Essex County Property Search
Essex County property records refer to legal documents that provide essential information about a plot of land or building within the county. For example, an Essex County property record can detail a property's most recent ownership. It can also describe a piece of property and reveal its location.
In Essex County, New Jersey, property records are filed by the Essex County Register of Deeds and Mortgages Office Information and Procedures. This office serves all 22 municipalities. It has the primary responsibility of preserving property transactions within the county.
An Essex County property search can provide requesters with access to public property records they can use to resolve borderline disputes. Conducting a property search in Essex County also reveals property ownership history if there are disagreements about the chain of title.
Other reasons to conduct an Essex County property search include the following:
- To find active liens
- To resolve disputes about the sharing of property, inheritances, and wills
- To confirm details about a property's foreclosure and mortgage
- To verify a property's market value
- To clear up nonpossessory rights (e.g., easements) to a property
Summarily, an Essex County property search reveals information about county-based properties, including the individuals who own, sold, or transferred properties in the county. Property records, alongside related Essex County Public Records, are disseminated through the office of county custodians for a nominal fee.
Are Essex County Property Records Public?
Yes, Essex County property records are public per the New Jersey Open Public Records Act (OPRA). This means interested members of the public, including non-New Jersey citizens, can review or copy the records from the Essex County Register of Deeds and Mortgages Office Information and Procedures and other relevant local government agencies. The OPRA generally gives government agencies seven business days to reply to requests for records, beginning from the receipt date. Many property records may also be available immediately.
Note, however, that certain property record information is confidential and not available to the public. Some OPRA exemptions include:
- Personal identifying information like social security numbers, credit card numbers, driver's license numbers, and unlisted telephone numbers
- Information that will give competitors or bidders an advantage if disclosed
- Data that a court has mandated to be confidential
- Information that will jeopardize the safety or security of a public property
- Records that will affect a person's right to privacy
- Information that will disrupt the operations of an agency substantially
What Do Essex County Property Records Contain?
The information contained in an Essex County property record depends on the custodian an inquirer approaches. For example, inquirers searching for property records through the Essex County Register of Deeds and Mortgages can access to the following information:
- Acceptance of streets
- Assignments of mortgage
- Mortgage cancellations
- Tax sale certificate and other tax records
- Discharges (e.g., of mortgages)
- Maps
- UCC information
- Deeds
- Disclaimers
- Notices of settlement
- Lien information
- Powers of attorney
Meanwhile, inquirers conducting a property search via the county's tax board can access the following:
- Owner information (name, street, city, state, and zip)
- Property information (last updated, municipality, block, lot, qualifier, property location, property class code, building description, year built, building SqFt, land description, acreage, additional lots, map page, zoning, old block, old lot, old qualifier, land value, improvement value, exemption amount, and net tax value)
- Sale information (date, deed book, deed page, price, assessment, property use code, and SR1A NU code)
- Assessment history (year, class, land value, improvement, and net)
- Sales history (date, price, assessment)
- Exempt property information (EPL code, facility, initial filing date, further filing date, and exempt statute)
Where to Perform an Essex County Property Lookup
In New Jersey, individuals typically visit the county clerk's office to obtain access to property records directly. However, the clerk does not serve as the OPRA custodian of records in Essex County. The official custodian or keeper of deeds, mortgages, liens, and other records pertaining to real estate in Essex County remains the Essex County Register of Deeds and Mortgages.
Inquirers may visit the Essex County Register's office at the address below to conduct a property lookup in person.
Hall of Records – Room 130
465 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard
Newark, NJ 07102
Interested individuals may also call the office at (973) 621-4960 or email presssupport@essexregister.com for property records.
Alternatively, requesters may access Essex County property records from May 1, 2001, to present electronically at the county's public vault or on the register's website (explained below).
Inquirers can also perform an Essex County property record lookup by accessing the Essex County Property Assessment Search Hub provided by the Essex County Tax Board. They may also access Essex County property information via third-party websites that offer such services.
How to Perform a Property Owner Lookup in Essex County
Individuals may look up property ownership information in Essex County by visiting the Register of Deeds and Mortgages Office. After a request is made, the staff will help the researcher get acquainted with the indexing method and demonstrate how to use the computer and books to conduct a title search. A title search will contain essential information about the legal ownership of real property. Requesters who need paper copies of such property records may obtain them for a fee. Note that staff are not allowed to conduct this search on behalf of the public.
How to Find Essex County Property Records Online
Below are two ways to find Essex County property records online:
- The Public Records Electronic Search System (PRESS)
- Third-party websites
Inquirers can search for Essex County property records online using the Public Records Electronic Search System, an online database maintained by the Essex County Register of Deeds. The system contains records of all documents pertaining to the transfer of real property in the county. To use this service, searchers must navigate to the Property Records Search page and fill in the required fields. PRESS allows interested individuals to search Essex County property records by instrument number, document type, block and lot, and name.
Individuals can also find Essex County property records by searching the repositories maintained on third-party aggregate websites. These independent websites are not affiliated with the government but may independently retain and distribute information about the county's real estate. Generally, these third-party sources are easily accessible and can provide users with ownership history, tax information, document images, parcel maps, etc.
How to Find Property Owner by Address Free
The Essex County Register of Deeds and Mortgages Office maintains property records in the county, but the office's records are not organized by property address. So, while persons can find property addresses in records (e.g., deeds) held by the office, it is not possible to conduct a property lookup with an address as the primary search criterion.
However, anyone can perform a property address search to find ownership information with the Essex County Property Assessment Search Hub provided by the county's tax board. Interested persons can access the website, select the "Property Filter" tab, enter the property address (full or partial), and click the search icon. Search results include the property owner's name.
Essex County Property Tax Lookup
The Essex County Tax Board provides a directory of property tax collectors by municipality. Individuals interested in a property tax lookup in the county can call or fax the relevant office.
Also, one may find a property tax lookup tool on a city or township's official website. For example, the City of Newark, Township of Millburn, and Township of West Orange have online property tax lookup tools for those seeking tax information on local properties.
A property tax search is important for numerous reasons, especially for people looking to purchase homes and those who own properties. For instance, a property tax lookup can help determine how much an individual will pay in property taxes and if property tax payments are current. Again, since real property in New Jersey is taxed according to value, individuals may look up property taxes to obtain evidence of the value of the property they own or intend to purchase.
How to Find Essex County Property Appraiser
The New Jersey State Real Estate Appraiser Board, a division of the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs, is the state's regulatory body for property appraisers. As such, individuals looking to find real estate appraisers in Essex County can access the board's License Verification System. This tool allows individuals to search by business or a person's name. Search results include:
- Full name
- License number
- Profession
- License type
- License status
- City and State where licensed
- License issue and expiration date
Alternatively, individuals may download the roster below the search page and examine the property appraisers list to find licensees working in Essex County. Real estate property appraisers perform numerous functions, including:
- Assessing property value
- Collating and analyzing property data
- Preparing reports on real estate
Essex County Property Assessor
The Essex County Tax Board is the main body in charge of property assessments in the county. However, the board serves a supervisory role, and the actual assessments are carried out by local property assessors (also called municipal tax assessors) in the county. An assessor's responsibilities in Essex County include:
- Maintaining property assessment data
- Assessing property for tax payment
- Describing property using systemic methods
The locations, contact numbers (fax/phone), and business hours of the local assessor's offices in Essex County are provided in the tax board's directory.
Below is the tax board's address and contact information for inquiries:
495 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard
Room 230
Newark, NJ 07102
Phone: (973) 395-8525
