ACRIS NYC: The Complete Guide to NYC Property Records (2026)

At East Coast Appraisals, we use ACRIS every day. Every appraisal we deliver — for an estate, a divorce, a tax appeal, a lender — starts with a deep dive into ACRIS to verify ownership, sale prices, mortgage history, and chain of title. After 35+ years and thousands of NYC valuations, we have learned this system inside and out. Here is what every property owner, attorney, and buyer should know about it.

What Is ACRIS in NY?

ACRIS stands for the Automated City Register Information System. It is the official online database maintained by the New York City Department of Finance that stores recorded property documents for properties in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and parts of Staten Island.

Every time a deed is recorded, a mortgage is filed, a satisfaction of mortgage is issued, or a property changes hands in New York City, that transaction is entered into ACRIS. The system contains records going back decades — in many cases to the 1960s for most document types.

ACRIS is the same system that real estate attorneys, title companies, appraisers, and city agencies use to verify ownership, trace the chain of title, and confirm transaction details. It is not a third-party aggregator. It is the primary public record.

How Much Does ACRIS NYC Cost?

ACRIS is completely free to search. There is no subscription, no login required, and no per-search fee. The City of New York makes this data available to the public at no charge through the Department of Finance website.

You can search ACRIS as many times as you want without creating an account. The database is accessible 24 hours a day at the official ACRIS portal.

There are only two situations where fees come into play, and neither involves searching:

• Recording a new document (such as a deed or mortgage) through the City Register’s office carries standard government recording fees. These are fees for filing, not for searching.
• Ordering certified copies of recorded documents from the City Register involves a per-page fee. But viewing the document images online through ACRIS is free.

The search itself — looking up deeds, checking sale prices, finding who owns a property — costs nothing.

How to Look Up Who Owns a Property in NY

Looking up property ownership in New York City through ACRIS takes about two minutes. Here is the step-by-step process:

Step 1: Go to the ACRIS Website

Navigate to the ACRIS Document Search page at a836-acris.nyc.gov. No login is needed.

Step 2: Choose Your Search Method

ACRIS offers several search options. The two most useful are:

• Address search — Enter the street number and street name. Select the borough. This is the easiest starting point if you know the property address.
• Block and lot (BBL) search — Every property in NYC has a unique Borough-Block-Lot number. If you know the BBL, this is the most precise search. You can find a property’s BBL on the NYC Department of Finance property lookup or on the NYC Zoning and Land Use Map (ZoLa).

Step 3: Filter for Deeds

Once the search results appear, look for documents classified as DEED or DEED, RP (real property deed). The most recent deed typically shows the current owner.

For co-op apartments, ownership transfers do not appear as deeds. Instead, look for documents classified as RPTT&RET (Real Property Transfer Tax return), which record share transfers in cooperative buildings.

Step 4: Open the Document

Click on any document to see the parties involved:

• Party 1 (Grantor) — the seller or transferor
• Party 2 (Grantee) — the buyer or new owner

The most recent grantee on a deed is generally the current owner of the property.

Step 5: View the Recorded Document

ACRIS provides scanned images of the actual recorded documents. You can view the full deed, including the legal description, the consideration (sale price), and the signatures. These images are free to view and download.

What Information Can You Find on ACRIS?

Beyond ownership, ACRIS contains a wide range of recorded documents:

• Deeds — transfers of ownership, including sale price (called the "consideration" or "document amount")
• Mortgages — the lender, loan amount, and date of the mortgage
• Satisfactions of mortgage — confirmation that a mortgage has been paid off
• UCC filings — liens against personal property (common in co-op transactions)
• Lis pendens — notices of pending litigation involving the property
• Mechanics’ liens — claims by contractors for unpaid work
• Power of attorney — recorded authorizations for someone to act on the owner’s behalf

Each document includes the date it was executed, the date it was recorded with the city, the document amount (if applicable), and a unique identifier for that recording.

Important Limitations to Know

ACRIS is a powerful tool, but it has boundaries:

• ACRIS does not cover all of Staten Island. Certain Staten Island records fall under the Richmond County Clerk’s office rather than the City Register, and those records may not appear in ACRIS.
• Recent transactions may have a lag. There is often a delay of several weeks between when a document is signed and when it appears in ACRIS, because recording is not instantaneous.
• ACRIS does not show property tax information. For tax bills, assessments, and exemptions, use the NYC Department of Finance property tax portal.
• ACRIS does not show building permits or violations. For that, use the NYC Department of Buildings BIS portal.
• Co-op transfers are less straightforward than condo or house sales. Co-op shares are personal property, not real property, so the recording conventions are different. The sale price is captured on the RPTT&RET filing, and the document amount field reflects the actual transfer price.

When You Need More Than a Records Search

ACRIS tells you what was recorded. It does not tell you what a property is worth today, whether a sale price reflects fair market value, or whether a transfer was conducted at arm’s length.

For property valuations — whether for estate planning, divorce proceedings, tax appeals, pre-listing pricing, or partnership buyouts — a licensed appraisal provides the independent opinion of value that ACRIS data alone cannot.

At East Coast Appraisals, we use ACRIS and dozens of other public data sources daily as part of our research process for every appraisal assignment in New York City. If you need a certified appraisal or have questions about a property transaction you found on ACRIS,

 call 718-834-1700 or contact us through our website.