Seal of Dane County County of Dane
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Register of Deeds Office

Document Guide

The document guide is a reference to help the citizen understand the terminology and abbreviations used in Real Estate Documents. See the documents below for more information.
   Definitions of Real Estate Terms
   Abbreviations used prior to 2013

Starting January 1st, 2013 abbreviations are no longer being used.
All recording information is typed as it is presented on the document
Examples of "KEY IT AS YOU SEE IT"

Indexing Based on PRIA Best Practices

Indexing Based on PRIA Best Practices (pdf)

Only key these symbols: @ & / - + #  in party names

NEVER KEY: DEC, ESTATE, or TRUSTEE after party names
THE as first word in party name
JOHN DOE or JANE DOE

DOCUMENT NAMES

WHAT IS INDEXED BY STAFF

MUNICIPAL/GOVERNMENT NAME EXAMPLES - some will typically follow historical index:
Wisconsin Department of Revenue WISCONSIN DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE
Dane County Sheriff SHERIFF OF DANE COUNTY
Wis Veterans Association WIS VETERANS ASSOCIATION
State of Wisconsin WISCONSIN, STATE OF
Dane County DANE COUNTY
Village of Deerfield DEERFIELD, VILLAGE OF
United States of America acting through the United States
Department of Agriculture
USA
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
United States District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Wisconsin UNITED STATES ATTORNEYS OFFICE FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF WISCONSIN
City of Madison Comptrollers Office MADISON COMPTROLLERS OFFICE
Town of Westport Assessors Office WESTPORT ASSESSORS OFFICE
Secretary of Veterans Affairs SECRETARY OF VETERANS AFFAIRS
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development SECRETARY OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT
Common Council of the City of Madison MADISON COMMON COUNCIL
Common Council of the City of Stoughton STOUGHTON COMMON COUNCIL
Community Development Authority of the City of Madison MADISON COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY
City of Madison Parks Department MADISON PARKS DEPARTMENT
COMPANY/BUSINESS NAMES – only index current parties:
A.L. Grootemaat & Sons Incorporated A L GROOTEMAAT & SONS INCORPORATED
Associated Bank N A ASSOCIATED BANK NA
Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems Inc. (MERS) as nominee for Prime Lending PRIME LENDING
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, as Receiver of Washington
Mutual Bank F/K/A Washington Mutual Bank FA
WASHINGTON MUTUAL BANK
U.S. Bank, National Association, Successor Trustee to Bank of America N.A. US BANK NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
U.S. Bank Trust National Association, as Trustee for CVI LCF Mortgage Loan Trust I-IV US BANK TRUST NATIONAL ASSOCIATION
Fannie Mae AKA Federal National Mortgage Association FANNIE MAE
FEDERAL NATIONAL MORTGAGE ASSOCIATION
O’Kroley/646 LLC OKROLEY/646 LLC
Loan Depot.com LOAN DEPOT COM or LOAN DEPOTCOM (a search will return both)
Nationstar Mortgage LLC D/B/A (doing business as) Greenlight Loans NATIONSTAR MORTGAGE LLC
GREENLIGHT LOANS
Home Savings Bank, a division of Home American Country Bank HOME SAVINGS BANK
HOME AMERICAN COUNTRY BANK
Mickelson’s – Martin Post No. 313 of the American Legion MICKELSONS–MARTIN POST NO 313 OF THE AMERICAN LEGION
Mary Buckhammer, secretary for Western Title Searchers WESTERN TITLE SEARCHERS
Robert Jones & James Smith doing business as Smith & Jones Handymen JONES, ROBERT
SMITH, JAMES
SMITH & JONES HANDYMEN
JPMorgan Chase Bank, National Association, successor in interest by purchase from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation as receiver of Washington Mutual Bank f/k/a Washington Mutual Bank FA JPMORGAN CHASE BANK
WASHINGTON MUTUAL BANK
NAMES OF INDIVIDUALS - Key all forms of names including AKA & FKA:
Jason McKoy, attorney in fact for Melissa Groves MCKOY, JASON
GROVES, MELISSA
Ann Benson Personal Representative for Dwight Jacobson BENSON, ANN
JACOBSON, DWIGHT
Martin Jelinek, guardian of Samatha McKowsky JELINEK, MARTIN
MCKOWSKY, SAMATHA
Dr. Steven Jones JONES, STEVEN DR
Phyllis Van Sustren VAN SUSTREN, PHYLLIS
TRUSTS - Key what is on the doc using last name first for all party names. Key in Trustee name(s) if listed. Do not include any dates.
John and Sandy Smith Revocable Trust #1 SMITH, JOHN AND SANDY REVOCABLE TRUST #1
Mark R Hoffman and Jo Anne Boyce Hoffman Trustees of the Mark and Jo Anne Hoffmann Revocable Trust HOFFMAN, MARK R
Mark and Jo Anne Hoffmann Revocable Trust
HOFFMAN, MARK AND JO ANNE REVOCABLE TRUST
M + D Peters Revocable Living Trust PETERS, M + D REVOCABLE LIVING TRUST
M + D PETERS REVOCABLE LIVING TRUST
2009 Quirk Family Trust QUIRK FAMILY TRUST
2009 QUIRK FAMILY TRUST (exception to no dates rule because it is part of the trust name)
Suzy Chapstick and Roger Rabbit Living Trust CHAPSTICK, SUZY AND ROGER RABBIT LIVING TRUST