Title Transfer and Ownership

The Assessor's Office is responsible for maintaining accurate and current ownership records for all real property in Gunnison County. Primarily this is to ensure that the correct owners receive important notifications relating to their real property, such as tax statements and notices of value.

To maintain these ownership records the Assessor relies on documents recorded with the Gunnison County Clerk & Recorder's Office. Recorded documents that affect property ownership include deeds, death certificates, supplemental affidavits, letters of administration, court orders and many others.

The property transfer staff in the Assessor's Office continually review newly recorded documents to determine how they affect property ownership. During most times of the year our goal is to update our records within two weeks of a document being recorded. At exceptionally busy times (typically the month of May when handling valuation appeals is our top priority) there may be a longer delay.

Occasionally, we may identify an issue with a recorded document that prevents us from updating our records. In these situations, we always attempt to contact the interested parties to alert them to the problem. In most cases some kind of additional or corrective documentation will need to be recorded before we are able to update our records. Please note that the Assessor's Office is not allowed to give legal advice; we strongly encourage property owners to contact either a real estate attorney or a title company to assist in resolving these kinds of issues. View a list of commonly occurring title transfer issues (PDF).

If you purchase property in Gunnison County you can use the Property Record Search on this website to confirm that our ownership records have been updated. However, we recommend waiting at least one month from the date you acquired the property before checking our records, to allow us time to process your deed and update our website.

The property transfer staff are also responsible for maintaining the Assessor's parcel mapping records. This includes breaking out new accounts when someone acquires part of an existing parcel, or when someone subdivides an existing property a number of new lots. This process is more complex than a simple ownership change, and depending on the time of year it may be several months before such changes are fully reflected in our records. Our goal is to complete as much of this work as possible before tax notices are sent out in January of the following year.