The municipal searches on a Westchester title bill are letters from the local city, town or village offices that keep building, certificate of occupancy (CO), fire and street records for the property. The title company or its search vendor orders them, usually for the buyer, and the buyer usually pays. They are for information only. The title policy does not insure what they say or anything they miss.
The tax and water searches are different. They feed into the title report, and the title policy deals with what they show.
This guide covers Westchester County only. Building and fire records are kept by each of the county’s six cities, 19 towns and 20 villages, not by the county. So the office that issues each letter, and its fee, depend on where the property sits. New York City searches work differently (see NYC property violations at closing).
The usual Westchester search package
A typical residential package includes CO, building department, fire, street and highway searches. Commercial property may also get air quality, health, landmark and fuel oil searches, depending on location.
| Search | Issued by | What it usually shows |
|---|---|---|
| Certificate of occupancy | Building department | COs on file, or none |
| Building department | Building department | Open permits, violations |
| Fire | Fire dept. or bureau | Fire code violations |
| Street report | Public works or engineering | Whether the street is public |
| Highway | Highway department | Street openings, curb cuts |
| Tax | Tax receiver or treasurer | Taxes due, liens, tax sales |
| Water | Water department or district | Charges, meter readings |
What the letters don’t show:
- Work done without a permit, unless an inspector has already cited it.
- Why there is no CO. A “no CO on file” answer may mean the house is older than the CO rules or that the file is incomplete. Some departments issue a separate letter for that situation.
- Whether a sale rule is met. Where the local code requires a CO or inspection on sale, the search does not satisfy it (see which Westchester municipalities require an updated CO on sale).
What title insurance covers and what it doesn’t
Building, CO, fire, street and highway searches are not insured. The title company provides them for information only. It does not take on any liability for their accuracy, and it does not update them to the closing date.
That last point matters. A building department letter dated six weeks before closing says nothing about a violation issued last week. If the contract or the lender depends on a clean record, an updated letter close to closing is the way to get one.
Tax and water searches are treated differently. Title companies treat them as required, and the policy lists the taxes, liens and water and sewer charges they show as exceptions. In practice, unpaid taxes and liens on the tax search are paid or held in escrow at closing, so the buyer doesn’t take the property subject to them. Water charges after the last actual meter reading are also excepted unless a final reading is taken. That is why a final reading is arranged before closing where the property has public water. In Westchester, the title insurance premium already includes the tax search for one tax lot (see the title bill explained).
Separately, the standard owner’s policy does not cover losses from building and zoning laws unless an enforcement notice is recorded in the public records. An open violation in a building department file is not recorded. See the open permits and CO guide.
Who collects property taxes
Westchester County does not. The county’s Tax Commission says “all property taxes in Westchester County are paid to your local town or city.” It does not collect current or overdue taxes or sell tax liens. Those jobs “are carried out individually by towns, cities and villages throughout the county” (Westchester County Tax Commission).
- In a town, the town’s receiver of taxes collects town, county and school taxes. In the Town of Cortlandt, for example, the town collects those, while the Villages of Buchanan and Croton-on-Hudson collect their own village taxes (Town of Cortlandt tax brochure).
- In Harrison, the receiver collects town and village taxes directly and collects school and county taxes on their behalf (Town/Village of Harrison).
- In the six cities, taxes are paid to the city.
So a property inside a village can have two tax collectors, and the tax search has to cover both.
Why fees vary
Each search line on the title bill can include two charges:
- The municipality’s fee. Some codes set a specific charge for a search letter. Others only allow a “reasonable” fee and leave the amount to a fee schedule or the department.
- The title company’s or vendor’s charge. The company that orders, collects and assembles the letters adds its own charge. These are extra fees, not state-filed rates, so they vary by company. New York requires them to be disclosed in writing and posted (see the title bill explained).
Some published municipal and vendor charges, as of October 30, 2026:
| Source | Item | Fee |
|---|---|---|
| New Rochelle fee schedule | CO, violations card search | $60 per card |
| New Rochelle fee schedule | CO and violations letter | $80 per master card |
| Village of Mamaroneck schedule | Pre-Date Letter, no CO | $250 |
| Port Chester code | Records search or certificate | “Reasonable fees” |
| Judicial Title menu | Each single search | $95 each |
| Judicial Title menu | Full residential package | $395 |
Notes on the table:
- New Rochelle’s schedule applies from January 1, 2026 and renews each calendar year unless changed.
- The Village of Mamaroneck’s Board of Trustees updated its schedule on June 23, 2025.
- Port Chester’s code requires the building department to search and certify its records, including violations, on request. It may charge reasonable fees but sets no amount.
- Judicial Title’s $95 (for each CO, building, fire, street or highway search) is one vendor’s posted price for New York State properties, plus local sales tax. It is not a market rate, and other companies charge differently.
So a $95 CO search line on a New Rochelle title bill may include the city’s $60 or $80 charge. The same line elsewhere, where the city fee is lower, is mostly the vendor’s service charge. A full package price can cost less than ordering each letter separately.
Getting building records yourself
You don’t have to wait for the title company’s letters. Many Westchester building departments let owners look at the property file directly. Others require a request under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), New York’s public records law. The Town of Greenburgh, for example, provides building records, violations and property history through a FOIL request to the Town Clerk.
Under FOIL (response deadlines; copy fees):
- The office must respond within five business days of a written request. It can grant it, deny it, or acknowledge it and give an approximate date.
- If it can’t produce the records within 20 business days of that acknowledgment, it must explain why in writing.
- Copies cost no more than 25 cents a page for standard paper, and you can’t be charged for search time as part of making copies.
FOIL gets you the file, not a certified letter. It adds to the title company’s searches but does not replace them.
Practical steps
- Sellers: pull the building file before listing. Open permits and missing COs take weeks to resolve, and the buyer’s letters will find them.
- Buyers’ attorneys: read each letter against the contract’s CO and violations terms, check the letter dates, and ask for updated letters if closing is more than a few weeks away. Confirm the tax search covers both the town or city and any village.
- Sellers’ attorneys: arrange the final water meter reading so the water exception can be limited.
- Everyone: ask the title company for its posted fee schedule and which municipal fees are included in each search line.
For closing costs overall, see Westchester closing costs. For who orders and pays for what, see who does what at a New York closing.
Details for attorneys and title professionals
- Where the search package comes from. The standard residential list (CO, Department of Buildings, Fire, Street and Highway) and the commercial extras come from Stewart Title’s New York agent guidelines. That is one underwriter’s guidance, but it matches most Westchester title bills.
- How the guidelines treat these letters. Stewart says all municipal searches other than tax, water and sewer, bankruptcy and Patriot searches “are for information only and are not insured,” and that title does not omit items found on them. The report must separate them with a cover page saying they “will not be insured,” that the company “assumes no liability for the accuracy thereof,” and that they “will not be continued to the date of closing.”
- The tax and water exceptions. Stewart treats tax, water and sewer searches as always required. The policy’s standard exception reads “taxes, tax liens, tax sales, water rates, sewer rents and assessments as set forth in the Tax Search herein.” Water charges after the last actual reading are excepted unless a final reading is obtained.
- The tax search in the premium. Under the TIRSA rate manual, the Zone 2 premium includes the tax search for one tax lot.
- Fee disclosure. The disclosure and posting rule for extra fees comes from the state Insurance Law and the Department of Financial Services’ title insurance regulations.
Official sources
- Westchester County, Tax Commission and About Westchester
- City of New Rochelle Code, § 259-1 fee schedule
- Village of Mamaroneck, Building Department Fees Schedule
- Village of Port Chester Code, § 197-31 Records and searches
- Town of Greenburgh, Building Record Search Requests
- Town of Cortlandt, Real Property Tax Collection brochure
- Town/Village of Harrison, Receiver of Taxes
- New York Public Officers Law § 87(1)(b)(iii) and (c) and § 89(3)(a)
- New York Insurance Law § 2119(f) and 11 NYCRR § 35.6 (ancillary fee disclosure; see the title bill explained)
- Stewart Title Guaranty Company, New York Guidelines for Out-of-State and New Agents (Dec. 13, 2022) (underwriter guidance: standard searches, p. 5, § I.C.1, 2, 4 and 5; tax and water exceptions, p. 7, § VII.A.1 and VII.A.8; cover page, p. 16, § XIII.A)
- Judicial Title, Miscellaneous Application (search price list) (one vendor’s prices)