Property records are official documents that show who owns a parcel of real estate, what it is worth, and the history of sales and liens against it. In the United States they are maintained by county recorders, registers of deeds, and county assessors, and most are searchable online for free directly through those official government offices.
Last Updated: June 2026 · Reviewed quarterly by the Searchadex editorial team.
A property record is the public paper trail of a piece of real estate. It typically includes the recorded deed (which names the current and previous owners), the legal description and parcel number, the assessed value used for property taxes, and any recorded liens, mortgages, or easements. These records exist so that ownership can be proven and transfers can be tracked transparently.
Unlike business filings, property records are decentralized. There is no national property database — responsibility sits with roughly 3,000 counties and county-equivalents. Two offices usually share the work: the County Recorder (or Register of Deeds) holds recorded documents like deeds and mortgages, while the County Assessor maintains valuation and parcel data used for taxation.
Because the data is local, the official portal you need depends on the county, not the state. Many states publish a statewide parcel viewer or a directory of county sites, but the authoritative ownership document — the deed — is almost always recorded and searched at the county level.
Most states offer free online assessor and parcel data; recorded deeds are sometimes behind a county login or a small certified-copy fee. The table below summarizes online access for the 15 most-populated states.
| State | Free Online? | Official Portal | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | Partial | County Assessor & Recorder portals (e.g. LA County, Cook-style) | Assessor data is free; recorded deeds often require a county login or copy fee. |
| Texas | Yes | County Appraisal District (CAD) sites | Each county's CAD publishes owner, value, and parcel maps free online. |
| Florida | Yes | County Property Appraiser sites | Florida's Sunshine Law makes appraiser and tax-roll data broadly free. |
| New York | Yes | ACRIS (NYC) + county clerk sites | NYC's ACRIS offers free deed images; upstate uses county clerk portals. |
| Pennsylvania | Partial | County Recorder of Deeds sites | Assessment data is free; deed images may require a subscription in some counties. |
| Illinois | Yes | County Assessor / Recorder (e.g. Cook County) | Cook County Assessor and Recorder both offer robust free search. |
| Ohio | Yes | County Auditor + Recorder sites | County Auditor sites provide free parcel, value, and sales data. |
| Georgia | Yes | qPublic county GIS + Tax Assessor sites | Many counties use the free qPublic.net parcel viewer. |
| North Carolina | Yes | County Register of Deeds + GIS | Most counties publish free GIS and deed search tools. |
| Michigan | Partial | County Register of Deeds + local assessor | Assessor data free; deed images often via paid county portals. |
| New Jersey | Yes | NJ ACRIS-style county clerk + NJ Parcels | Statewide NJ tax records are free; deeds via county clerk. |
| Virginia | Partial | County/City Real Estate Assessor + Circuit Court | Assessment data free; deeds via Circuit Court land records (some fees). |
| Washington | Yes | County Assessor + Auditor (e.g. King County) | King County and most counties offer free parcel and recorded-document search. |
| Arizona | Yes | County Assessor + Recorder (e.g. Maricopa) | Maricopa County Assessor and Recorder both free online. |
| Tennessee | Yes | County Assessor of Property + Register of Deeds | State Comptroller hosts a free statewide assessment data viewer. |
Yes. Real property ownership records are public in all 50 states. Recorded deeds, parcel data, and assessed values are maintained by county recorders and assessors and are available to anyone, usually online and free.
Search the County Assessor or Property Appraiser website for the county where the property sits, using the street address or parcel number. The 'owner of record' is listed there at no charge.
No. The U.S. has no single national property database. Records are held by roughly 3,000 county recorder and assessor offices, so you must search the correct county's official portal.
In most states, yes. County assessor and recorder sites publish recorded sale dates and prices. A handful of non-disclosure states (such as Texas) do not publish recorded sale prices.
Viewing a deed online is usually free. Counties typically charge a small per-page fee only if you need a certified copy for legal use.
A parcel number (also called an APN or PIN) is a unique ID a county assigns to each piece of land. It is the most reliable way to pull an exact property record.
Official portals are perfect for verifying a single record. When you need compiled reports — combined people search, contact data, or multi-source background information — these professional lookup tools go further. They are paid services, not government sources.
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