How to Get Property Tax Records

Property tax records, contrary to common assumptions, are relatively public information that is easy to find. You simply have to know where to look and how to look. Follow these steps to find property tax records on any given property.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

1. Get as much identifying information on the property as you can.

   Property tax records are most easily found through the specific address of the property in question. You can however perform reverse searches on property owners, or look at property tax records for certain neighborhoods, etc. You will need to at least know the county the property is located in before preceding.

2. Find your county government website.

   County governments have online websites now that host an unbelievable amount of public information including property tax records that you may be searching for. Type the name of your county and government into your favorite search engine or look on any official county document to find the website.

3. Navigate to the County Auditor's page.

   The county auditor keeps track of the property tax records on every property in the county. You should be able to type in the address for a parcel search, the last name then first name of the owner for an owner search, or sometimes type in a general street name to look at properties in a particular area.

4. Call the Auditor's Office if you have difficulties.

   The auditor's office is generally more than happy to help you learn how to use the online system. The reason is giving out property tax records in person takes up a significant amount of time for them. You save them time by learning the system.

   * See tips on property tax records below.

Tips & Warnings

• Searching for property tax records can be tricky. Experiment with how you enter addresses to get the correct format. Some government searches require no punctuation or all capital letters.

• Some addresses will be listed differently on the government page from the mailing address. Some streets will be called W. St. when there is no directional designation on the property tax records.

• See related articles on this page for more helpful information.