer, until the final payment is made. That's another distinction here that maybe affecting some of these facts.
So, great question and thank you for asking.
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