What Public Records Reveal About Who Owns What
New York property records are open, searchable and free, and they answer more than people expect.
A great deal of what is knowable about New York real estate is a matter of public record, and the records are open to anyone. This is the basis on which our reporting on the industry is built.
The property records system
The city's automated city register information system holds recorded property documents for most of the city — deeds, mortgages, assignments and related instruments — searchable by address or by parcel identifier.
It shows what was recorded, when, and between which parties, and documents are viewable. This is where a transaction history is established.
Assessment and tax records
The finance department publishes assessment information by property, including how a property is valued for tax purposes and what exemptions or abatements apply.
Abatement records are informative in themselves, because participation in a program carries obligations that are matters of record.
Buildings and violations
The buildings department publishes permits, complaints and violations by address. Housing violations are recorded separately by the housing agency, and together these describe how a building is actually operated over time.
The limits
Ownership is frequently held through entities, and an entity name in a deed does not identify the people behind it. State business filings give some information about registered entities, but beneficial ownership is not always determinable from public sources.
This is a genuine limit and it is why some reporting on property ownership takes a long time and still cannot be conclusive.
Corporate and legal records
State entity filings, court records including foreclosure and commercial disputes, and — for entities with public securities — securities filings all add layers.
Why we say this
Assertions about who owns or controls property should rest on records that can be checked. When we make a claim about ownership we can say which document supports it, and when the record does not establish something we say that instead of inferring it.
