ACRIS & NYC Property Records: How to Read a Deed, Search Liens, and Find Recorded Documents
8 min read · Updated 2025-01-15
How to use NYC ACRIS to search property records: reading deeds, finding recorded mortgages and UCC liens, checking easements, and understanding NYC property document recording.
Using ACRIS for NYC Property Research
What is ACRIS?
ACRIS (Automated City Register Information System) is the NYC Department of Finance's public database of real property and UCC financing documents recorded in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. (Staten Island uses a separate County Clerk system.) ACRIS contains deeds, mortgages, satisfaction pieces, assignments, UCC financing statements, easements, restrictions, and other recorded documents going back decades. It's the primary public record system for tracing property ownership and encumbrances in NYC.
How do I search ACRIS for a property?
Go to acris.nyc.gov and search by address, BBL (borough-block-lot), or document number. Searching by BBL is most reliable because addresses can change. The BBL consists of a one-digit borough number (1=Manhattan, 2=Bronx, 3=Brooklyn, 4=Queens, 5=Staten Island), a block number, and a lot number. You can find a property's BBL through the NYC Department of Finance's property search portal or DOB BIS Web. Once you find the property in ACRIS, you can view and download all recorded documents.
What documents can I find in ACRIS?
ACRIS contains recorded real property documents including: deeds (transfers of ownership), mortgages and deeds of trust, mortgage satisfactions and discharges, assignments of mortgage or lease, easements and restrictions, air rights agreements, condominium declarations and amendments, co-op proprietary leases, mechanic's liens and their discharges, and UCC-1 financing statements (which may affect personal property). You can download PDFs of the actual recorded documents, not just a database summary.
How do I read a deed in ACRIS?
A deed will show the grantor (seller), the grantee (buyer), the date of transfer, the consideration (often the actual sale price, though some deeds list nominal consideration), and a legal description of the property. For NYC, the legal description is typically the block and lot number rather than a metes-and-bounds description. Recorded deeds are signed by the grantor and notarized. The recording date and document ID appear on the face of the recorded document.
How do I check for outstanding mortgages and liens on a property?
In ACRIS, filter your search by document type to look for mortgages and deeds of trust recorded against the property. Then look for satisfactions or releases corresponding to each mortgage — if there's a mortgage without a corresponding satisfaction, it may still be outstanding. Also check for mechanic's liens (document type "Mechanic's Lien"), which can be filed by contractors who weren't paid. A professional title search from a title company is the comprehensive approach — they trace the full chain of title and search judgment dockets, UCC filings, and municipal liens that ACRIS alone doesn't cover.
What is a UCC financing statement and how does it appear in ACRIS?
UCC (Uniform Commercial Code) financing statements are filed when lenders take a security interest in personal property as collateral — for example, a lender financing a co-op apartment through a share loan (since co-op apartments are technically personal property, not real property) files a UCC-1 against the shares. UCC filings appear in ACRIS for co-op transactions. They can also appear on real property for fixtures — equipment attached to a building that a lender has a security interest in.
How far back do ACRIS records go?
ACRIS contains documents recorded from approximately 1966 forward. For older records, you must visit the NYC City Register offices (Manhattan and Bronx are at One Centre Street, Brooklyn at 210 Joralemon Street, Queens at 120-55 Queens Boulevard) to access paper or microfilm records. However, for most modern due diligence purposes — particularly anything affecting mortgages or liens from the past 40 years — ACRIS is comprehensive.
What is the difference between ACRIS and HPD or DOB records?
ACRIS covers recorded private legal documents affecting property ownership and financing. DOB records cover building permits, violations, certificates of occupancy, and inspection history. HPD records cover housing maintenance code violations, building registrations, and tenant-landlord matters. Each system provides different layers of due diligence information. A complete property review combines all three, plus tax records from the Department of Finance, court records for judgment liens, and environmental searches.
Can I record a document myself in ACRIS or does it require an attorney?
In theory, anyone can record a document in the NYC City Register — you don't need to be an attorney to present a document for recording. However, real property transfers involving deeds or mortgages have significant legal and tax implications (real property transfer tax, mortgage recording tax, etc.). In practice, deeds and mortgages are always handled by attorneys in NYC transactions. You would only handle recording yourself in unusual circumstances, such as filing a mechanic's lien, which has specific statutory requirements.