Who keeps deeds
Deeds, mortgages and related documents are recorded by the county's Division of Real Estate. Most people still call it the Recorder of Deeds, and the online search still carries that name. The office is in Room 101 of the County Office Building, 542 Forbes Avenue in Pittsburgh, and its phone number is 412-350-4226.
What book and page means
Every recorded deed is filed under a book number and a page number. Together they are its permanent address in the county's records. You will see it written several ways:
DE/16544/152on the deed search site- "Deed Book Volume 16544, Page 152" in legal descriptions
16544/152or "DBV 16544 P 152" in shorthand
They all point to the same document. Parcel Finder accepts any of them.
Searching the deed index
The county's deed search is at pa_allegheny.uslandrecords.com. The site says its index search "is free for all dates and documents listed." You can search by a person's or company's name, or go straight to a book and page.
Each index entry gives the recording date, the type of document, the municipality, and the parties: the grantor, who gave up the property, and the grantee, who received it.
Viewing an image of the document itself costs money. The site charges casual users $1.00 a page for the first 10 pages of a document, and the remaining pages are free.
From a deed to a property
A deed index entry tells you who and when, but it isn't always obvious which property it covers. Parcel Finder closes that gap. Paste the book and page into the search box and it finds the parcel that deed belongs to, with its address, map and full record.
The Map buttons add-on does this in one click. It adds a button beside every deed and parcel number on the county's deed site that opens the property here.
From a property to its deeds
Going the other way is easier. Open any property and its sale history lists each recorded sale with the price, the date and the deed's book and page. That reference is what you would give the Division of Real Estate to request a copy.
Getting a copy
Copies are available in person at the office for $1.00 a page, with certification extra, or by mail for a fee per document. Call the office or check the county's recording pages for the current schedule before you go.
What a deed search won't settle
Finding the latest deed tells you who took title and when. It doesn't tell you about liens, unpaid taxes, easements or errors in earlier transfers. That is what a title search is for, and a title company or real estate attorney should do one before any purchase.
Sources
- Allegheny County deed search, for what is free and the cost of images
- Allegheny County: Recording Documents
- Allegheny County: Property Assessments and Real Estate