To find out who owns a property in NYC, start with the property’s Borough, Block, and Lot number, then search ACRIS for the recorded deed and HPD Online for the registered landlord; if the owner is a limited liability company, trace that company through the New York Department of State’s business entity database. Each of those tools is free and public, and together they resolve most ownership questions in the five boroughs.
Get the BBL First
Every tax lot in New York City has a unique numerical identifier called the Borough, Block, and Lot number, or BBL. The first digit is the borough, the next five identify the block, and the final four pinpoint the lot. You need this number to search most city property databases.1NYC311. Borough-Block-Lot (BBL) Lookup
Two city tools convert a street address into a BBL for free. The Department of Finance’s Digital Tax Map lets you click a parcel to retrieve its number. ZoLa, the Department of City Planning’s zoning and land use map, does the same.2New York City Department of City Planning. ZoLa – NYC’s Zoning and Land Use Map Double-check the BBL before you move on. Adjacent buildings on the same block can differ by a single digit, and pulling records for the wrong lot is an easy mistake.
Search the Deed on ACRIS
The Automated City Register Information System, known as ACRIS, is the city’s primary database for recorded property documents. It stores deeds, mortgages, liens, and related instruments for Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx dating back to 1966.3NYC Department of Finance. Automated City Register Information System Search by address or BBL and look for the most recent deed. The party listed as the grantee on that deed is the current legal owner.
You can trust what you find there for a reason built into state law: an unrecorded deed is void against any later buyer who records first in good faith, which gives everyone involved strong incentive to record promptly.4New York State Senate. New York Real Property Law 291 – Recording of Conveyances Clicking through to the PDF images of recorded documents often reveals the purchase price, mortgage amounts, and any restrictive covenants on the land.
One boundary to know: ACRIS does not cover Staten Island. Richmond County maintains its own records through the County Clerk’s office, which offers online document searches by party name, block and lot, or document number.5Richmond County Clerk. Land Documents Search
For Residential Buildings, Use HPD Online
ACRIS tells you who holds the deed. For a residential building, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development collects something often more useful: the name of a real person responsible for the property. Under the city’s Housing Maintenance Code, owners of multiple dwellings must file a registration statement with HPD and renew it annually. The same requirement applies to one- and two-family homes where neither the owner nor a family member lives in the building.6New York City Administrative Code. New York City Administrative Code 27-2097 – Registration, Time to File
The registration must identify the owner by name and address. For corporate owners of multiple dwellings, it must also list the names and addresses of officers and any individual who holds more than 25 percent of the ownership interest. The owner must also designate a managing agent who is a real person over 21, who either lives in the city or keeps a regular business office here, and who is authorized to order emergency repairs on the owner’s behalf.
Look this up through HPD Online by entering the building’s address, BIN, or BBL. The results show the registered owner, the managing agent, and any active housing code violations.7NYC Housing Preservation & Development. HPD Online For a tenant dealing with unresponsive management, that registration is often more actionable than a deed search, because it names an individual and a valid address for legal notices.
Owners who fail to file or update their registration face civil penalties between $250 and $500 per violation.8NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development. New York City Housing Maintenance Code Some buildings nonetheless have lapsed registrations. If HPD Online shows no current registration for a building you know is occupied, that absence is itself worth reporting.
Confirm Through Property Tax Records
The Department of Finance’s Property Information Portal offers a quicker check on ownership. Searching by address or BBL returns the property’s tax class, assessed market value, and the name on the tax rolls, without having to open deed images.9Property Information Portal. Property Information Portal
Tax records are especially useful for properties that haven’t changed hands recently. If the last ACRIS deed is from decades ago, the finance portal can confirm whether the same entity still holds the property or whether the name on the tax account has changed through a corporate reorganization or an estate transfer. The name on the tax rolls isn’t always identical to the name on the deed, particularly when an LLC has been restructured without a new deed being recorded.
When the Owner Is an LLC
Most commercial properties and many residential buildings in New York City are owned by limited liability companies. ACRIS will give you the LLC’s name, but the name alone rarely tells you who controls the property. The next step is the New York State Department of State’s Corporation and Business Entity Database, which stores formation records for every business entity registered in the state.10New York State Department of State. Existing Corporations and Businesses
Searching the LLC’s name returns the entity’s formation date, status, and the address designated for service of legal process. That address is frequently a registered agent’s office rather than the real owner’s, so treat it as a lead, not an answer. The database does not always display the names of individual LLC members or managers, because New York’s LLC formation documents are not required to list them.
For deeper digging, cross-reference the LLC name and registered address against ACRIS records for other properties. Owners who use multiple LLCs often register them at the same address or through the same agent, which helps connect properties that look unrelated on the surface. If the property is owned by a publicly traded real estate investment trust, SEC filings on the EDGAR database disclose officers, directors, and major shareholders.
What the LLC Transparency Act Does and Doesn’t Change
New York enacted the LLC Transparency Act to combat the use of anonymous shell companies for fraud and money laundering. Starting January 1, 2026, qualifying LLCs must file disclosure statements with the Department of State identifying each person who exercises substantial control over the entity or owns 25 percent or more of it. LLCs formed before that date have until December 31, 2026, to file their initial report; newly formed LLCs must file within 30 days of formation.11Department of State. Beneficial Owner Disclosure
Required disclosures include each beneficial owner’s full legal name, date of birth, home or business address, and an identifying number from a passport or government-issued ID.12Department of State. Beneficial Ownership Disclosure Frequently Asked Questions There is a catch for anyone hoping to use the law to identify a landlord: the filings are confidential. Access to the beneficial ownership database is restricted to law enforcement and government agencies. Ordinary tenants, journalists, and researchers cannot search these records.11Department of State. Beneficial Owner Disclosure For your purposes, HPD registration records and ACRIS deed searches remain the best tools.
Federally Subsidized Buildings
If the building receives federal housing subsidies, HUD publishes a Multifamily Assistance and Section 8 Contracts database with property-level and contract-level information for subsidized projects nationwide. The dataset is updated monthly and can be downloaded in Excel or Access format; it includes ownership details alongside unit counts and subsidy contract terms.13U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Multifamily Assistance and Section 8 Database It is less intuitive than the city portals, but for subsidized buildings where ownership is especially hard to pin down, the federal data sometimes fills gaps city records leave open.
How the Databases Fit Together
No single database gives the full picture. ACRIS shows who holds the deed. HPD names who is responsible for maintaining a residential building. The Department of Finance names whoever is on the tax rolls. The Department of State links an LLC to its registered address. The most reliable results come from cross-referencing all of them: pull the BBL, run it through ACRIS and HPD Online, and then trace any corporate name through the state entity database.