To find the owner of a property, look it up with the county where it sits, or in some states the city or town. The county assessor (in Texas, the appraisal district) lists the owner of record for tax purposes, with the parcel number and often the mailing address for tax bills, and its online search usually starts from a street address or a parcel number. The county recorder, register of deeds or clerk keeps the deed itself, indexed by the names of the people or companies on it.
What you find is the owner of record: the person, company, trust or estate that holds title on paper, who isn’t necessarily the person living there. For a renter’s quick check, see what you can find in public records.
Two county offices, two different records
The assessor’s record. The assessor values property for taxes, so its record names the owner the county taxes, with the parcel number and the assessed value. In Georgia, a county’s Board of Tax Assessors sets values and its Tax Commissioner collects the tax, the Georgia Department of Revenue explains; in Maryland, one state agency runs the search for the whole state.
The recorder’s documents. Deeds, mortgages and liens are recorded by a separate office: the recorder in Utah County, Utah, the Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk in Los Angeles County, the county clerk in Harris County, Texas, and the clerk of court in Georgia, where you can ask for a copy of a deed, Georgia’s consumer education office says. Ownership changes start there: in Utah County, “all name changes must be done with a recorded document,” the recorder says.
| Record | Who keeps it | What it shows | What it leaves out |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recorded deed | County recorder, register of deeds or clerk | A transfer: who conveyed the property to whom, when it was recorded and the legal description of the land | Whether that buyer still owns it, or who lives there |
| Assessor or appraisal record | County assessor, or the appraisal district in Texas | The owner as listed for taxes, the parcel number and the assessed value | Legal proof: Maryland says its data “is not to be used for legal reports or documents” |
| Tax bill | County treasurer, tax collector or tax commissioner | Who the bill is addressed to, where it is mailed and what is due | Where the owner lives, since owners can have notices mailed elsewhere |
| Title search or preliminary title report | A title company, which charges for it | Who owns the property, the debts against it and the condition of the title | A free answer: it is usually ordered for a purchase or refinance |
Which office to ask: start from what you know
Find the row for the detail you have.
| What you know | Where to look | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| A street address | The assessor’s or appraisal district’s property search | The owner of record, parcel number and value; in Los Angeles County, owner names only in person or by purchase |
| A parcel number (APN, PIN, serial or account number) | The assessor’s parcel search, then the recorder’s parcel records where offered | The exact parcel and its owner of record; in Utah County, also the documents recorded against it |
| An owner’s name | An owner-name search where the assessor offers one; otherwise the recorder’s name index | Parcels or deeds under that name, namesakes included |
| A company’s name | The assessor or recorder, then the state’s business search | Its parcels and filings; in Florida, at least one person with authority to manage an LLC |
| Land first granted by the federal government | The Bureau of Land Management’s General Land Office Records | The original federal transfer, not today’s owner |
What to have before you search
Each office searches by different keys. Gather these first.
- The full street address, with any unit number, the city and the ZIP code.
- The county, or in some states the city or town, since deeds and assessment records are kept locally.
- The parcel number, from a tax bill, an assessment notice or the county’s parcel map. It beats an address: Utah County’s recorder says “there is no accurate way to track a parcel based on its address.”
- The owner’s name spelled several ways, with and without a middle initial or an earlier surname, in the order the county asks for, such as “LAST, FIRST MIDDLE” in Utah County.
- A company’s exact legal name, including “LLC” or “Inc.”
- A rough purchase date, to narrow a deed index by date range.
- A small budget for copies, and time for an office visit where records aren’t online.
Searching by address or parcel number
Most assessor searches start from the address or the parcel number. Maryland’s Real Property Data Search takes an address, a street name, an account identifier or a map reference, and says plainly: “You can not search by owner’s name, town, neighborhood, subdivision or zip code.”
An address is a weak key, though. Utah County’s recorder notes that only parcels with a building have an address, that cities assign addresses and may not tell the assessor about changes, and that the temporary addresses on new plats “may be changed.” If an address search fails, find the parcel on the county’s map and search by its number, written exactly as the county writes it.
Parcel maps are a finding aid, not a survey. The Los Angeles County Assessor’s map help page says its maps are “prepared for assessment purposes only” and shouldn’t be used to define property lines. The same page explains why its search shows no owner names: privacy law, “particularly of elected and appointed officials,” bars posting them online, though owner information is free in person at its district offices or can be purchased.
Searching by owner name, or finding what property someone owns
At the assessor. Utah County’s Real Property Owner Name Search takes a name in “LAST, FIRST MIDDLE” format, and Nashville’s Assessor of Property lets you search real property “by Owner, Address, or Parcel ID.”
At the recorder. Deed indexes are built around names: the grantor, who transfers the property, and the grantee, who receives it. In Harris County, Texas, the clerk’s real property search takes a grantor, grantee, date range or legal description, but no street address. Los Angeles County indexes documents by name and the year recorded, and its Registrar-Recorder shows those indexes by appointment at its Norwalk headquarters, not online.
Every property a person owns. Repeat the name search in each county where the person has lived, worked or done business, and expect namesakes. Confirm a match with at least two independent details, such as a middle name and a mailing address that fits; the guide to verifying that a record is about the right person shows how.
If you have a name from a deed or tax record but don’t know which counties to search, or several people share it, Recordwell’s name search lists the people it finds under that name as separate candidates, along with the cities and counties connected to each of them over time. It doesn’t look up addresses or hold deed or tax records, so the county’s record still settles who owns a property.
Worked example: tracing an owner in Utah County
Here is the route in one county, using its menus, not a real property. Utah County, Utah, gathers its searches on one Land Records page, linked from Property Info on the county’s website.
- Find the parcel. Under Property Searches, choose Address Search, or locate the lot on the Parcel Map under Map Searches. If you already have the serial number, the county’s parcel number, use Serial Number Search.
- Read the parcel page. The parcel’s Property Dashboard shows the serial number, the property address and a separate mailing address, the owner names, the value and tax history, and the recorded documents with each one’s entry number, date, type, grantor and grantee.
- Check the abstract. For the parcel’s recorded history, Abstract Information, under Document Searches, takes the serial number. The recorder builds this “abstract history for each parcel of land” as it records documents.
- Open the deed. Document Image Display asks for a document’s entry number and entry year. The recorder also provides copies in person or by mail, at $1.00 a page as of October 2026.
- Starting from a name? Name Search finds parcels by owner, with a choice of All Records or Current Records Only, and Documents by Name searches the recorder’s index for a party, entered as “SMITH, JOHN.”
What an owner-of-record listing can’t tell you
An owner-of-record entry says whose name is on title, according to the county, and little else.
- Who lives there. A landlord, a company or a relative may own a home someone else lives in, and owners can have tax notices mailed elsewhere, as Utah County’s treasurer allows.
- A recent sale. A deed has to be recorded and indexed before it shows. Nashville’s assessor notes on its recent sales page that title companies sometimes record deeds late, and Harris County says a processed document can take 1 to 2 business days to appear in its search.
- Every lien or claim. Utah County’s recorder warns that some liens, judgments or encumbrances may not be in its records, and Harris County says its online search isn’t the official repository of its real property records.
- Proof of ownership. Maryland says its assessment data “is not to be used for legal reports or documents.” For proof, get a certified copy of the recorded deed or a title search.
When the owner is an LLC, a trust or an estate
An LLC or corporation. Look the company up in the business search of the state where it was formed or registered. Florida’s Division of Corporations lets you search its records by company name or by officer or registered agent, and section 605.0212 of the Florida Statutes requires an LLC’s annual report to give “the name, title or capacity, and address of at least one person who has the authority to manage the company.” That person may be a manager rather than an owner. Don’t count on a federal list of owners either: FinCEN says U.S. companies are exempt from its beneficial ownership reporting requirements under a final rule in effect since August 14, 2026.
A trust. The record may name a trust, or a person as its trustee, rather than the people the trust benefits, who “are usually not listed on deeds,” Marin County’s assessor notes.
An estate. When an owner dies, the name on the record can stay until a new document is recorded. California’s court self-help site defines probate as “the legal process that you must follow to transfer or inherit property”; in a probate case, a judge appoints a personal representative, although some estates never go to court. The guide on how to find out if someone died covers probate searches.
When an owner’s name or address is shielded
A blank or a placeholder can be deliberate: some states and counties let judges, police officers and survivors of violence, and in Nashville any owner of a primary residence, limit what is published. Treat a shielded entry as the answer and don’t try to get around it. For a legal matter involving the property, ask the court or a lawyer.
New Jersey. Under Daniel’s Law, active and retired judges, prosecutors and law enforcement officers, and their immediate family members, can request redaction through the state’s Office of Information Privacy; government agencies, individuals and businesses may then not publish their home address or telephone number, the state’s Daniel’s Law FAQ says. An Office of Information Privacy presentation adds that names may be redacted from certain county and municipal tax assessor records. Covered persons can send us a notice through our Daniel’s Law notice page.
California. Government Code section 7928.205, formerly 6254.21, bars state and local agencies from posting an elected or appointed official’s home address or telephone number online without written permission; officials include judges, city council members and police chiefs. A 2024 law, AB 1785, extended that to the name and assessor’s parcel number tied to the home address, the State Board of Equalization told assessors in March 2025. The assessment roll itself is unaffected. Since January 1, 2026, a 2025 law, AB 343, has extended the rule to retired judges and some others, the Board told assessors in May 2026.
Texas. Peace officers, judges, survivors of family violence, sexual assault, stalking or trafficking, address confidentiality program participants and others listed in Tax Code section 25.025 can choose to keep home address information in appraisal records confidential.
Tennessee. Nashville’s assessor shows an owner’s name as “UNLISTED” online after an approved redaction request for a primary residence under Tennessee Code section 67-5-517, though other listings don’t change and the office still answers open records requests.
Other ways to find a property owner
A title company. For a purchase, a loan or a legal matter, a title search “determines who owns the property, what outstanding debts are against it, and the condition of the title,” the California Department of Insurance explains. Title companies charge for their work, so ask for the price first.
The tax collector. The treasurer or tax commissioner keeps the parcel’s tax records; Utah County’s Land Records page, for one, offers Tax Information and Tax Payoff searches.
People nearby. If you rent, your lease or the manager may name the owner; in Texas, a landlord’s duty to disclose ownership and management is one a lease can’t waive. A neighbor or homeowners association may pass along a note to the owner.
Historic federal land. In the Public Land States, the first transfer of land out of federal hands, such as a land patent, can be found on the Bureau of Land Management’s General Land Office Records site of federal land conveyance records. It shows the original transfer, not today’s owner, and the BLM’s land records page notes the collection doesn’t contain every federal title record issued.
Use what you find with care
Property records name real people, often at their homes. Use them for a clear, legitimate purpose, such as buying, renting, a boundary question or settling an estate, and make first contact by letter to the mailing address on the tax record.
Don’t treat property records as a screening tool. A decision about someone’s tenancy, job, credit or insurance belongs with a consumer reporting agency that complies with the Fair Credit Reporting Act; Recordwell is not that kind of agency, and its FCRA notice lists what it may not be used for.
Common questions about finding a property owner
Can I find out who owns a property for free?
Often, yes. Georgia’s consumer education office says the county tax assessor’s website gives an owner’s name for free, and Los Angeles County’s assessor gives owner information free in person at its district offices. Copies of deeds usually cost a fee.
Can I search property records by the owner’s name?
It depends on the county. Utah County and Nashville offer owner-name searches; Maryland’s statewide search doesn’t. Recorders index deeds by the names of the parties, so a deed index usually works by name even when the assessor’s search doesn’t.
How do I find out who is behind an LLC that owns a property?
Search the business records of the state where the company was formed or registered. In Florida, an LLC’s annual report must name at least one person with authority to manage it, who may be a manager rather than an owner.
Why does the county still show the previous owner?
The sale may not be recorded or indexed yet. Title companies sometimes record deeds late, Nashville’s assessor notes, and indexing takes time after recording. Check the recorder’s index for documents recorded after the sale.
Why is an owner’s name missing or shown as UNLISTED?
It may be withheld on purpose. Nashville shows a primary residence owner as UNLISTED on request, Los Angeles County keeps owner names off its assessor website, and New Jersey and Texas let certain people, such as judges and police officers, shield their home addresses.