Suffolk County Property Records

Suffolk County property records are stored at the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds in downtown Boston. The registry holds land records going back to 1643, and you can search most of them at no cost through MassLandRecords.com. Suffolk County covers just four communities, but it handles a large share of the state's real estate transactions each year. You can look up deeds, mortgages, liens, and plans from home or visit the office at 24 New Chardon Street. The Suffolk County property records system also includes a full set of registered land documents dating back to 1898.

Suffolk County Registry of Deeds

The Suffolk County Registry of Deeds is at 24 New Chardon Street in Boston. Register Stephen J. Murphy leads the office. It serves four communities: Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop. The main phone line is (617) 788-6221. You can reach the plan counter at 617-788-6253 and the registered land desk at 617-788-6251. The fax number is (617) 720-4163. For email, use suffolk.deeds@sec.state.ma.us. This is one of the oldest registries in the state, with over 375 years of continuous operation since 1643.

Suffolk County property records fall into two groups. Recorded land makes up the bulk of files. These use the standard book and page system, and the registry assigns each document a number when it comes in. Registered land works through the Land Court under M.G.L. Chapter 185. With registered land, the state issues a Certificate of Title that guarantees ownership. About 10 to 20 percent of Suffolk County parcels sit on the registered land system. If your property is registered, the original documents stay at the registry instead of being mailed back to you.

Thomas M. Ryan serves as the Public Records Access Officer for the Suffolk County Registry. Under M.G.L. Chapter 66, all land documents filed here are public records. Anyone can view them.

Search Suffolk County Land Records Online

You can search Suffolk County property records for free through MassLandRecords.com. The portal offers several ways to find what you need. Recorded land name searches go back to January 1, 1973. Document images are available from March 1, 1949 to the present. Maps and plans start at June 1921. Registered land records date back to January 2, 1898, and registered land plans go to July 26, 1899. That is a deep archive for online access, and all of it is free to view and print.

The search tools at the Suffolk County portal include a Recorded Land Name Search, Document Search, Book Search, Property Search, Recorded Date Search, and an Unindexed Property Search. There is also a set of Virtual Books with historical index access, plus a 1951 to 1960 Grantee Index. For registered land, you get a separate Name Search, Book Search, Document Search, Property Search, and Recorded Date Search. The Suffolk Registry homepage links to all of these tools in one place.

To get a copy of your deed online, go to massrods.com and click Document Search. Look for your name in either the Recorded Land or Registered Land section. Adobe Reader is needed to view the files. One thing to keep in mind: Adobe Reader does not work in Google Chrome. Use Firefox, Edge, or Safari instead. You also need to turn off your pop-up blocker or the document will not open.

Note: Copies from the Suffolk County online portal are free to view and print at home.

Suffolk County Pre-1973 Records

Records before January 1, 1973 need a different search method. The online name index does not cover those years. If you know the book and page number, use the Unindexed Property Search for deeds between 1920 and 1973. For deeds before 1920, grantor and grantee indexes are available at FamilySearch.org for the years 1639 to 1920. You can also visit the registry in person and use the scanned index books. Staff can help point you to the right volume.

There is a quirk with Suffolk County property records that matters for older searches. Parts of what is now Boston used to be in Norfolk County. Roxbury was annexed in 1867, Dorchester in 1869, West Roxbury in 1872, and Hyde Park in 1911. If you are tracing a property in any of those neighborhoods before the annexation date, you will need to check the Norfolk County Registry of Deeds for pre-annexation deeds. The Suffolk County registry will not have them.

Suffolk County Recording Fees

Suffolk County uses the same fee schedule as every other Massachusetts registry. A deed costs $155 to record. Mortgages are $205. A mortgage discharge runs $105. Declarations of Homestead are $35. Trust declarations cost $255. Plans are $105 per sheet. Most other documents are $105 each. These fees are set by state law and do not vary from one county to the next.

The excise tax on deeds is $4.56 per $1,000 of sale price. On a $600,000 property in Boston, the excise would be $2,736. This gets paid at the time of recording along with the filing fee. Federal tax liens cost just $5 to record. UCC financing statements run $75. Municipal lien certificates are $80. Certified copies cost $1.00 per page, and registered land certificates are $5.00 each. Under M.G.L. Chapter 183, these recording requirements apply to all conveyances of real property across the state.

Some companies mail notices offering to sell you a copy of your deed for $118 or more. That is a scam. The Suffolk County Registry provides copies for free. Call (617) 788-6221 or email the office to get one.

Suffolk Property Fraud Protection

The Suffolk County Registry offers a free Consumer Notification Service. It sends you an email alert when any document gets recorded against a property you own. You can sign up for up to three properties at no cost. This is one of the best ways to catch deed fraud early. If you get an alert and do not know who filed the document, call (617) 788-6221 right away.

Filing a Declaration of Homestead is another step worth taking. Under M.G.L. Chapter 188, a homestead protects your primary home from forced sale by most creditors, up to $1,000,000. The filing fee is just $35 at the Suffolk County Registry. Seniors and people with disabilities get some automatic protection, but recording a formal declaration is the safest route. It adds a layer of security on top of the notification service.

Suffolk County Website Access

The Suffolk County property records website was designed with the National Center for Accessible Media at WGBH. It supports keyboard-only navigation and works with screen readers. Text can be enlarged, and contrast options are available. Google Translator covers more than 100 languages. The site is also mobile-friendly, so you can search Suffolk County land records from a phone or tablet without any trouble.

The Massachusetts Land Records portal is the main gateway for searching Suffolk County property records online at no cost.

From this portal you can access all Suffolk County deed, mortgage, and lien records going back decades.

Cities in Suffolk County

Suffolk County covers four communities. Two of them have property records pages on this site. Chelsea and Winthrop are also part of the county but do not have their own pages here.

Nearby Counties

These counties border Suffolk County. Each has its own registry of deeds. Make sure you are searching in the right county before you start.