Property Deed Search: How to Find a Deed at the Recorder’s Office

To find a property deed, search the land records of the office that records deeds in the county where the property sits. Depending on the state, that office is the county recorder, register of deeds, recorder of deeds, county clerk, clerk of the circuit court, or a town clerk. It is not the assessor. Search the grantor-grantee index by the owner’s name, or use the document number or book and page from the assessor’s record, then open or order a copy. Index searches are free in most counties, and copies usually cost a few dollars.

This guide covers what that office is called in every state, how each type of search works, worked lookups in Cook County, Maricopa County, and New York City, and what copies cost. It also explains how to trace a chain of title and sales history and what to do about a lost deed. It ends with the free alerts that warn you when someone records a document against your home.

The short answer

• The assessor doesn’t keep deeds. The assessor values property. Deeds, mortgages, and liens are recorded by a separate office, usually the county recorder, register of deeds, or county clerk. In some states it is a court clerk or a town clerk.
• Start with the assessor’s page anyway. Many assessor records show the last deed’s document number, recording date, and sale price. Carry that number to the recorder’s search and you skip the name search entirely.
• Search by name in the grantor-grantee index. The grantor is the seller or giver and the grantee is the buyer or receiver. Most offices also search by document or instrument number, book and page, and sometimes parcel number.
• Copies are cheap, and you don’t need the original. The recorded copy is the official record. Maricopa County charges $1 a page plus $3 to certify. Ignore mailers offering a “certified deed” for much more.
• Sale prices are not always public. Texas, Kansas, Montana, Wyoming, and most of Missouri keep prices confidential or don’t collect them, and Utah, Idaho, New Mexico, Mississippi, and Alaska are usually counted as non-disclosure states too. Transfer-tax stamps on a deed can reveal the price where a state taxes transfers.
• Sign up for a free fraud alert. Cook, Maricopa, Harris, Miami-Dade, and New York City will notify you when a document is recorded against your property or under your name. Los Angeles County mails owners copies automatically.

Assessor vs. recorder: who has the deed

The assessor (appraisal district in Texas, property appraiser in Florida) keeps the tax roll: value, owner of record, exemptions, and building details. The recording office keeps the land records: every deed, mortgage, release, lien, easement, and plat that someone has filed. The assessor updates its owner name from the recorded deed, often weeks later. That is why a new owner can show on the recorder’s index before the tax roll changes. Our guide to a tax bill still in the previous owner’s name explains that lag.

The owner name on an assessor page is useful, but it is not proof of title. The deed, and the chain of deeds before it, is what shows how ownership passed. For a full map of which county office holds which record, see how to look up property records by address. Our county directory links each county’s official assessor, tax collector, and GIS map.

What the recording office is called in each state

The office name trips up more searches than anything else. Searching for “recorder of deeds” in a state that uses the circuit clerk, or for the county in a state that records by town, sends people to the wrong website or to a paid look-alike. We checked each entry against a state statute, a state agency, or an official county site in October 2026. Titles vary inside some states, so confirm on the county’s own website.

Selected sources: Alaska Recorder’s Office (opens in a new tab), A.R.S. §11-461 (opens in a new tab), Colorado County Clerks Association (opens in a new tab), Connecticut General Statutes ch. 92 (opens in a new tab), DC Recorder of Deeds (opens in a new tab), Fla. Stat. §28.222 (opens in a new tab), Hawaii Bureau of Conveyances (opens in a new tab), Iowa Code §331.602 (opens in a new tab), K.S.A. 19-1201 (opens in a new tab), La. R.S. 13:751 (opens in a new tab), Maine Title 33, ch. 11 (opens in a new tab), Minn. Stat. ch. 386 (opens in a new tab) and ch. 508 (opens in a new tab), RSMo 59.090 (opens in a new tab), NYC Department of Finance (opens in a new tab), and the Southern Essex Registry of Deeds (opens in a new tab).

What you need before you search

Any one of these gets you to the right deed. The more you have, the faster it goes.

• A document or instrument number. The unique number stamped on a document when it is recorded. Offices call it an instrument number, document number, recording number, reception number, file number, or, in New York City, a CRFN.
• A book and page. Older records, and many current ones, are cited by the volume (book, liber, or reel) and page where they were copied. “Book 1234, Page 567” points to exactly one document.
• Names and an approximate date. The current owner’s name (as grantee) and roughly when they bought. A two- or three-year window keeps name searches manageable.
• The parcel number. Some recorders index by parcel or PIN, including Cook County and New York City (by borough-block-lot). Our parcel number guide covers formats.
• The legal description. Subdivision, lot, and block, or section-township-range. Many systems can search by subdivision and lot. See our guide to the legal description of a property.

Get the deed reference from the assessor’s page

This is the shortcut most people miss. Many assessor records list the last recorded deed:

• Maricopa County, Arizona: the assessor’s parcel page (opens in a new tab) shows Deed Number, Last Deed Date, Sale Date, and Sale Price. The deed number is the recorder’s recording number.
• Los Angeles County, California: the assessor portal’s (opens in a new tab) history section lists recording dates and document numbers, with sale prices derived from the documentary transfer tax.
• Cook County, Illinois: the treasurer’s property tax portal (opens in a new tab) pulls in deed and lien information from the Clerk’s recordings alongside the tax data.

Copy the number exactly, then paste it into the recorder’s document-number search. If the assessor shows only a sale date, use it to narrow a name search.

How to do a property deed search, step by step

1. Confirm the county (or town). A mailing city can lie in another county. In Connecticut, Vermont, and Rhode Island, go to the town. Use the county directory if unsure.
2. Find the recording office’s own website. Use the name from the table above. Official sites end in .gov or are linked from the county’s site. Ads at the top of search results are often paid record sellers.
3. Pull identifiers from the assessor record. Note the owner name, parcel number, legal description, and any deed number or sale date.
4. Search by document number if you have one. It returns a single hit. Otherwise search by book and page, then by parcel, then by name.
5. For a name search, start with the current owner as grantee. Use last name first if the form asks for it, and try a date range around the purchase. Then filter by document type, such as “deed,” “warranty deed,” or “quitclaim.”
6. Open the index entry and check it matches. Compare the legal description, parcel number, and names to the assessor record. A common name returns deeds for other properties.
7. View or order the image. Some offices show images free, some show a watermarked image, and some charge per page. Order a certified copy only if a court, agency, or lender asks for one.
8. Save the citation. Write down the document number, recording date, and book and page. Those let you, a title company, or a court find the deed again instantly.

The search methods, explained

Worked examples: three large counties

We checked these official sites in October 2026. Screens change, but the steps hold.

Cook County, Illinois: the Clerk’s Recordings Division

Cook County no longer has a Recorder of Deeds. Since December 2020 the job belongs to the Cook County Clerk’s Recordings Division (opens in a new tab), which “records, stores and maintains land records.” Old links to the Recorder’s website no longer work.

1. Get the 14-digit PIN from the tax bill or the Cook County property tax portal (opens in a new tab).
2. Open the Clerk’s recordings search (opens in a new tab). It searches by address, PIN, grantor, and grantee.
3. Search the PIN. The results list every recorded document on that parcel: deeds, mortgages, releases, and liens.
4. Open the latest deed to see the current grantee, then work backward through earlier deeds for the chain of title.

Online records go back to 1985. Older documents are in tract books, which you search in person at the Clerk’s office at 118 N. Clark Street in Chicago. Copies are priced per document, not per page. Under the Clerk’s fee schedule (opens in a new tab), a non-certified download is $5, a non-certified paper copy $27.50, a certified paper copy $55, and a certified PDF $65. Directory page: Cook County, Illinois.

Maricopa County, Arizona: the County Recorder

1. Find the parcel on the Maricopa County Assessor (opens in a new tab) site and copy the Deed Number.
2. Open the Recorder’s recorded document search (opens in a new tab). It searches by recording number, docket and page (book and page), name, document code, and date range.
3. Paste the deed number into the recording-number field. The index entry lists the grantor, grantee, document type, and recording date.
4. View the unofficial image free, or buy an official copy.

The name index runs from 1871 to the present. The Recorder’s FAQ (opens in a new tab) says copies are $1.00 per page and certification is $3.00 more, ordered online, in person, or by mail. Directory page: Maricopa County, Arizona.

New York City: ACRIS

Deeds in Manhattan, the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens are recorded by the Department of Finance’s City Register. ACRIS (opens in a new tab) lets you search these records and view document images from 1966 to the present. Staten Island is different: its deeds are with the Richmond County Clerk (opens in a new tab).

1. Find the property’s borough-block-lot (BBL) on the tax bill or through ACRIS’s own BBL lookup.
2. In ACRIS (opens in a new tab), choose “Search Property Records,” then search by parcel identifier (BBL), party name, document type, or document ID.
3. Filter to deeds, then open the image and read the grantor, grantee, and legal description.
4. Note the CRFN (City Register File Number). It is the citation for the document. Older documents also carry a reel and page.

For records before 1966, contact the City Register’s borough offices. Directory pages: New York County (Manhattan), Kings County (Brooklyn), Queens County, and Richmond County (Staten Island).

The exception: Los Angeles County

Not every big county puts deeds online. The Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk “does not provide online access to our real estate records or indexes.” It cites Government Code §6254.21 (now renumbered §7928.205), which bars posting elected and appointed officials’ home addresses online. Records are indexed by name and year, not by address. You search them in person in Norwalk or request copies by mail. A certified copy costs $6 for the first page and $3 for each additional page, according to the county’s viewing page (opens in a new tab). If you have the document number from the assessor portal, include it in the request. Directory page: Los Angeles County, California.

Harris County, Texas, is covered in our property records lookup guide. Its county clerk’s images go back to November 1, 1960.

Types of deeds you will find

The document title tells you what kind of promise came with the transfer. It does not change who owns the property after it is recorded, but it matters when you judge how clean the chain of title is.

A deed of trust confuses many searchers. The Los Angeles County Recorder’s glossary of document types (opens in a new tab) defines it as an instrument “by which title to land is transferred to a trustee as security for a debt.” The borrower still owns the home. When the loan is paid off, a reconveyance or release is recorded. Don’t mistake the lender or trustee named in it for the owner.

Texas spells out the narrow promises behind a “grant” deed. Under Property Code §5.023 (opens in a new tab), the words “grant” or “convey” imply only that the grantor hasn’t already conveyed the property to someone else and that it is free from encumbrances. On TOD deeds, see Texas Estates Code ch. 114 (opens in a new tab) and California Probate Code §5600 (opens in a new tab). California’s TOD law currently runs until January 1, 2032. If you are taking over a home after a death, our inherited property guide covers the tax side.

What is in a deed

• Grantor and grantee: who transferred the property and who received it, and how the grantees hold title (for example, joint tenants or as trustee of a named trust).
• Legal description: the lot and block, metes and bounds, or survey description that defines the land. This, not the street address, identifies the property.
• Consideration: the price, or a nominal phrase such as “ten dollars and other good and valuable consideration.” Many deeds don’t state the real price.
• Words of conveyance and any warranties.
• Exceptions and reservations: easements, mineral rights kept by the seller, restrictions, and the subdivision plat reference.
• Signature and notary acknowledgment.
• Recording stamp: the document number, book and page, recording date and time, and fees and transfer taxes paid.
• Often: the parcel number, who prepared the deed, and where to mail tax bills.

Deed copies: plain vs. certified, and what they cost

A plain (uncertified) copy is fine for your files, research, or checking a legal description. A certified copy carries the recorder’s seal and signature confirming it is a true copy. Courts, government agencies, and some lenders and title companies ask for one. Neither one is “the deed” in a legal sense. The recorded record is.

Sources: Harris County Clerk fee schedule (opens in a new tab), Maricopa County Recorder FAQ (opens in a new tab), Miami-Dade Clerk official records (opens in a new tab), Cook County Clerk recording fees (opens in a new tab), LA County Registrar-Recorder (opens in a new tab), and NYC Department of Finance (opens in a new tab). A search fee can apply if you don’t give the office a document number or year. Miami-Dade, for example, adds $2 per name per year searched for certified copy requests.

Beware of “certified deed” mailers

After a purchase, many owners get official-looking letters offering a certified copy of their deed for a large fee. Los Angeles County warns that these letters can ask “as much as $200,” while the county itself charges $6 for the first page and $3 for each additional page. See its mail solicitation alert (opens in a new tab). You never need to buy your deed from a private company.

How far back online records go, and finding older deeds

Online coverage depends on how far back each office has scanned. From the examples above: Maricopa’s name index starts in 1871, DC’s images in 1921, Harris County’s images in 1960, New York City’s in 1966, Miami-Dade’s in 1974, and Cook County’s online records in 1985. Many smaller counties have scanned only from the 1990s or 2000s.

For anything older:

1. Check the office’s website for older indexes. Some put old index books online as page images even when the deeds themselves aren’t searchable.
2. Get a book and page reference. Each deed usually cites the deed before it (“being the same property conveyed by deed recorded in Book 412, Page 88”). That lets you jump back one sale at a time without a name search.
3. Visit in person. Most recording offices have public terminals, microfilm readers, and the original record books or tract books. Staff can show you how the old indexes are organized.
4. Request by mail. Most offices will search and copy for a fee if you give a name and a range of years. Los Angeles County requires it, since its records aren’t online.
5. Try the state archives. Very old county records are sometimes transferred to the state archives. Ask the recorder where pre-statehood or 19th-century books are kept.

How to trace chain of title and ownership history

A chain of title is the sequence of recorded transfers from the current owner back to an earlier owner. Each grantee should appear as the grantor on the next deed. A property history search done this way gives you the ownership history of the property and, where prices are recorded, its sales history.

1. Start with the current deed. Find it by document number from the assessor page or by searching the current owner as grantee.
2. Read the grantor and the prior-deed reference. The grantor is the previous owner. Many deeds cite the prior deed by book and page or document number.
3. Search the grantor as grantee. Find the deed by which the previous owner acquired the property. Confirm the legal description matches.
4. Repeat. Work back as far as you need. A title company typically searches back a set number of years or to a reliable starting point.
5. Search each owner as grantor during their ownership. This shows mortgages, easements, and other documents they signed. Also look for releases that paid off each mortgage.
6. Note the gaps. A break, where no deed explains how someone got title, often means a death, divorce, foreclosure, or name change. The missing link may be in probate or court records rather than the land records.
7. Build a simple table. List each deed’s date, document number, grantor, grantee, deed type, and price or transfer tax. That table is your ownership and sales history.

Common reasons a chain breaks: an owner died and the property passed through probate or a TOD deed; an LLC or trust name changed; a name was spelled differently; or a lot was split or combined, so the legal description changed. For liens and pending lawsuits recorded against a property, see our guide on how to check for liens on a property. If the legal description changes partway through, our guide to plat maps and lot and block helps you follow it.

Why the sale price may not appear

Many deeds state only a nominal price. Whether the real price becomes public depends on state law.

Non-disclosure states

Some states keep sale prices out of the public record:

• Texas: sale prices given to appraisal districts or the Comptroller are confidential under Tax Code §22.27 (opens in a new tab) and Government Code §552.149 (opens in a new tab).
• Kansas: the sales validation questionnaire is available only to the officials and other parties listed in K.S.A. 79-1437f (opens in a new tab).
• Montana: the realty transfer certificate “is not a public record” under MCA 15-7-308 (opens in a new tab).
• Wyoming: the sales statement “is not a public record” under W.S. 34-1-142(e) (Title 34 (opens in a new tab)).
• Missouri: the State Tax Commission’s 2024 report (opens in a new tab) says Missouri is one of “only six states” that don’t require sales data disclosure. St. Louis City, St. Louis County, Jackson County, and St. Charles County require it locally.
• Utah: no law requires sale prices to be disclosed. A 2026 bill to require price disclosure to assessors, H.B. 441 (opens in a new tab), did not pass.
• Others: Idaho, New Mexico, Mississippi, and Alaska are also usually counted as non-disclosure states. New Mexico collects a sales affidavit for residential sales but keeps it confidential. Check with the county assessor.

Lists of “non-disclosure states” online are often out of date. North Dakota, for example, now requires most deeds to state the full consideration paid under N.D.C.C. 11-18-02.2 (opens in a new tab). In a non-disclosure state, the assessor may show no price at all, and the only sources are the buyer, the seller, or the agents.

Transfer tax stamps as a clue

Where a state or county taxes transfers, the tax paid is printed on the deed or recording stamp, and you can work back to the price.

• California: the county documentary transfer tax is $0.55 per $500 of value, or $1.10 per $1,000, under Revenue and Taxation Code §11911 (opens in a new tab). Some cities add their own tax.
• Florida: documentary stamp tax on deeds is 70 cents per $100 under Fla. Stat. §201.02 (opens in a new tab). Miami-Dade’s rate is 60 cents per $100, plus a 45-cent surtax that doesn’t apply to single-family homes, per the Florida Department of Revenue (opens in a new tab).

Hypothetical example. A deed for a home in an unincorporated part of a California county shows county documentary transfer tax of $715. $715 ÷ $1.10 × 1,000 = $650,000. In Florida outside Miami-Dade, $2,450 in doc stamps ÷ $0.70 × 100 = $350,000. Treat the result as an estimate. California’s tax excludes liens that stay on the property, city taxes may be added, and exemptions apply to some transfers.

Los Angeles County’s assessor works the same way. Its displayed sale prices come from the transfer tax, and our property records guide explains why they sometimes look slightly off.

Abstract of title, title search, and title insurance

These three are related but not the same.

Iowa is the notable exception. Its insurance code bars insurers from writing title insurance on Iowa property (Iowa Code §515.48(10) (opens in a new tab)). Instead, Iowa Title Guaranty (opens in a new tab), a state program, is “Iowa’s exclusive title coverage provider,” working with attorneys and abstractors. The CFPB explains (opens in a new tab) that most lenders require a lender’s policy and that an owner’s policy is optional.

When to hire a title company or attorney

A do-it-yourself deed search is fine for curiosity, finding your own deed, checking a neighbor’s owner of record, or early research before an offer. Bring in a title company or real estate attorney when money or rights depend on the answer: buying or lending, a gap or error in the chain, a boundary or easement dispute, heirs’ property, a suspected forged deed, or a quiet title action. A professional search also covers court, probate, and tax records the land index doesn’t show.

Deed fraud and free property alerts

In deed fraud, also called title theft, someone records a forged deed to make it look like they own your property, then sells it or borrows against it. Vacant land and homes without a mortgage are common targets. In a June 2026 public service announcement (opens in a new tab), the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center warned that criminals “impersonate the owners of vacant property parcels” to sell them. It advised owners to check whether their county recorder, register of deeds, appraisal district, or county clerk offers notification services.

Many do, and the official ones are free:

An alert cannot stop a forged document from being recorded, but it tells you quickly. If you get one you didn’t expect, pull the document, contact the recorder’s fraud unit if it has one, report it to local law enforcement, and talk to a real estate attorney about clearing the title. Private companies sell “title monitoring” for a monthly fee. Check first whether your county offers the same thing free.

Lost your deed? You probably don’t need the original

Once a deed is recorded, the recording office’s copy is the public record of the transfer, and the signed original is normally returned after recording. Losing that original does not affect your ownership. Los Angeles County lists “lost or misplaced the original recorded Grant Deed” as a normal reason to order a copy from the county.

1. Find the deed in the recorder’s index by your name as grantee, or by the deed number on the assessor page.
2. Order a plain copy for your files, or a certified copy if a court or agency asks for one.
3. When you sell or refinance, the title company works from the recorded record, not your paper original.

Recording matters, though. Under Texas Property Code §13.001, an unrecorded deed is still binding on the parties and their heirs but is void against a later buyer for value who had no notice. Recording a deed gives public notice of it (Property Code ch. 13 (opens in a new tab); California Civil Code §1213 (opens in a new tab) and §1214 (opens in a new tab) are similar). If you can’t find your deed in the index at all, it may never have been recorded. Contact the title or closing company that handled the sale right away.

Why a deed search returns nothing

Find the official offices for any county in our county directory. To identify the owner first, see how to find a property owner by address.

Frequently asked questions

How do I find the deed to my property for free?

Search the official land records of the county recorder, register of deeds, or county clerk where the property is. Most offices let you search the index free and many show images free or with a free account. Use the document number on the assessor’s record, or search your name as grantee. You only pay if you want an official or certified copy.

What is the difference between the register of deeds and the recorder of deeds?

Nothing, in practice. Both are names for the office that records deeds and other land documents. Kansas, Michigan, North Carolina, and Wisconsin use “register of deeds.” Delaware, Missouri, and Pennsylvania use “recorder of deeds.” Other states use county recorder, county clerk, or a court clerk.

What is a grantor-grantee index?

It is the main name index of recorded documents. Each document is listed under the grantor (the seller, or the borrower on a mortgage) and the grantee (the buyer, or the lender). Searching an owner as grantee finds how they acquired the property. Searching them as grantor finds what they sold or mortgaged.

Can I search for a deed by address?

Sometimes. Cook County’s recordings search accepts an address, but many recorders index only by name, document number, book and page, or legal description. If the address search fails, look up the address on the assessor’s site first and carry over the owner name, parcel number, or deed number.

How do I find the ownership history of a property?

Trace the chain of title. Start with the current deed, note the grantor, then search that person as grantee to find the deed before it, and repeat. Many deeds cite the prior deed’s book and page. Record each deed’s date, parties, and price or transfer tax for a full sales history.

Is a deed of trust the same as a deed?

No. A deed of trust secures a mortgage loan. It names a trustee who holds title as security until the loan is repaid, while the borrower owns and lives in the home. A deed, such as a warranty or grant deed, is what transfers ownership.

What is an abstract of title?

A condensed history of every recorded document affecting a property, compiled by an abstractor and updated at each sale. An attorney reviews it to give a title opinion. Abstracts are still common in some states, such as Iowa, while most of the country relies on title searches and title insurance.

Do I need the original deed to sell my house?

No. The recorded copy at the county is the official record, and the title company works from it. If you’ve lost the original, order a copy from the recording office for a few dollars. Don’t pay a private company that mails you an offer.