My exboyfriend and I want to remove my name from the deed on a house? Does $1800 in transfer tax sound right? Any alternatives?

I am not a Pennslyvania attorney, so I cannot provide you with a Pennsylvania-specific response. However, I can provide you with some general background comments which may be useful.

Generally, a quit claim deed is the instrument used to "remove someone's name from a deed." This is accomplished by having both owners, as grantors, sign and transfer all of their interests in the property to the intended grantee (the person who will be remaining as owner). Effectively, this would cause the property to be transferred from 2 owners to just the intended owner, thereby removing the unwanted person from the title.

With regards to the real estate transfer tax, I believe that the State of Pennsylvania charges a 1% rate and the City of Philadelphia charges an additional 3% rate. In a transaction where there is no purchase price (i.e. - no money exchanged), the 'value' is the "actual monetary worth of the property." In other words, the composite tax would be 4% of the fair market value of the property. I believe you'd have to file a declaration of value to establish the fair market value. The tax would be triggered by the recording of the quit claim deed, which is required to establish marketable title of the property in the new owner's name.

I reviewed the statutory exclusions from the Pennsylvania real estate transfer tax and I don't see any that would apply to the situation you are describing (i.e. a quitclaim deed between unrelated individuals). I agree that it is absurd that Pennsylvania would charge a transfer tax for this transaction. Given this background and the potential tax liability, you may want to hire a Pennslyvania attorney to see if there are any other ways to structure this transaction which could minimizing the liability. Best of luck with it.