New Port Richey once entertained the possibility that Hollywood might move east. Silent-film star Thomas Meighan called it a favorite Florida town, built a winter home and encouraged friends from the entertainment world to visit. The Meighan Theatre opened in 1926, and the Hacienda Hotel followed in 1927 to welcome the glamorous crowd. California kept the film business, but downtown New Port Richey still has the theater, the hotel and a good story about aiming high.
Pasco County has always contained more than one Florida. New Port Richey and Port Richey face the Gulf side, where the Pithlachascotee River, tidal marshes and older neighborhoods define the landscape. Dade City, the county seat, has a traditional courthouse square and rolling agricultural country. Zephyrhills is known for bottled water, skydiving and winter residents. San Antonio and St. Leo retain small-town identities, while Wesley Chapel and Land O' Lakes have become major suburban communities along the Tampa growth corridor. Hudson, Holiday and Trinity add still more versions of west Pasco.
The Census Bureau estimated 674,516 residents in 2025, a striking 20 percent increase over the 2020 base. Much of that growth has arrived in master-planned communities, townhome projects and new subdivisions east of the older Gulf Coast strip. Deeds follow the construction. They also follow ordinary life: sales, family gifts, trust transfers, estate distributions and changes between spouses. A mailing address may use a community name that is not an incorporated city, so the parcel record and legal description should lead the preparation.
Pasco's Clerk & Comptroller is the county recorder. Official Records accepts documents at the East Pasco Government Center, 14236 Sixth Street, Suite 201, in Dade City, and the West Pasco Government Center, 8731 Citizens Drive, in New Port Richey. The Dade City mailing address is 38053 Live Oak Avenue, Dade City, Florida 33523-3805. Documents may be brought in, mailed or sent through an approved electronic recording vendor.
Standard recording is $10 for the first page and $8.50 for each additional page, plus $1 for each indexed name after four. Deed documentary stamp tax is generally 70 cents per $100, or fraction, of taxable consideration. The clerk provides calculators because taxes and name counts can turn an apparently simple fee into a small arithmetic exercise. Recording staff check whether a document meets recording requirements, but they do not determine whether a quitclaim, warranty or other deed is the right legal choice.
Pasco did not become Hollywood East, yet it has become one of Florida's fastest-changing counties. The old theater marquees, cattle fields, Gulf canals and brand-new boulevards all share one official land record. A well-prepared deed makes its contribution without celebrity fanfare: the right people, the right parcel and a permanent recording in the right county.
Official Records
Where deeds are recorded in Pasco County
| Detail | Recording information |
|---|---|
| Recording authority | Pasco County Clerk & Comptroller |
| Department | Official Records |
| Main recording office | East Pasco Government Center, 14236 6th Street, Suite 201, Dade City, FL 33523-3414 |
| Mailing address | 38053 Live Oak Avenue, Dade City, FL 33523-3805 |
| Telephone | 352-521-4408 |
| Submission | in person in Dade City or New Port Richey, mail, and approved eRecording vendor |
| Standard charges | For a standard letter-size instrument, Florida's statutory charges generally total $10 for the first page, $8.50 for each additional page, plus $1 for each indexed name after the first four. Deed documentary stamp tax is generally $0.70 per $100 or part of $100 of consideration. Tax, extra documents, certified copies and vendor charges can change the total. |
| Official Records | Search recorded documents |
| Property records | Open the county property appraiser |
Preparing the instrument
Deed requirements for Pasco County
Florida law generally requires a deed conveying real property to be signed by the grantor in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. The instrument also needs the parties, legal description, consideration and documentary stamp treatment, acknowledgment, preparer information, return address, and printed witness information required for the particular recording.
For Pasco County, the recorder currently describes submission this way: in person in Dade City or New Port Richey, mail, and approved eRecording vendor Posted standard charges are: For a standard letter-size instrument, Florida's statutory charges generally total $10 for the first page, $8.50 for each additional page, plus $1 for each indexed name after the first four. Deed documentary stamp tax is generally $0.70 per $100 or part of $100 of consideration. Tax, extra documents, certified copies and vendor charges can change the total.
The clerk records documents that satisfy its intake requirements but does not decide whether a deed produces the intended ownership, homestead, tax, mortgage, or estate-planning result. Review the current deed and transfer plan before signing. See Florida Statutes section 689.01 ↗ for the statewide conveyance rule.
Recording places a deed in the county's public records, but it does not replace attorney review of the deed, title, homestead, tax or signing issues.
Sources and verification
- Pasco Clerk Recording a DocumentCounty-recorder role and deed recording process.
- Pasco Clerk Recording Fees and CostsPage, indexing and documentary stamp fees.
- Pasco Clerk Contact UsOfficial Records phone numbers and office access.
- City of New Port Richey, About New Port RicheyHistoric theater, hotel and visiting-luminary connection.
- U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts, Pasco County2025 estimate of 674,516 and 20 percent growth from the 2020 base.
- Pasco County Property AppraiserOfficial parcel research source.
- Florida Statute 28.24, clerk recording chargesState recording charge framework.
- Florida Department of Revenue, Documentary Stamp TaxDeed tax rates and Miami-Dade distinction.
General information only. This article is not a substitute for legal advice about a particular property or transfer.