Owner lookup
How to look up who owns a house for free: the assessor, the recorder and the business registry
Updated September 2026. The free method first, the paid shortcut second.
Search the county assessor’s or property appraiser’s website by the street address or the parcel number: the record names the owner as the deed does and gives the mailing address for the tax bill. The recorder of deeds holds the deed itself, the county’s GIS map finds a parcel you can see but cannot address, and the state business registry names the people behind an LLC. Many counties let you search all of these records online for free.
- Start with
- The address or the parcel number
- Owner from
- The county assessor or appraiser
- Deed from
- The recorder of deeds
- Cost
- $0 in many counties, copies may cost
Step by step, for nothing
-
Search the assessor by address
Find your county’s assessor or property appraiser website and search by street address. The record shows the owner of record, the mailing address for the tax bill and the parcel number, and usually the assessed value and the last sale.
What you come away with The owner’s name and mailing address.
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No address? Use the GIS map
For a vacant lot or a house without a clear address, the county’s GIS parcel map lets you click the parcel and read its number and owner. Where there is no map, the assessor can search by parcel number.
What you come away with The parcel number, and the owner behind it.
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Read the deed at the recorder
The recorder of deeds, or the county clerk in some states, holds the deed and every document recorded against the property, indexed by the names of the parties. The deed confirms who owns it and how, and later filings show mortgages and liens.
What you come away with The deed, and what is recorded against the house.
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If a company owns it, find the people
An owner ending in LLC, Inc. or Trust is not a person. The state business registry, usually run by the Secretary of State, lists the registered agent and often the managers or officers. A deed to a trust usually names the trustee.
What you come away with A person behind the company.
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Confirm before you rely on it
The assessor’s roll can lag a recent sale, so check the recorder for any deed recorded since. Where money depends on the answer, a title company’s report gives a formal one for a fee.
What you come away with The current owner, confirmed.
Where the free lookup stops
Online records differ by county. Some put the deeds online, others an index of them, and some charge for copies or need a visit to the office.
For many addresses at once, data tools search the same kind of public records in bulk: PropStream searches nationwide county data with 165+ filters, and Propwire searches and downloads up to 10,000 properties a month free.
Owner lookups in the tools
For many properties at once. Prices read September 2026.
| Tool | Owner lookup | Price | Pricing |
|---|---|---|---|
 Propwire |
Property search and downloads | Free, 10,000 a month | Try Propwire free |
 DealMachine |
Instant owner lookups in the app | $99 a seat | See DealMachine pricing |
 PropStream |
Nationwide county data, 165+ filters | $99 a month | See PropStream pricing |
 PropertyRadar |
Map search, 250 phone and email lookups | $119 a month | See PropertyRadar pricing |
To reach the owner once you know who it is, the phone number guide covers the next step.
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Finding a property owner: questions people ask
How do I find out who owns a property for free?
Search the county assessor’s or property appraiser’s website by address or parcel number. The record names the owner and the mailing address for the tax bill.
Is property ownership public record?
Yes. Deeds are recorded publicly and the assessor’s roll lists every owner, which is why the owner of any property can be looked up.
How do I find the owner of a vacant lot?
Use the county’s GIS parcel map to click the lot and read its parcel number and owner, or search the assessor by parcel number.
What if the owner is an LLC?
Look the company up in the state business registry, usually the Secretary of State. It lists the registered agent and often the managers or officers.
How do I find the owner’s phone number?
The county records give a mailing address, never a phone number. The phone number guide covers the reverse lookup and the calling rules.
Can a title company tell me who owns a house?
Yes. A title company searches the recorded documents and issues a report for a fee, which is the formal answer when money depends on it.
How do I look up who owns a piece of land?
The same way as a house. The county assessor’s roll and GIS parcel map cover land with no building on it, and the recorder holds its deeds.
Can I find out who owns a property online?
In many counties, yes: the assessor, the recorder’s index and the GIS map can be searched online. Where they cannot, the county office will search the records for you, sometimes for a copy fee.
How we put this together
| Line | Source | What we read |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | Public records | County assessor, recorder and GIS pages, for what each record holds |
| 02 | Vendor pages | State business registry search pages, for what a filing lists |
| 03 | Pricing | The pricing pages of each tool in the table, read September 2026 |
What we did not do. We have not looked up a specific property for this page. Office names and what is online differ by county and state.