Fairfield County Property Search
Fairfield County property records show the details of a property's ownership, description, and location. Individuals who reside in Fairfield County, Connecticut, typically file these records with the Recorder's Office of the town or city where the property is located. Property records include information on ownership, encumbrances, and liens. These are applied to uphold legal real estate transactions. Other documents include mortgages, deeds, easements, foreclosures, leases, licenses, and fees.
Since property records are considered part of Fairfield County Public Records, they are available to members of the public who request them. In Fairfield County, the city or town Recorder's Office where the property is situated is responsible for the recording, maintaining, and releasing of property records. Before a transaction, knowing a property's details is in everyone's best interest, especially the buyer. Real estate brokers, attorneys, and property owners need access to Real property records since the information could alter the property's value. The importance of conducting a property record search includes the following:
- For resolving any difficulties with wills, bequests, and property rights
- To understand the condition of a property
- To ascertain the value of the property
- In resolving disputes about boundary lines
- To Make Clear the rights provided by an easement
- To ease any reservations regarding mortgages and foreclosures on the property
- For the resolution of any pending lien disputes
Property records at the state level are held, maintained, and disseminated by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
Are Fairfield County Property Records Public?
Yes, Fairfield County property records are considered to be public records. All property records maintained or kept on file by any public agency, regardless of whether any provision of the law mandates such records, shall be viewed as public records unless otherwise stipulated by any federal law or state statute, according to Section 1-210 of the Chapter 14 Freedom of Information Act. Everyone has the right to access these records during regular business hours and the ability to copy or get a duplicate of them. However, some property record information is not open or accessible to members of the public. For instance, the following information cannot be obtained by the general public until all of the property has been acquired and until all proceedings, transactions, or evaluations have been completed or abandoned:
- The contents of real estate appraisals
- Engineering or feasibility estimates
- Evaluations made for or by an agency about the acquisition of property or to potential public supply and construction contracts
What Do Fairfield County Property Records Contain?
Depending on the document type and the office maintaining and disseminating it, a property record in Fairfield County may contain different information.
A property record may also contain other documents, such as sales prices, legal descriptions, homestead declarations, zoning changes, fees, lease easements, foreclosures, and licenses, depending on the type of property being recorded.
A property record kept by the Assessors Office may also contain field Cards, also called property record cards, which provide information about properties. They include data about the owner, references to deeds, specifics regarding the house and the land, and value data. There is additional information about permits, owner history, and sales. Detailed information provided in a property record card includes:
- Parcel address
- Account
- Parcel assessment amount
- PID
- Current value (valuation year, improvements, land value, total)
- Owner of record (owner, co-owner, address)
- Ownership History (owner, sale price, certificate, book and page, instrument, sale date)
- Building information (year built, living area, replacement cost, building percent good, replacement cost less depreciation)
- Building attributes (field, description)
- Building photo
- Building layout
- Building sub-areas (code, description, gross area, living area)
- Extra features ( code, description, size)
- Land use (use code, description, zone, neighborhood, category
- Landline valuation ( size, depth, assessed value, appraised value)
- Outbuildings
- Valuation history for appraisal and assessment (valuation year, improvements, land value, total)
- Tax bills
- Details of the property's assessment and related public information
Where to Perform a Fairfield County Property Lookup
There are no county recording offices in the state of Connecticut. However, individuals seeking to perform a Fairfield County property lookup may do so through the following methods:
- The Local Tax Assessors Office: These offices may be found in Fairfield towns and cities, and they provide access to public property records about data on property taxes, tax assessments, surveys, as well as property records cards which contain other various information concerning real properties in Fairfield county. They are available for anyone who is interested online via a third-party website. For instance, an individual may contact the city of Bridgeport Tax Assessor's Office website online for property records or visit the office in person at:
Office of the Tax Assessor
45 Lyon Terrace,
Room 105
Bridgeport, CT 06604 - The Town or City Clerk's Office: Property records in Fairfield can also be primarily obtained at the clerk's office where the real property is situated. For instance, in the town of Fairfield, although the town clerk's office does not perform the property record search for members of the public, an individual may visit the clerk's office to perform searches in person at:
Old Town Hall
611 Old Post Road
Fairfield, CT 06824
Or
Sullivan Independence Hall
725 Old Post Road
Fairfield, CT 06824
Otherwise, the Fairfield Town Clerk's office website provides internet access to Land Record Indexes dating back to 1977.
How to Perform a Property Owner Lookup in Fairfield County
To perform a property owner lookup in Fairfield County, an individual may contact the Assessor's office where the property is located online or in person. The information required to perform the search includes the address of the property and the parcel number, amongst others.
Alternatively, the Public Use and Benefit Land Registry provides a Land Registry pilot portal through which members of the public can search state lands to find out who owns a piece of property and download documents containing parcel information, such as titles, surveys, and land management plans.
How to Find Fairfield County Property Records Online
Property records maintained by towns and cities in Fairfield County, Connecticut, are accessible to members of the public online. Individuals seeking to find property records in Fairfield County online may do so through the following methods:
- Town or City Clerk's Office website: Many towns and cities in Fairfield County provide property record search services online for real properties within their jurisdiction to the public. For instance, Westport Town Clerk's office offers online property records search services to the public in partnership with a third-party website for a fee. Individuals are required to sign up, however, to access this search service. A person may conduct online searches using the property owner's name, the document number, or a time frame.
- Town or City Assessor's Office website: Property records may be obtained online via the Assessors' offices in Fairfield towns and cities. For instance, Westport Assessor's Office provides a property records online database using a third-party website. Through this website, users can request access to the Assessor's database, which contains property data, revaluation-related data, and value summaries. Individuals may search for property records by entering the property's address or browsing through the street listing on the website.
How to Find Property Owner by Address Free
Members of the public can view information regarding the ownership of real properties in Fairfield County. Most town and city assessors' offices offer free property records search services by address at no cost. This enables individuals seeking to find a property owner using an address to access such information. Armed with the property's address, a record seeker may view the ownership of the property at no cost through the town's Assessor's Office website with third-party websites that provide property record information on real properties within the town's jurisdiction. Individuals may also use the Public Use and Benefit Land Registry, which provides the pilot portal to find a property owner by name for free.
Fairfield County Property Tax Lookup
When a real estate acquisition is being contemplated, as well as to compare or search for several properties, a property tax lookup may be necessary. While the Office of Policy and Management can answer broad inquiries concerning the state's property taxes, the tax collector in the town where the property is physically located should be contacted with any issues regarding a tax bill or mill rate on real property, among which is a home. For instance, the Fairfield Town Tax Collector provides property taxpayers information and help while also collecting all tax-related revenue and levies owed to the Town of Fairfield in compliance with Connecticut General State Statutes. One can use a name (last name and first initials), list number, address, bill number, and unique identification as a search criteria to find tax invoices online. Individuals may also make enquiries in person at
Old Town Hall
611 Old Post Road
Fairfield, CT 06824
How to Find a Fairfield County Property Appraiser
Real estate appraisers determine the market worth of properties before they are sold, mortgaged, taxed, insured, or developed. They frequently specialize in a particular sort of real estate, and they usually value one property at a time. Individuals seeking to find Fairfield County property appraisers may do so through the following process on the Connecticut Real Estate Appraisal Commission:
- Visit the State of Connecticut eLicense website
- Click on "Generate Roster" under the "License Lookup and Download" heading.
- Scroll down and click on "Real Estate, Appraisal, Mobile Home Parks"
- Choose "Certified General Real Estate Appraisers" or "Certified Residential Real Estate Appraisers", depending on which of the two is needed
- Click on the "Continue" icon
- Choose a format in which to download the list of property appraisers.
A property appraisal aids in estimating an asset's current value. The valuation of the real estate property must be stated to assess the advantages and duties arising from the ownership of the real estate.
Services offered by property appraisers include:
- Verify the property descriptions by consulting public records.
- Examine the property and make a note of its features. This is done by determining the property's external condition and evaluating the interior by performing a room-by-room walk-through.
- Take photographs of the real property.
- Analyze similar properties to assist in determining values.
- Provide prepared reports on the real estate valuations.
- Prepare and keep up-to-date information on each piece of real estate.
Fairfield County Property Assessor
Property assessment is solely the responsibility of the municipal government in Connecticut. The Assessor's office is the local agency primarily in charge of performing this duty. The grand list, a yearly list of every piece of taxable and tax-exempt real estate, must accurately reflect every taxable and tax-exempt property in the municipality, and assessors ensure that all assessments are conducted consistently and correctly. Local property assessors can be contacted online, via email, via phone, or in person. An individual may locate the required Assessor in the locality of the real property. The Assessor's office in many Fairfield towns may also be contacted online through their Assessor's official website.
The Assessor also handles other administrative tasks, including examining new construction and significant building alterations. This ensures that each property's physical inventory record is current and the relevant improvements are valued. The Assessor examines Every real estate transfer for accuracy, including the fundamental details on the buyer, seller, and sale price. The transfer's exceptional circumstances are also confirmed, and assessment records are updated.
