How to Look Up Property Owners in California
Finding owner names and addresses before your coffee gets cold.
Who owns that California property? You have your own reasons for needing to know. Maybe you’re interested in investing in some commercial properties and need to reach out to the owner to make an offer. Perhaps you work for the city and need to contact all of the property owners whose homes will be affected by a new water main installation. You could be with the DEA, tracking down the owner of a suspected illegal cannabis grow.
You know your business better than we do. The point is that you need answers, and you need them fast. So what are your options? There are a couple of ways to look up property owners in California depending on how much time you want to spend and how much information you need to know.
Option A: Visit the County Assessor
In California, property information like owners and addresses is a matter of public record. This information can’t be published freely online without the person’s permission, but the County Assessor will have it and plenty of other information in their property tax records. Some of the records available at the Assessor’s office include:
● Assessment rolls and maps
● List of all property transferred in the last two years
● Organizational exemption claims and supporting documents
● Information maintained on property characteristics
Property ownership information can be requested from the County Registrar-Recorder or County Clerk for the county where the property resides.
The downside to getting property data through the County Assessor’s office is that each county has a different process for doing so. For some properties, you may be able to request records online by filling out a form. In other cases, you might need to make a phone call or even come in person to fulfill your request.
It’s free, but it costs time and effort you could be spending doing other things, like your actual job. And if you have a lot of properties to check or need to get owner information for properties in multiple counties, looking up all that information yourself can quickly eat up your whole day.
Option B: Skip All That and Use ParcelQuest
We exist to gather all of the parcel information you could possibly need (and probably some you don’t) and deliver it to you as quickly and thoroughly as possible. We’ve spent decades building close relationships with county assessors and staff in all 58 California counties, which allows us to maintain an up-to-date database so you can find all your information in one place. Instead of puzzling over how to find a property owner name in California or how to search for a stack of APNs, let us do the legwork for you.
We provide multiple ways to search:
● by name
● by address
● by location
● by proximity
Our quick search feature allows you to search by APN, street address, or owner name. You can plug in whatever info you have, and we’ll match it against our database. Or you can use the advanced search tools to find parcels by proximity, characteristics, tax status, and more. If you have multiple properties to search, you can upload their APNs in bulk, even across different counties.
Once you’ve found what you’re looking for, the owner contact information can be easily exported into mailing labels to make your communications easy.
No phone calls, no applications, no trips to the County Assessor’s office. And because ParcelQuest is hosted online, you can access it from any internet-ready machine. If you want to check parcels in your pajamas in the dead of night, we won’t judge you. (It’s pretty darn addictive.)
So what will it be? If you have questions about ParcelQuest, or you’re ready to experience the joy of anytime, anywhere parcel search, call us 888-217-8999 or sign up online to get started.