Find Harrington Deeds and Documents
Property records for Harrington, Delaware are maintained by the Kent County Recorder of Deeds and cover everything from current ownership to historic deeds going back centuries. Whether you need to check title history, confirm a legal description, or pull a recorded plat, this page explains where to search, what to expect, and how to get the documents you need.
Harrington Property Records Overview
Harrington sits in Kent County, and all property records for the city are held by the Kent County Recorder of Deeds. The office is located at 555 Bay Road in Dover. That is the single official source for deeds, mortgages, liens, easements, and other recorded land documents tied to Harrington addresses. The Recorder operates under the authority of Delaware Code Title 9, Chapter 96, which sets out the duties of county recorders and requires that each recorded document include a parcel identification number and a "prepared by" statement.
Harrington operates under a mayor-council form of government and provides city services including police, public works, water and sewer, and planning. The city also maintains its own planning and zoning records, building permits, and certificates of occupancy. Those documents are separate from what the Recorder holds. If you need zoning compliance letters or subdivision plat approvals, contact the City of Harrington directly. For ownership, title, and recorded instruments, you go to the county.
The City of Harrington maintains a municipal website with information on city departments and services.
The city's official site at harrington.delaware.gov is the starting point for building permits, planning inquiries, and local zoning questions. Property ownership records are filed at the county level.
How to Search Property Records Online
The fastest way to find Harrington property records is through two free online tools. The first is the Kent County Levy Court property search. This database shows ownership information, sales prices, transfer dates, legal descriptions, and assessment history. You can search by address, owner name, or parcel ID. It also offers an interactive map view, which is useful when you know a general area but not an exact address.
The second tool covers recorded instruments. The Kent County online deed search through US Land Records gives access to documents certified from January 30, 1874. That includes deeds, mortgages, releases, assignments, and other recorded papers. Searching and viewing watermarked images is free. If you need a clean copy you can use in a transaction or legal matter, downloading costs $2 per page. A $75 monthly subscription is available for high-volume users.
The Recorder also maintains a resident services page that explains the full range of deed-related services, including a free Property Fraud Alert program. That program sends email notifications within days whenever a document is recorded in your name. It's designed to catch deed theft and unauthorized liens early, before they cause serious problems. Sign-up is free and takes only a few minutes.
The Kent County Levy Court search allows you to look up property records by address, owner, or parcel.
This tool covers current ownership and assessment data for all Kent County parcels, including those in Harrington.
The US Land Records portal provides access to recorded deed documents for Kent County.
Free watermarked viewing is available through this portal. Downloads cost $2 per page or $75 per month for a subscription.
Note: Online records at the US Land Records portal go back to January 1874. For documents older than that, you will need to visit the Recorder's office in person to access physical books.
Visiting the Kent County Recorder of Deeds
If you prefer to search in person or need help with a complex title question, the Kent County Recorder of Deeds is open Monday through Friday, 8am to 5pm. The office is at 555 Bay Road, Dover, DE 19901. The Recorder is Honorable Eugenia Thornton. Staff can assist with name searches, book and page lookups, and document retrieval. You can also reach the office by phone at 302-744-2314 or by email at Recorder@kentcountyde.gov.
Recording hours are shorter than general office hours. If you need to submit a document for recording, you must bring or send it by 3pm on a weekday. A drop box is available outside the office for after-hours document submission. Fax is available at 302-736-2035 for general inquiries, though recording itself requires physical document delivery.
Mail-in requests are accepted. Include your contact information, a clear description of what you need, and payment if copies are requested. The office will process your request and return the documents by mail. Allow extra time for mail-in requests, especially during busy periods.
What Property Records Show
A recorded deed for a Harrington property will show the names of the grantor (seller) and grantee (buyer), the legal description of the land, the consideration paid, the date of signing, and a notarization. Under Delaware Code Title 25, Chapter 1, deeds in Delaware are never altered after recording. If a correction is needed, a new deed is prepared and recorded. That means the full chain of title is always preserved in the public record, deed by deed, going back as far as the county's records reach.
Beyond ownership deeds, the Recorder holds mortgages, mortgage releases, assignment of leases, easement agreements, restrictive covenants, and subdivision plats. Each document type tells a different part of the property's story. A mortgage shows what lien a lender holds. A release confirms the lien is satisfied. An easement shows who else has a right to use part of the land. Subdivision plats show how a larger parcel was divided into lots, which is especially relevant for newer residential neighborhoods in Harrington.
The county Levy Court database adds another layer. It shows the current assessed value of each parcel, the tax district it falls in, and the history of ownership transfers. Sales prices are part of the public record in Delaware and are visible in both the deed record and the Levy Court system.
Note: Assessment values in the Levy Court database reflect county appraisals and may not match current market value. Always compare with recent sales data when estimating a property's worth.
Delaware Property Record Laws
Several sections of Delaware law govern how property records are created, recorded, and accessed. Title 9, Chapter 96 covers the Recorder of Deeds directly. It requires that instruments submitted for recording include the parcel identification number and a statement of who prepared the document. The Recorder must accept and index qualifying documents and make them available to the public.
Title 25, Chapter 1 sets out the rules for deeds themselves. It defines what a valid deed contains and establishes how chain of title works in Delaware. The no-alteration rule is key: once recorded, a deed stands as-is. Any change requires a new deed. This keeps the public record clean and traceable.
A newer law, Title 25, Chapter 2, took effect in 2025 and allows property owners to file a Transfer on Death Deed. This lets an owner name a beneficiary who will receive the property automatically at death, without going through probate. The deed must be recorded during the owner's lifetime and can be revoked at any time before death. It is a significant option for Harrington property owners who want to simplify estate planning.
The Realty Transfer Tax under Title 30, Chapter 54 applies to most property sales in Delaware at a rate of 3%. Harrington receives a share of the distributed receipts from this tax, specifically 0.0800% of the allocation. That revenue helps fund city services. Certain transfers are exempt, such as gifts between family members or transfers to a trust, but most arm's-length sales are taxable.
Fair housing protections under Title 6, Chapter 46 prohibit discriminatory deed covenants. If you find restrictive language in an older deed that discriminates based on race, religion, or national origin, the Kent County Recorder offers a process to have that language redacted. The county has published a guide to identifying and reporting discriminatory language in recorded deeds. Language that violates state law can be removed from public view upon request.
Court Records and Property Disputes
Not all property-related records sit with the Recorder. Some end up in court. When a property dispute goes to litigation, the case is filed in the Delaware Superior Court for Kent County, located at 38 The Green in Dover, DE 19901. The phone number is (302) 735-1900. Cases involving title disputes, boundary conflicts, foreclosures, and partition actions are handled there.
Court records from the Superior Court are separate from the Recorder's files. A judgment lien, once entered by the court, can be recorded with the Recorder and will then appear in the property record for any parcel the judgment debtor owns in Kent County. If you're doing a title search on a Harrington property, checking for active judgments is an important step alongside the deed and mortgage search.
Foreclosure proceedings also generate court records. The final step in a completed foreclosure is a Sheriff's deed, which gets recorded with the Recorder of Deeds. That deed transfers title from the defaulting owner to the new buyer. You will see these in the deed index the same way as any other deed transfer.
Building Permits and Planning Records in Harrington
The City of Harrington handles its own building permits and planning approvals. Permits are required for new construction, renovations, and additions. The city inspects work during construction and issues certificates of occupancy when the work is complete. These records are maintained by the city and are available to the public.
Zoning records are also held locally. The city's planning office keeps zoning maps and information on how each parcel is classified for land use. If you need a zoning compliance letter, that comes from the city, not the county. Subdivision plats, once approved by the city, are recorded with the Kent County Recorder of Deeds. So the final, official plat map for any Harrington subdivision will be in the county's deed records.
The Delaware State Fairgrounds is one of the more notable properties in Harrington. Like all other parcels in the city, deed and title records for the fairgrounds are held by the Kent County Recorder of Deeds. Assessment records for the property are in the county Levy Court system. The city is home to the annual Delaware State Fair, one of the region's largest events, and the fairgrounds property is well-documented in county land records.
Note: For building permit history on a specific Harrington address, contact the city directly. The Recorder only holds documents that were formally submitted and recorded, not internal city permit files.
Kent County
Harrington property records are part of the Kent County system. Visit the Kent County page for full details on the Recorder of Deeds, online search tools, fees, and county-wide resources.
Nearby Cities
Other Delaware cities with property records pages: