To make changes to an existing deed, you must have a new deed prepared and recorded.

If your spouse dies and your name is on the deed, you do not have to change it.

A certified professional should prepare a deed. Contact a real estate lawyer, title company, or other real estate professional.

• You must have the estate opened and probated at the Register of Wills before you can transfer the title.

You do not have to pay realty transfer tax if you are transferring your property to a:

• Spouse.
• Sibling.
• Parent.
• Child.
• Grandparent.
• Mother-in-law.
• Brother-in-law.
• Sister-in-law.
• Father-in-law.
• Stepchildren.
• Step-parent.

You must provide proof of the relationship, such as a birth, death, or marriage certificate. This can be a copy. Do not send originals.

There are other reasons you may not have to pay a transfer tax, but these are the most common.

If you are looking for information about tax, water, L&I, or other similar liens, or information about legal judgments, contact the Judgments and Liens Index Office.

You can get property tax information from the Office of Property Assessment.

Learn how to get a copy of a deed or other recorded document.

You will not receive a new deed when you pay off your mortgage. Your lender should record a satisfaction or release of mortgage and then send you a copy.

Learn how to find a City-owned property.

Contact the Department of Records by emailing records.info@phila.gov or calling (215) 686-2262.

Title insurance companies perform title searches.

Contact the PA Department of Banking and ask whether there is a successor company.

To find information about a street’s boundaries, you can use the legal card application.

You can find some property information by using Atlas, an online mapping tool.

You can get plats in City Hall, Room 168. The fees are:

• $0.50 for 8.5 by 11 inches
• $1.00 for 11 by 17 inches
• $10.00 for the entire plat

If you have other questions, contact the Records Mapping Unit at mapping.info@phila.gov or (215) 686-1487.

You should have received the original deed when you purchased your property. If not, you can learn how to get a copy of a deed.

You should have a professional prepare a deed. Then, submit the original document, a certified copy of the court order, and applicable fee and taxes to:

Department of Records
City Hall, Room 156
Philadelphia, PA 19107

The department will review the deed and the commissioner will sign it.

A property owner can officially repudiate unlawful restrictive covenants if they are contained in a deed affecting your property by filing the Repudiation of Unlawful Restrictive Covenants Form with the Department of Records at no cost.

Learn more about Rejecting Unlawful Restrictive Covenants that Affect Your Property.

If you live in a home and consider yourself the homeowner, but your name isn’t on the deed, you may have a tangled title. Tangled title is a phrase used to describe problems with the legal ownership of a property.

You may be in a tangled title situation if:

• Your name isn’t on the deed to the house.
• A deceased relative’s name is still on the deed, and the relative died without a will or before the probate process was complete.
• You’re living in a home with a mortgage, the original borrower has died, and you want to take responsibility for paying the mortgage.
• You entered into a rent-to-own agreement (also called lease/purchase agreements or installment land contracts) to buy the house. You have paid all or some of the sale price for the house, but your name isn’t on the deed to the house.

Tangled title is a very serious issue affecting thousands of homes in Philadelphia. If you have a tangled title, you may have difficulty accessing the following:

• Home mortgage or a loan
• Past due property taxes and utility bills
• Home repair assistance programs
• Homeowner’s insurance.

Tangled titles will also prevent you from:

• Selling the house.
• Transferring legal ownership of the property to your family or friends.
• Stopping the person whose name is on the deed or one of their relatives from claiming the house.

Residents can apply for Tangled Title Fund grants to reduce title clearing costs. For a list of organizations providing free legal services, go to record a deed or other document (under related content).

Property fraud is a less common but very serious form of tangled title. It generally takes the form of deed fraud or mortgage fraud.

Deed fraud occurs when a home is sold by a person pretending to be the owner. This is done without the permission of the legal owner, and the legal owner’s name is removed from the deed without their knowledge or informed consent. The legal owner must then prove in court that they own the property. Unless the legal owner steps forward, the fraudulent owner can re-sell or mortgage the property.

Mortgage fraud occurs when someone signs a mortgage against a property that they don’t own to borrow money against the property. These transactions are completed without the knowledge or informed consent of the legal owner of the property.

Generally, consider using a licensed realtor and explore options for title insurance.

When purchasing a property, make sure you:

• Identify the current owner of the property.
• Verify the identity of the seller and their authority to sell the property.
• Identify and address any liens affecting the property.

If you own a property, make sure you:

• Visit the property at different times of the day and night, and check the doors, windows, and locks.
• Make needed repairs (interior and exterior) to avoid any other problems, such as code violations.
• Keep up with repairs, utility bills, and other property maintenance.
• Secure and check on any vacant properties you may own. Also, apply for a Vacant Residential Property License with the City.
• Have the mail for any non-occupied properties sent to your primary house or a post office box.
• Read all letters and other correspondence that comes to your home. Information from a bank or mortgage company that are unfamiliar to you may be a sign of illegal activity.
• Look at your yearly tax bill and monthly water bills. If they aren’t in your name or if you haven’t received them, check with the City to find out why.

Get a free, certified copy of the deed or mortgage from the Department of Records in City Hall, Room 154. Ask to search the records by property address to make sure there aren’t any other fraudulent documents.

If you aren’t able to visit City Hall, you can request a copy of the document by mail. In a letter, provide your name and primary address, the address of the property, and a brief description of the problem. Requests should be sent to:

Attn: Supervisor
Department of Records
City Hall, Room 154
Philadelphia, PA 19107

We also recommend that victims of property fraud immediately:

• File a police report by visiting any police station.
• Notify the Philadelphia Office of the District Attorney’s Economic and Cyber Crime Unit by calling (215) 686-9902.
• Notify the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office of Consumer Protection by calling (800) 441- 2555.
• File a Deed/Mortgage Fraud Report with the Department of Records by visiting City Hall, Room 154. Reports can’t be submitted online.
• Consult with an experienced real estate lawyer. Resolving property fraud issues generally requires filing a quiet title action in civil court and obtaining an order from a judge.

You can also view (but not print) an unofficial copy of your deed or mortgage online at no cost. To print a document, you must pay for an online subscription with a credit card.

An action to quiet title is a lawsuit brought in civil court to determine the real owner of a property. This action “quiets” any challenges or competing claims to the title. For example, someone may file a quiet title action to challenge the fraudulent transfer of a property through a forged deed. Download the quiet title legal complaint form.

A quiet title action isn’t a criminal case. Even if the Office of the District Attorney brings a criminal case against the person who committed the fraud, you must file a separate quiet title action and get a court order from a judge stating that you’re the legal owner of the property. The DA’s Office can’t get this court order on your behalf.

If you want more information about “quiet title” actions, contact the City’s Office of Judicial Records by calling 215-686-4251 or visiting City Hall, Room 296. You can also try visiting the City’s Elder Justice and Civil Resource Center at City Hall, Room 278.

Each time a deed or mortgage is recorded, the Department of Records sends the current owner of the property a letter. These letters provide notice to property owners in case the transaction is fraudulent. Owners will then be able to take corrective action, if necessary.

Some other common reasons a deed or mortgage could have been recorded against your property if you:

• Bought the property recently.
• Mortgaged your property.
• Refinanced your mortgage.
• Inherited the property and had a deed recorded that changed the ownership to your name.

If you’re unsure whether you may have been the victim of fraud, contact the Department of Records at 215-686-2290 or records.info@phila.gov.

The Department of Records provides a free email notification service called Fraud Guard.

Property owners can register for a Fraud Guard account, and when a document is recorded with your name on it, you’ll be notified by email. You can click on the document link in the email to view an unofficial copy of your deed or mortgage online at no cost.

The Department of Records uses deed and mortgage fraud reports to track allegations. The department doesn’t carry out investigations. We can refer people to appropriate legal resources (civil and criminal) to investigate the alleged fraud. The department also cooperates with law enforcement and the courts.

The Free Library of Philadelphia has past and present Philadelphia obituaries and phone books.

You may also try searching the internet or hiring a private detective.

Learn how to get a copy of a deed or other recorded document.

You need to locate the building permit. The availability of these records varies.

The City Archives has marriage records from July 1860 to December 1885.

The Register of Wills keeps records for marriages after December 31, 1885.

Learn how to get a copy of a public safety report.

The City Archives has Philadelphia divorce records before 1914.

For certified copies of divorce decrees filed in Philadelphia from 1885 to the present, contact the Office of Judicial Records Civil Filing Center (PDF).

Naturalization records are filed in city, county, state, and federal courts.

The City Archives has naturalization records filed in Philadelphia’s city and county courts from 1793 to 1930. Naturalizations were filed in several different courts:

• Court of Common Pleas
• Court of Quarter Sessions
• County District Court
• Mayor’s Court

After 1930, naturalizations were only filed only in federal courts. Also, before 1922, many women were not naturalized and records are incomplete.

For Philadelphia naturalization records filed at the state level, contact the Pennsylvania State Archives.

For Philadelphia naturalization records filed at the federal level, contact the Philadelphia branch of the National Archives.

Refer to the City’s Open Records Policy for instructions on how to file a right-to-know request.

All subpoenas directed to the Department of Records must be served on the Law Department. Then, the server must take the subpoena to:

Department of Records
City Hall, Room 156
Philadelphia, PA 19107

The Department of Records will be able to address the subpoena request.