On Long Island, deeds and mortgages are recorded with the county clerk: the Nassau County Clerk in Mineola or the Suffolk County Clerk in Riverhead. ACRIS, New York City’s online records system, doesn’t cover either county; it covers only Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx.
You can search either clerk’s land records index online for free. Seeing the actual documents costs money: Nassau charges by the page, and Suffolk sells a paid subscription.
Recording costs more than the basic clerk fees suggest. Both counties add a tax map verification charge to almost every deed, mortgage and satisfaction (the lender’s release of a paid-off mortgage).
Long Island tax map numbers
Every recorded document is tied to a tax parcel, and both counties index and check documents by that parcel number. The numbers are built differently in each county.
| Nassau | Suffolk | |
|---|---|---|
| Format | Section / Block / Lot | District / Section / Block / Lot |
| Example | Sec. 49, Blk. 123, Lot 45 (hypothetical) | 0200-001.00-01.00-001.000 |
| Condo units | Section / Block / Unit | Own tax map number |
| Where to find it | Tax bill | Tax bill, town assessor |
| Maintained by | Dept. of Assessment | RPTSA Tax Map Division |
In Nassau, the clerk requires the section, block and lot (or section, block and unit for a condo) on the first page of every document, preferably in the lower left margin (Nassau County Clerk, Land Recording Guide).
In Suffolk, the district is a four-digit town code. In the county’s example, 0200 is Brookhaven (Suffolk RPTSA, Tax Map Division). The county’s Real Property Tax Service Agency (RPTSA) assigns new numbers when lots are split or merged. A parcel must exist on the tax map before many documents can be checked and recorded.
How to search Nassau records
Nassau’s online system, run by US Land Records, is linked from the clerk’s Land Records page. According to the search site:
- Searching is free. The default search is by name. Other options are in the Search Criteria menu.
- Images start February 22, 1994. Older records are being added over time, so check the dates covered when you search older periods.
- Images cost $0.65 per page to download. Registering is free; otherwise you pay by card for each download. Printing search results costs $1.50 per page.
- Certified copies come only from the clerk’s office, in person or by mail, with the property’s section, block and lot. A certified copy of a deed costs $10, including a $5 search fee (Mortgages & Deeds).
For older records, use the public computers in Room B-1 at 240 Old Country Road, Mineola. The Map Room nearby has maps of every section, block and lot. Staff won’t give property information by phone or email (FAQs).
How to search Suffolk records
Suffolk’s online records are on the clerk’s kiosk. According to the clerk’s Online Records page:
- Searching is free, with no login. You accept a use agreement, then search by address, tax map number, last name or company, liber and page (the book and page where a document is recorded), index number, UCC number or business name.
- Online records start in 1987. About 2.5 million land records are online from 1987 on. Records from 1660 to the present are at the clerk’s office.
- Seeing images needs a paid subscription. A land records subscription is $37.21 a day, $186.09 a month or $1,860.93 a year, plus $0.65 per emailed image (Subscription Fee Schedule, effective January 2, 2018). Judgments and liens, lis pendens (notices of pending lawsuits) and UCCs are separate subscriptions.
- Condo units can’t be found by address. Enter the exact tax map number, which the town assessor can give you.
Reading what you find
Find the current deed, list every later mortgage, and look for a satisfaction linked to each one. A mortgage with no matching satisfaction is still open on the record, even if the loan was paid off.
The walkthrough in how to read ACRIS for title works here too, using liber and page instead of ACRIS’s document ID. For a paid-off loan that was never released, see clearing an old unsatisfied mortgage.
What you file to record a deed
| Item | Nassau | Suffolk |
|---|---|---|
| Cover page | Clerk generates | Recording and Endorsement Page |
| Tax map number | First page of document | Verified by RPTSA |
| TP-584 (deed) | Required | Required |
| RP-5217 (deed) | Required | Required, legal size |
| IT-2663 | Nonresident seller | Nonresident seller |
| Peconic Bay CPF form | No | 5 East End towns |
Sources: Nassau Land Recording Guide, Suffolk, How to Record a Deed and Avoid Rejections.
What the forms are:
- TP-584 is the state transfer tax return. It must be filed before a deed can be recorded (filing rule).
- RP-5217 is the state’s property sale report (state law). Nassau warns that a photocopied RP-5217 can’t be reused, because each form has its own barcode.
- IT-2663 is the estimated income tax form for a seller who isn’t a New York resident.
- Peconic Bay CPF form is the local transfer tax return Suffolk requires for deeds in Riverhead, Southampton, East Hampton, Shelter Island and Southold.
Why documents get rejected. Both clerks list these common reasons:
- Photocopied signatures
- Post office boxes instead of street addresses
- Names that differ between the top of the document and the acknowledgment (the signed certificate, usually by a notary, confirming who signed)
- Acknowledgments that don’t follow the forms set by state law (state law)
- Exhibits mentioned but not attached
Suffolk also rejects resized forms, and deeds whose property description leaves out the town and village.
Suffolk checks first. Every document recorded in Suffolk goes to the RPTSA counter before the clerk records it. Deeds, mortgages and easements need a property description. Satisfactions, assignments and consolidations need tax map numbers and the liber and page of the earlier document (RPTSA, Verification).
Nassau’s verification letter. Before recording a deed, mortgage or satisfaction in Nassau, the filer buys a Tax Map Verification letter from the Department of Assessment. You can order it online through the Land Records Viewer or with a mail-in form. Each letter is ordered by section, block and lot.
What recording costs
Nassau County
| Charge | Deed | Mortgage |
|---|---|---|
| Recording fee | $40 | $40 |
| Per page | $5 | $5 |
| Endorsement page | $5 | $5 |
| Per block fee | $300 | $300 |
| TP-584 filing | $5 | n/a |
| RP-5217 (residential) | $125 | n/a |
| RP-5217 (other) | $250 | n/a |
| Deed notification (residential) | $10 | n/a |
| Tax Map Verification letter | $270 | $270 |
The clerk’s charges come from its land recording fee schedule (rev. 7/2020), linked from the Real Estate Fees page. A satisfaction or assignment carries the same $40, $5 per page, $5 endorsement page and $300 block fee, plus small cross-reference charges.
The $270 letter is paid to the Department of Assessment, per letter. That price has applied since April 25, 2023 (Tax Map Verification). It was $355 before, and was cut after a court ruled the old fee excessive (see the professional section below).
Recording fees can be paid by check or card. Transfer and mortgage taxes must be paid by certified check or an attorney check printed “IOLA,” “Trust,” “Special” or “Escrow.”
Suffolk County
| Charge | Deed | Mortgage |
|---|---|---|
| Per side (page) | $5 | $5 |
| Handling | $20 | $20 |
| Commissioner of Education | $5 | $5 |
| Cultural Education Fund | $15 | $15 |
| TP-584 filing | $5 | n/a |
| RP-5217 (residential) | $125 + $5 | n/a |
| RP-5217 (other) | $250 + $5 | n/a |
| Verification, per tax lot | $200 | $200 |
| Mortgage verification | n/a | $200 |
Sources: Deed Fee Schedule (rev. 7/17/24) and Mortgage Fee Schedule. The $5 after the RP-5217 fee is the county’s share. Only the front of the Recording and Endorsement Page counts toward the per-side fee.
The $200 verification fee applies to each tax lot, so a deed covering three lots pays $600. The separate $200 mortgage verification fee applies to each mortgage-related document, such as mortgages, assignments and satisfactions. The RPTSA verification page still shows an old $300 figure; the clerk’s schedule and a 2022 county law show $200.
Suffolk takes mortgage and transfer taxes by certified check, cash, money order, an indemnified title company check, an attorney check up to $1,000 (Nassau and Suffolk attorneys only) or an IOLA check up to $5,000 (Mortgage Tax).
Which RP-5217 fee applies
The $125 fee applies to one- to three-family homes (including new ones built on vacant land), rural homes, residential condos and farms. Everything else, including vacant land and commercial property, pays $250 (state law).
Example (hypothetical)
Take a four-page residential deed in each county, on one tax lot, before transfer tax:
- Nassau: $40 + $20 (pages) + $5 + $300 + $5 + $125 + $10 = $505 to the clerk, plus the $270 verification letter, for $775.
- Suffolk: $25 (four pages plus the cover page) + $20 + $5 + $15 + $5 + $130 + $200 = $400.
Transfer taxes come on top; see NYC and NYS transfer tax.
Mortgage recording tax on Long Island
Nassau and Suffolk have no local mortgage tax. They charge only the state’s mortgage taxes, which total 1.05% of the loan (state law; Suffolk, Mortgage Tax).
- On a home with six or fewer units, the lender pays 0.25%, leaving you 0.80%.
- On a one- or two-family home, the first $10,000 of the loan is excluded from part of the tax, saving $30.
- On a $500,000 single-family loan, you pay $3,970 and the lender $1,250.
- If the lender is a private person or a credit union, the lender’s 0.25% share doesn’t apply.
The rules on who pays, the sworn statements filed with the mortgage, and the savings from a CEMA are the same statewide. A CEMA is an agreement that transfers an existing, already-taxed mortgage to the new lender, so tax is paid only on the new money. See mortgage recording tax in NYC and Westchester and CEMA explained.
Free property fraud alerts
Both counties offer free alerts when something is recorded against your property. Neither stops a recording. For how deed theft works and what to do about it, see deed theft in NYC.
| Nassau | Suffolk | |
|---|---|---|
| Name | Property Fraud Alert | Homeowners Watch List (HOWL) |
| Register by | Name or section/block/lot | Address or tax map number |
| Covers | Deeds, mortgages, liens, POAs | Land records for the parcel |
| Cost | Free | No fee listed |
Nassau. Property Fraud Alert emails you, usually within a few days of recording, when a document matching your name or property is filed. The clerk suggests registering by section, block and lot, so you aren’t alerted about strangers with the same name (Nassau brochure, rev. 3/26).
Suffolk. Register for HOWL through the kiosk: pick the property on the map and confirm the tax map number and owners shown. A buyer’s new deed may not appear for 8 to 10 weeks, so you may not be able to register right after closing. The county doesn’t guarantee that notices are complete or on time.
What a do-it-yourself search won’t tell you
A clerk search shows what was recorded against one parcel. It doesn’t show:
- Unpaid school, town and county taxes
- Open permits or certificate of occupancy problems at the town or village
- Judgments and federal tax liens filed under a person’s name, which a parcel search won’t bring up (Suffolk sells judgments and liens as a separate subscription)
- A forged signature on a deed that looks valid
A title company runs the property, name and municipal searches, and its results are backed by a title insurance policy. See title search and title report and what to do when a lien or judgment turns up.
Details for attorneys and title professionals
- Suffolk cover page. The Recording and Endorsement Page must be printed on legal-size paper, with boxes 6 and 8 completed.
- Nassau letter fee cut. In April 2023, a state appeals court held Nassau’s verification letter fee excessive and not tied to maintaining the county’s property records. The owner in that case had paid for two letters to record a deed and a mortgage. The county cut the fee from $355 to $270 afterward. The case is listed under Official sources.
- Suffolk mortgage verification fee history. The fee was $300 from 2017 until a 2019 county law cut it to $200. A 2022 county law made the $200 rate permanent.
- Mortgage tax parts. The 1.05% is three state taxes: a basic tax (0.50%), a special additional tax (0.25%, the part an institutional lender pays) and an additional tax (0.30%, the rate inside the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District). The $30 saving comes from excluding the first $10,000 from the additional tax.
- E-recording. Both clerks accept electronic recording through the same three vendors: Simplifile, eRecording Partners Network and CSC eRecording Solutions (Nassau Land Recording Guide; Suffolk, E-Record). Nassau lists deeds, mortgages and satisfactions as e-recordable. It offers frequent filers a pre-paid account; a short balance means a rejected recording.
Official sources
- Nassau County Clerk, Land Records, Land Recording Guide, Land Recording Fees (rev. 7/2020), Mortgages & Deeds, FAQs, Pre-Paid Account and Property Fraud Alert
- Nassau County Clerk online records search, US Land Records
- Nassau County Department of Assessment, Tax Map Verification and application form
- Suffolk County Clerk, Online Records, Subscription Fee Schedule, Deed Fee Schedule, Mortgage Fee Schedule, How to Record a Deed and Avoid Rejections, Mortgage Tax, E-Record and Homeowners Watch List
- Suffolk County Real Property Tax Service Agency, Verification and Tax Map Division
- Suffolk County Legislature, Resolution 325-2022 and Local Law 22-2022 (Introductory Resolution 1135-2022) (made permanent the $200 fee set by Local Law 19-2019)
- Falk v. Nassau County, 2023 NY Slip Op 01983 (2d Dept 2023)
- New York Tax Law § 253 and § 1409; Real Property Law § 333 (RP-5217 fee, § 333(3)(ii)), § 309-a and § 309-b (acknowledgments)