Who Owns a Property: the Owner Lookup
Look up who owns a property from public records — the deed, the tax roll and the landlord registration — free and with no account, check your portfolio against the owner on file, and ask Seayora not to show an owner.
Seayora can tell you who owns a property, from the government's own public records. Type an address and Seayora reads the records the city or county keeps — the deed, the tax roll and, in New York City, the landlord registration — and shows who each one names, with the record's date and a link to the record itself. It is free and needs no account.
Seayora reads owner records for New York City, Philadelphia, Cook County (Chicago) and Washington, DC today.
Where to find it
- Anybody: seayora.com/who-owns, linked from the Rentals and Products menus and the footer.
- Landlords and management companies: Portfolio → Owner records checks every property you manage against the owner you have on file.
- The iPhone and Android apps: Tools → Who owns a property, and Tools → Owner records for landlords and management companies.
- A connected AI assistant can look an address up with the who_owns tool — including on a guest connection with no account.
Where the names come from
| Place | Record | Kept by | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York City | Tax lot owner (PLUTO) | NYC Department of City Planning | The owner the City lists for the tax lot. Updated a few times a year, so a recent sale may not show yet. |
| New York City | Last recorded deed (ACRIS) | NYC Department of Finance — City Register | The buyer named on the most recent deed recorded against this lot. This is the strongest public evidence of who owns it. |
| New York City | Landlord registration (HPD) | NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development | Who the owner of a building with three or more apartments registered with the City, including the managing agent tenants can contact. Registration is renewed every year. |
| Philadelphia | Owner of record (OPA) | City of Philadelphia — Office of Property Assessment | The owner the City assesses the property to. |
| Cook County (Chicago) | Owner on the Assessor's record | Cook County Assessor's Office | The owner name the Assessor keeps for the property tax bill. For most homes that is the owner; for a large building it can be a manager or a tax department, which we leave out. |
| Washington, DC | Owner of record (OTR) | DC Office of Tax and Revenue | The owner on the District's real property tax roll. |
Every answer is read live from the government at the moment you ask. Nothing is bought from a data broker. To avoid asking the government the same question twice, Seayora holds an answer in memory for up to six hours; it is never written to a database, and it is not kept against whoever asked.
Reading an answer
A name can appear in more than one role: owner of record, buyer on the last deed, registered owner, head officer, managing agent, site manager. Each is labelled, and shown exactly as the record spells it — often in capitals, sometimes surname first — because a name from a legal record is quoted, not tidied up.
- The deed and the tax roll can disagree. A sale reaches the deed records first and the tax roll weeks or months later; when they name different owners, the answer says so, and each name carries its record's date.
- A managing agent runs a building; it does not own it. In New York City a building with three or more apartments registers its owner and a managing agent with HPD every year, and both are shown.
- The owner can be a company or a trust. The record names that company; who stands behind it is in the state's business filings, which Seayora does not read.
- A company's registered business address is shown when the record gives one. A private person's address never is.
- A building whose apartments are owned separately (a condominium) is not listed unit by unit. Add a unit number to see one owner.
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| Found | Here is who the public record names. |
| Not found | The public records we read have no owner listed for this address. |
| Couldn't reach the records | We couldn't reach the government records just now, so we can't say who owns this address. Try again in a few minutes. |
| Not covered yet | Seayora can't look up owners in this area yet. |
| Address not found | We couldn't find that address. Check the spelling, or include the city and state. |
| Separately owned units | Each unit at this address is owned separately. Add a unit number to see one. |
| Not shown on request | The owner of this address isn't shown here at the request of someone connected to it. The government's own record is still public. |
A source marked "Couldn't reach" is not the same as "no owner". It means a government website did not answer in time — try again in a few minutes.
Checking your portfolio
Portfolio → Owner records lists every property you manage. Check one, or check every property not yet checked, and Seayora compares the record with the owner you have on file — the owner on the property in Seayora, or your own account for a landlord. "Looks like the owner you have on file" and "names someone other than the owner you have on file" are prompts to look, not findings: a holding company or a trust is often the owner of record for the person you deal with.
A check is something you run. Nothing checks your portfolio in the background, and the last result for each property is kept so the page opens with an answer.
Ask us not to show this owner
If you own or live at this property, or the law protects your home address (for example as a judge, prosecutor or law-enforcement officer), we'll stop showing its owner on Seayora right away. The government keeps its own public record, which we can't change.
- Look the address up, then choose "Ask us not to show this owner" under the result.
- Choose a reason — my safety or someone else's; the law protects my address (judge, prosecutor, law enforcement); i'd rather it wasn't shown; something else — and confirm: "I own or live at this property or am acting for someone who does, or the law protects my home address."
- An email address is optional, and only used to confirm the request or to ask about it.
- It takes effect immediately: on the website, in both apps, in Owner records and for connected assistants.
- Seayora may lift a request that is plainly being used to hide a building's registered owner from its tenants, and keeps the reason on the record.
What it is not
- Not a title search. For a sale, a refinance or a dispute, use a title company or the official record.
- Not a way to screen anybody. Don't use it to decide anyone's housing, credit, employment or insurance.
- Not a way to change the government's record. A correction is made with the agency that keeps it.
- Not for finding or contacting a person who does not want to be found, and not for copying records in bulk. Lookups are limited, and the Terms of Service (Section 18D) set out what the lookup may not be used for.
What Seayora keeps when you look something up, check your portfolio or ask us not to show an owner is set out in the Privacy Policy, Section 10J.
Frequently asked questions
Is it free?
Yes, for everybody, with no account. A signed-in account can run more lookups in a few minutes than a signed-out visitor.
Why does it say my area is not covered?
Seayora reads owner records for New York City, Philadelphia, Cook County (Chicago) and Washington, DC today. Each place needs its own connection to the government that keeps the records, and only free public records are used.
Why do two records name different owners?
They are updated at different times. The deed is recorded when a property is sold; the tax roll catches up later. Each name is shown with its record's date so you can tell which is newer.
Can I stop Seayora showing who owns my home?
Yes. Look your address up and choose "Ask us not to show this owner". It takes effect immediately everywhere Seayora shows owners. The government's own record stays public.
Does Seayora keep the addresses I look up?
No. The public lookup does not store the address you searched against you; the government's answer is held in memory for a few hours, keyed by the address, so the same question is not sent twice. A landlord's or management company's Owner records page keeps the last check for each of its own properties.
Can my AI assistant look up an owner?
Yes. A connected assistant can use the who_owns tool with an address, or with a property in your portfolio to compare the record with the owner on file. It is read-only.
Related guides
Related features and guides
- Managing Properties & Units — Documentation. How to organize a portfolio of properties and units, assign them, and keep records clean across a management company.
- Compliance — Documentation. Violations, required filings, housing programs and carbon caps for each building — what is open, what is due and what to do next.
- Connecting Claude, ChatGPT or Your Own Agent — Documentation. Step-by-step instructions for connecting Claude, ChatGPT, an MCP-capable agent framework, or plain HTTP software to your Seayora account.
- Free Data Migration — Feature. Free white-glove data migration for management companies, including QuickBooks data, so switching platforms does not mean re-entering years of records.
- Owner Portals & Reporting — Feature. Owner portals and multi-property accounting let property owners see performance and financials for their assets without a monthly email from you.
- Financial Reports & Tax Exports — Feature. Generate profit and loss, balance sheet, and portfolio reports, and export Schedule E tax reports in a single click across every property you own or manage.