Property Owner Search: How to Find Who Owns a Property (Free)

To find out who owns a property, search the address on the official website of the county assessor, appraisal district, or property appraiser. In a town-assessed state, use the town or city assessor instead. The record shows the owner of record: the name the tax office has on file for that parcel, usually with a mailing address. Then check the latest deed at the county recorder, register of deeds, or clerk to confirm the name. Both searches are free in most counties, and you don’t need a paid lookup site for either one.

Most of the time that takes five minutes. It gets harder when the owner is an LLC or a trust, when the house just sold, when the land has no street address, or when the county keeps owner names off its website. Some counties do that for every owner, and some states let protected people hide their names. This guide covers each of those cases, with worked lookups in four large counties.

The short answer

• Start with the assessor, not a search engine. Use the official property search for the county or town where the land sits. Search by street number and street name, open the parcel, and read the owner and mailing address.
• Confirm with the deed. The recorder or clerk indexes deeds by grantor (seller) and grantee (buyer). The grantee on the most recent deed is normally the current owner. That index is the record of title. The assessor’s name is a copy made for tax purposes.
• Owner of record is not a title report. The name can lag a recent sale by weeks or a full tax year. It can also be a trust, an LLC, an estate, or a mortgage-company mailing name instead of a person.
• Some counties don’t show names online. Los Angeles and Sacramento counties in California keep owner names off their websites but give them out on request. Texas, Arizona, and Florida also let judges, peace officers, abuse victims, and others hide their names or addresses. California bars agencies from posting officials’ home addresses online.
• An LLC owner leads to the state business registry. Search the company in the secretary of state’s (or corporation commission’s) business search to find its registered agent and, in many states, its managers or officers.
• To reach an owner, write to the mailing address on the tax record. That is where the county sends the tax bill, so it is usually the most reliable official way to contact them.

What “owner of record” means

“Owner of record” is the name the assessing office lists for a parcel. The assessor gets it from deeds filed with the recorder, from change-of-ownership forms, and from owners who ask for corrections. It is public in nearly every state because the tax roll is a public record.

Treat that name as strong evidence, not proof. Here is what it can and cannot tell you:

• It is not a title search. The Maricopa County Assessor’s parcel pages say the site “is not the equivalent of a title report or a real estate survey.” A title company checks the deed chain, mortgages, liens, and court records. The assessor checks none of that.
• It may be out of date. Many rolls list the owner as of an assessment date such as January 1, and processing a new deed takes time. Our guide to a tax bill still in the previous owner’s name explains why.
• It may not name a person. Trusts, LLCs, estates, churches, governments, and homeowners associations all hold property. The record will show the entity’s name, such as “PHOENIX CITY OF.”
• It may be a billing name. Some systems keep a separate taxpayer or mailing name. Cook County’s assessor publishes both, and its parcel address dataset notes (opens in a new tab) that owner names are “only intermittently updated” in its source data. In some places the tax bill goes to a mortgage servicer or a property manager.
• It may be blank or “confidential” on purpose. State laws let certain people restrict their information. See hidden and confidential owners below.

For most everyday questions, such as who owns the empty lot next door or which landlord owns a rental, the owner of record is enough. If you’re buying, lending, suing, or settling an estate, get a title search instead.

How to find a property owner by address

This is the owner-specific version of our general guide to looking up property records by address. That guide explains which office keeps which record and how to fix failed searches.

1. Find the right jurisdiction. The mailing city can sit in a different county from the property. In New England, New Jersey, most of New York, Michigan, and Wisconsin, a town or city does the assessing. Use our county directory to get to the official office.
2. Open the official property search. Use the link from the county’s own website or our county page. Sites with ads and “full report” buttons are not the county.
3. Search with the house number and street name only. Leave off “Street,” the unit number, and the ZIP+4 at first. Add them only if you get too many results.
4. Match the parcel, not just the address. Check the city, ZIP code, legal description, and map location. Many counties have the same street name in several towns.
5. Read the owner block. Write down the owner name exactly as shown, the mailing address, any “in care of” line, and the deed or instrument number with its date if listed.
6. Note the parcel number. You’ll need it at the recorder and the tax office. Our parcel number guide explains the formats.
7. Check the deed. Search the recorder’s index for the owner’s name, the parcel number, or the deed number. Confirm that the newest deed names the same grantee. Also look for any deed recorded after the date the assessor shows.
8. Follow the entity if needed. If the owner is a company, search the state business registry. If it is a trust or an estate, read the deed for the trustee’s or personal representative’s name.
9. Save a dated copy. Print or save the record and the deed index entry with today’s date. Owner names change, and some portals don’t keep history.

Worked owner lookups in four counties

We checked each of these official sites in October 2026. They cover the range you’ll run into: a county that shows everything, a Texas appraisal district, a county that splits owner and taxpayer names, and a county that shows no owner names at all.

Maricopa County, Arizona: owner, mailing address, and deed number

The Maricopa County Assessor (opens in a new tab) has one search box for addresses, parcel numbers, and owner names. Results list the APN, owner, address, subdivision, and property type, so you can often spot the owner before you open the parcel.

Real example: Phoenix City Hall. A search for “200 W Washington St Phoenix” returned 530 results, because every Washington Street in the county matched. The row for 200 W Washington St, APN 112-21-087, showed the owner as “PHOENIX CITY OF.” Maricopa lists names last-name-first, and it applies that format to entities too. The parcel page (opens in a new tab) has an Owner Information block with:

• the owner name and a mailing address at 251 W. Washington St.;
• an “In Care Of” line: “Property Management Administrator”;
• deed number 19950314097 and a last deed date of June 1, 1995.

Confirming with the deed. Looking up recording number 19950314097 at the Maricopa County Recorder (opens in a new tab) returns a one-page quitclaim deed recorded June 1, 1995. It names the City of Phoenix and the Phoenix Civic Improvement Corporation, which matches the assessor. For a home, you would also search the owner’s name in the Recorder’s index for anything recorded since the last deed date.

Timing. The assessor’s ownership FAQ (opens in a new tab) says an ordinary subdivision-lot sale can take 4 to 8 weeks after recording to appear on its website. Sales with metes-and-bounds descriptions or parcel splits can take longer. For a recent sale, the Recorder is ahead of the assessor.

Rentals. Arizona requires owners of residential rental property to register with the county assessor under A.R.S. §33-1902 (opens in a new tab). For an LLC, the registration names the managing or administrative member. For a trust, it names a trustee. Out-of-state owners must designate an in-state statutory agent. The statute makes these records public, which helps a lot when an Arizona rental is owned by an LLC. Directory page: Maricopa County, Arizona.

Harris County, Texas: HCAD, then the clerk’s name index

In Texas the appraisal district holds the owner of record. The Harris Central Appraisal District (HCAD) search help (opens in a new tab) shows results listed by 13-digit account number, owner name, and site address. Searches ignore capitalization and accept partial names. HCAD says its online data is “usually refreshed every night,” so give a correction three days before you call.

How owner names get updated. HCAD’s FAQ (opens in a new tab) says title companies don’t notify it in most cases. HCAD receives transaction reports for deeds filed at the County Clerk’s office, and it tells new owners to file Form 25.25(b)RP, “Request to Correct Name or Address on a Real Property Account,” with a copy of the recorded deed, closing statement, or probated will.

Confirming with the deed. The Harris County Clerk’s real property search (opens in a new tab) has no street-address field. You search by grantor, grantee, trustee, file number, date range, or subdivision, section, lot, and block. That is the usual pattern at recorders: get the owner’s name and legal description from HCAD first, then search the clerk by name. Images go back to November 1, 1960. The clerk says a document can take 1 to 2 business days to show up after it has been processed for recording.

Tax office. The Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector’s search (opens in a new tab) accepts an owner name as well as an account number or address. That helps when you know the owner and want to see every account billed to them. Directory page: Harris County, Texas.

Cook County, Illinois: taxpayer name vs. owner, and a clerk search by address

Cook County is a good example of why “the name on the tax bill” and “the owner” can differ. The Cook County Property Tax Portal FAQ (opens in a new tab) says your name and address information appears on the tax bill, the assessment notice, and the Treasurer’s website. That is the taxpayer name and mailing address, which is where bills go. The assessor’s published data keeps a taxpayer mailing name and an owner mailing name in separate fields, and it warns that owner names are updated only intermittently.

Confirming with the deed. The Cook County Clerk’s recordings search (opens in a new tab) finds land records by address, PIN, grantor, or grantee. That makes Cook one of the easier counties for going straight from an address to the latest deed. The Clerk’s recording FAQ (opens in a new tab) says you can buy e-certified and non-certified copies online for documents recorded after 1985. Older documents are sold at the Clerk’s office.

Your own home. The Clerk also offers a free Property Fraud Alert (opens in a new tab) that calls or emails you when a document is recorded against your property. Directory page: Cook County, Illinois.

Los Angeles County, California: no owner names online

The LA County Assessor Portal (opens in a new tab) shows the parcel, values, and use, but no owner name. The county’s property tax FAQ (opens in a new tab) says the Assessor “does not provide owner name information on its website.” Instead you can:

1. call or visit one of the Assessor’s office locations (opens in a new tab); or
2. use the “Specific Property” tab on the Assessor’s contact form (opens in a new tab) and give the AIN or the full address.

Confirming with the deed. The Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk doesn’t put deeds or indexes online either. Its records page (opens in a new tab) cites the state ban on posting officials’ home addresses online and says the office can’t identify which records contain one. Its FAQ (opens in a new tab) says the records are filed by grantor name, grantee name, and year of recording, not by address. You search the indexes in person at the Norwalk headquarters or order copies online, by mail, or in person. Get the owner’s name from the Assessor first. Directory page: Los Angeles County, California.

LA is not unusual in California. The Sacramento County Assessor (opens in a new tab) also keeps ownership off its website. It will look up the owner for up to two parcels a day by email or phone if you give the address or parcel number. It won’t search by owner name, and its office has public computers for self-service lookups.

The four counties side by side

Confirm the owner with the deed

The assessor’s owner name comes from the deed records, so the deed is the better source. At the recorder, register of deeds, or county clerk:

• Search the owner’s name as a grantee. The deed that transferred the property to them should be there. Try the name with and without middle initials, and try the entity name exactly as the assessor shows it.
• Then search the same name as a grantor. A deed from that owner, recorded after the one they received, means they may have sold or transferred it since.
• Match the legal description or parcel number. People with common names own many properties. The lot, block, and subdivision, or the parcel number, tie the deed to the right land.
• Read the deed itself if you can. The index won’t tell you that the grantee is “John Smith, Trustee of the Smith Family Trust” or that two people took title as joint tenants. The document will.

Our sibling guide on deed searches and the recorder of deeds covers grantor-grantee indexes, chain of title, and copy fees in detail. If you need to know whether the owner owes money against the property, see how to check for liens.

When the owner is an LLC, corporation, or trust

LLCs and corporations

If the owner block says “LLC,” “Inc.,” “LP,” or “Corp.,” search that exact name in the business registry of the state where it was formed or registered. In most states that is the secretary of state. In Arizona it is the Arizona Corporation Commission. The National Association of Secretaries of State keeps a state-by-state list of business registration offices (opens in a new tab).

What you’ll find varies by state:

• Registered agent. Every state requires one. It is the person or company that accepts legal papers for the business. It is often a commercial agent service, not the owner.
• Managers, members, or officers. Many states list them on the formation filing or the annual report. Some, including Delaware, don’t list them in the free search. Delaware’s entity search (opens in a new tab) shows the name, file number, formation date, and registered agent for free, and charges for more.
• Principal office address. This can differ from the mailing address on the tax record. Both are worth noting.
• Status. A dissolved or forfeited company still holds title until it transfers the property. Status tells you whether anyone is actively running it.

In Texas, the Comptroller’s franchise tax account search is free, and the Secretary of State charges $1 per search. Our property record lookup guide covers both.

If the LLC is registered out of state, check the state where it was formed too. When an LLC is owned by another LLC, follow the chain one company at a time. Some people use layered companies on purpose to stay private, and at some point the public record runs out.

Don’t count on the federal beneficial ownership database. FinCEN says that information is kept in a “secure, non-public database,” (opens in a new tab) and since March 2025 it has exempted companies created in the United States (opens in a new tab) from reporting at all. An August 2026 final rule made that exemption permanent.

Trusts

Real estate held in a trust is legally owned by the trustee. The tax record may show the trust’s name (“Smith Family Trust”), the trustee’s name followed by “TR” or “Trustee,” or just the person who created the trust. The deed usually names both the trustee and the trust. The trust agreement itself is a private document and usually isn’t recorded, so the beneficiaries aren’t listed anywhere public.

To find the person behind a trust, read the latest deed for the trustee’s name and mailing address. Some recorders index trustees separately. Harris County’s clerk search, for example, has a Trustee field.

Estates and heirs

When an owner dies, the record may keep their name for years, or show “Estate of” or “Heirs of.” The property passes through probate, a transfer-on-death deed, joint ownership, or a trust, and the assessor updates the name only after it gets a recorded document. To find who is in charge, search the probate court records in the county where the owner lived for an estate case and the appointed executor or administrator. Wills are filed with the probate court, not the recorder. LA County’s recorder, for example, sends will requests to the Clerk of the Superior Court. In Texas, an heir may record an affidavit of heirship, and HCAD accepts a probated will as evidence for a name change. Our guide for heirs covers the tax side.

Governments, associations, and utilities

Strips of land, retention ponds, private roads, and pool lots in a subdivision often belong to a homeowners or condominium association. Other parcels belong to a city, county, school district, railroad, or utility. The owner block will show that entity. Contact its property, real estate, or right-of-way office. The mailing address and “in care of” line on the tax record usually point there.

Condos, rentals, vacant land, and rural parcels

Condos and townhomes

Each condo unit is usually its own parcel with its own owner. Search the building address and look for the unit number in the results or the legal description. Common areas, and in some places parking spaces, carry separate parcel numbers owned by the association or by individual owners. Cook County, for example, gives condo common areas and parking spaces their own PINs.

Apartments and rented houses

An apartment building is usually one parcel, so the owner of record is the landlord or the landlord’s company, not the tenants. If you rent, your state may require the landlord to tell you who the owner is. Texas Property Code §92.201 (opens in a new tab) requires a landlord to disclose the name and address of the holder of record title, plus any off-site management company, within seven days of a tenant’s request. Some cities also run rental registration programs. Ask the city’s code enforcement or housing office.

Vacant land and rural property with no address

Land without a street address won’t come up in an address search. Use the county’s GIS parcel map instead. Find the land on the map or the aerial photo, click the parcel, and read the owner and parcel number. If the map doesn’t show owners, copy the parcel number into the assessor’s search. Neighbors’ addresses help you find the right spot on the map. Our guide to county GIS parcel maps explains why map lines are approximate, and our guides to plat maps and legal descriptions help you match rural tracts.

Farmland can also be split into several parcels with the same owner, or carry a farm or ranch name instead of a person’s name. Searching the owner name usually brings up the rest of their parcels.

City and town assessors

In Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Rhode Island, New Jersey, most of New York outside New York City, Michigan, and Wisconsin, the owner of record lives with the municipal assessor. A county search there often comes up empty. Find the town’s online database or ask for the property record card. Our guide to town assessor property records lists the search tools and deed offices for each of these states.

Two shortcuts. New Jersey’s county boards of taxation run a tax-record search that covers every town and can be searched by owner name, although state law hides some owners’ details. In New York City, the Department of Finance’s Property Information Portal (opens in a new tab) has an Owner field. ACRIS (opens in a new tab) has deeds and document images for Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx, and Brooklyn from 1966 on. Staten Island isn’t included.

Why owner names differ between records

It is common for the assessor, the tax bill, and the recorder to show different names for a while. Here’s why, and which one to trust:

If two records disagree, trust the most recent recorded deed. A deed recorded after the assessor’s “last deed date” means the assessor hasn’t caught up yet. A name on the assessor’s site with no matching deed is worth asking the assessor about. Sometimes an owner changed only the mailing name, or a deed was misindexed.

Hidden and confidential owners

A blank owner field, “confidential,” or a missing record is usually deliberate. Every state on this list makes it a legal right for qualified people:

Sources: Texas Form 50-284 lists the qualifying groups. The California Board of Equalization’s May 2026 letter to assessors (opens in a new tab) covers §7928.205 and the 2026 expansion. California’s rule is the one LA County’s recorder cites for keeping its indexes offline. New Jersey also restricts some owners’ details in its tax-record search, as our town assessor guide notes.

If an owner is hidden, a paid site has no lawful better answer, and you shouldn’t try to get around it. For a real legal need, such as serving papers, a title search, or a boundary dispute, work through a title company, an attorney, or the court. They have proper ways to reach a protected owner.

How to contact a property owner

The mailing address on the tax record is the best official way to reach an owner. It is where the county sends the tax bill, and owners have a reason to keep it current. If there’s an “in care of” line, address the letter that way.

A short letter works better than a knock on the door. Include:

• the property address and parcel number, so they know exactly which property you mean;
• who you are and why you’re writing (buying, a shared fence, a tree, a drainage problem, a damaged car, a lost pet);
• how to reach you, and a reasonable time to reply; and
• for an LLC, a copy sent to its registered agent or principal office as well.

Assessor records rarely include phone numbers or email addresses. For safety or code problems at a vacant or neglected property, such as an open pool, a collapsing structure, or overgrowth, call the city or county code enforcement office. It can contact the owner officially. For a legal claim, ask an attorney about the right way to serve notice.

Why you don’t need a people-search site

Search for “who owns this house” and many top results are paid lookup sites. They aren’t needed for this:

• The owner name is free from the county. Paid sites copy assessor and recorder data and resell it, often behind a “full report” fee.
• Their copy can be stale. They update on their own schedule, so recent sales and corrections may be missing.
• They guess at matches. Many link owner names to phone numbers, relatives, and old addresses by matching names, so two people with the same name can get mixed up.
• They can’t fix anything. Only the assessor can correct an owner name or mailing address, and only the recorder holds the deed.
• They don’t override confidentiality. If the county withholds a protected owner, that’s the law working as designed.

Title companies and abstractors are a different thing. They search the official records professionally and stand behind the result, so use one when the answer matters.

Using owner information responsibly

Owner names are public so that tax and land records can be checked. Use them for legitimate purposes, such as contacting a neighbor, researching a purchase, or checking your own record. Don’t use an owner lookup to harass, trespass, or show up uninvited. Don’t assume that the person named lives at the property: the mailing address often shows they don’t.

Look yourself up too. Check that your name, mailing address, and exemptions are right on the assessor’s record. If your recorder offers a free fraud alert, like Cook County’s, sign up so you hear about any document recorded against your home. If the owner name or mailing address on your own record is wrong, our guide to correcting assessment record errors explains how to fix it.

Frequently asked questions

How can I find out who owns a property for free?

Search the address on the county assessor’s, appraisal district’s, or town assessor’s official website and read the owner of record. Then confirm the name in the recorder’s or county clerk’s deed index. Both are free to search in most places. Our county directory links to the official property search for each county.

Can I find the owner of a house by address?

Yes, in most counties. Enter only the house number and street name in the assessor’s search, then match the city and legal description. A few counties, including Los Angeles and Sacramento in California, don’t show owner names online but will give you the name for a specific address on request.

Is the owner of record the legal owner?

Usually, but not always. The owner of record is the name in the tax office’s files, copied from deeds. It can lag a recent sale, and it doesn’t show liens, divorces, or unrecorded transfers. The recorded deed is better evidence, and a title search is the only reliable answer for a purchase or loan.

How do I find out who owns an LLC that owns a property?

Search the LLC’s exact name in the business registry of the state where it was formed. You’ll find its registered agent and, in many states, its managers, members, or officers. In Arizona, residential rentals owned by an LLC must also be registered with the county assessor, including the managing member’s name.

Why doesn’t the county website show an owner name?

The county may keep names offline for everyone, as Los Angeles and Sacramento do, or the owner may have a legal right to confidentiality. Texas, Arizona, and Florida have such laws for officers, judges, abuse victims, and others, and California has one for elected and appointed officials, including judges and public safety officials. Contact the assessor for a non-confidential owner. Protected owners stay protected.

How do I find the owner of vacant land with no address?

Use the county’s GIS parcel map. Find the land, click the parcel, and read the owner name and parcel number. Then look up that parcel number on the assessor’s site. You can also search a neighboring address and work outward on the map.

How often are property owner records updated?

The recorder’s index is usually current within a few business days. Assessor websites can take weeks: Maricopa County says 4 to 8 weeks for an ordinary sale. Some tax rolls show the owner as of January 1 until the next roll. For a recent sale, check the deed index.

Can I get a property owner’s phone number from the county?

Generally no. Assessor and recorder records give a name and mailing address, not phone numbers or email. Write to the mailing address on the tax record, or to an LLC’s registered agent.

Start with the official source. Find your county’s property search and records offices.