How do I find out who owns a property?

What property ownership records show

Two county offices hold the public record of who owns a property. The assessor values each parcel for property tax and lists the owner it taxes. The recorder files the deeds that pass ownership from one owner to the next.

Some counties call the recorder the county clerk or the registry of deeds. To find out who owns a property in any of them, you need one of these keys.

• Address: the street address of the property.
• Parcel number: the assessor's ID for the lot, also called the APN or PIN.
• Owner name: the name on the deed or the tax roll. Recorder indexes are searched by name.
• Legal description: the lot and boundary wording on the deed. It identifies the parcel when a parcel number is wrong.

What a Homesage.ai owner lookup returns

Investors who write to or call owners use an owner lookup. Ours runs from our skip tracing page and inside Sage. You enter a property address, and the owner record opens in your own account.

The table lists what the lookup returns, using the field names from the owner lookup page in our API docs. It shows field names only, with no real owner and no values.

Each phone number carries its own dnc flag and a lastReportedDate, so you can check a number before you call it.

Homesage.ai is not a consumer reporting agency. Owner data is not for employment, tenant or credit screening.

The tax roll names the owner the county bills, and the recorded deed names the owner who took title.

How to find out who owns a property

1. Find the parcel on the county GIS map. Search the address in your county's GIS parcel viewer and note the parcel number. The King County parcel viewer in Washington takes an address, a parcel number or a click on the map. It then links to the assessor's report.
2. Search the assessor's records. Enter the parcel number on the assessor's site to see the owner the county taxes. Sonoma County's recorder calls this the easiest way to find the owner in most simple cases.
3. Check the latest deed. Search the recorder's index by the owner's name to catch a transfer the assessor has not posted yet. Washoe County's recorder in Nevada points to its online search for very recent transfers.
4. Trace an LLC owner. Search the company named on the deed in the business registry of the state where it was formed. The National Association of Secretaries of State lists each state's business registration office.
5. Order a title search. A title company examines deeds, court records and other public documents on the property, according to the Indiana Department of Insurance. Order one when you need certainty before you buy.

Where ownership records differ by county

Online access depends on the state and the county. In Sonoma County, California, the assessed owner's name is not online because of legal restrictions. You can view it at the county office at no charge.

Assessor records also run behind the deed. Sonoma's recorder notes a delay between a recorded transfer and the assessor's update.

Big cities can run their own systems. New York City's ACRIS holds deeds and other recorded documents for Manhattan, Queens, the Bronx and Brooklyn. Its records run from 1966 to the present.

Companies add a step. Delaware's entity search shows a company's name, file number, formation date and registered agent. Since March 2025, companies formed in the US no longer have to report their beneficial owners to FinCEN.

Contacting an owner within the rules

Owner contact data comes with rules on how you use it. This section is general information, not legal advice, so check your outreach plan with a lawyer in your state.

Sales calls to numbers on the National Do Not Call Registry fall under the FTC's Telemarketing Sales Rule. Sellers must sync their call lists with the registry at least every 31 days. Fines reach $53,088 per violation, and each call can count as a separate violation.

Robocalls carry a stricter rule, in the FCC's TCPA rule at 47 CFR 64.1200. A telemarketing call to a cell phone with an autodialer or a prerecorded voice needs prior express written consent.

Marketing email to an owner falls under the CAN-SPAM Act. The FTC's guide requires a valid postal address and opt-outs honored within 10 business days. Penalties reach $53,088 per email.

Common owner search mistakes to avoid

• Stopping at the tax roll: The assessed owner is not necessarily the legal owner, and the roll lags recent transfers. Check the latest deed before you make an offer.
• Trusting the parcel number on a deed: Sonoma's recorder warns that parcel numbers change and are often listed wrong on deeds. Match the legal description instead.
• Calling before you check do-not-call status: Each phone number in our owner lookup carries its own dnc flag. Check it, and sync with the national registry every 31 days, before any sales call.
• Using an old record: Each phone number carries a lastReportedDate. Our API docs say to treat data older than 12 months as stale for high-stakes outreach.

General information. Not legal or investment advice. Data as of 2026-10-28.

Frequently asked questions