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State guides / New York / Monroe County

Monroe County property data

Where Monroe County's property records live, how its tax and foreclosure sales work, and what Deedplat puts on one map, including Rochester.

  • 22Cities and towns
Hover a town to see its name

Where the records are

The county offices an investor deals with in Monroe County, and what each one puts online.

Deeds and mortgages

Monroe County Clerk. The Clerk records deeds, mortgages, judgments and liens, and its Online Records Database (searchiqs.com/nymonr) can be searched online; copies from the office cost 65 cents a page and certified copies start at $5.

Owners and values

Monroe County Real Property Tax Service and local town and city assessors. The free Monroe County Real Property Portal shows owner, assessment, tax and past sales information for each parcel, and values are set by the 21 local assessing units, including the City of Rochester Bureau of Assessment.

Tax sales

Monroe County Department of Finance, Treasury Division. Tax bills can be viewed and paid in the Real Property Portal, and the county posts its foreclosure auction notice, sale list and closing instructions on the Treasury pages.

Foreclosure sales

Monroe County Supreme Court (court-appointed referees). Mortgage foreclosure cases are filed with the County Clerk as Clerk of the Supreme Court, and residential foreclosure filings are on the state NYSCEF e-filing system, which can be searched free.

Parcel maps

Monroe County GIS. The free Monroe County GIS Hub offers map applications and data downloads; tax maps are kept by the Real Property Tax Service.

How property is sold here

Monroe County follows New York's rules, with its own calendar and offices. Read the New York guide for how the state works.

Tax sales

New York does not sell tax liens at a county auction here; Monroe County forecloses on the property itself under the Monroe County In Rem Tax Foreclosure Act once taxes have been unpaid about two years, then sells the parcels at a live public auction. The 2026 auction was held September 11, 2026 at 9:30 AM at the Joseph A. Floreano Rochester Riverside Convention Center, and bidders had to show at least $3,000 in good funds to enter. The Notice of Sale with the parcel list is posted on the Treasury pages at monroecounty.gov, and the City of Rochester runs its own separate tax foreclosure auctions through its Treasury Bureau for city tax liens.

Foreclosure sales

New York mortgage foreclosures go through the Supreme Court, and the property is sold at a public auction run by a court-appointed referee, most often at the Hall of Justice, 99 Exchange Blvd. in Rochester. Notices of sale are published in local newspapers, and case papers are on the Clerk's records and the state NYSCEF system.

Assessed values

Values are set by each town and by the City of Rochester rather than one county assessor; the City of Rochester last reassessed in 2024 and reassesses about every 4 years, while towns use a July 1 valuation date and a May 1 tentative roll.

Transfer tax

New York State transfer tax is $2 per $500 of price (0.4 percent), plus a 1 percent mansion tax paid by the buyer on homes selling for $1 million or more; Monroe County and Rochester add no local transfer tax, and a mortgage recording tax is due when a mortgage is recorded.

Land bank

The Rochester Land Bank Corporation, run with the City of Rochester, acquires vacant and abandoned property and sells it to buyers and developers.

Worth knowing

Monroe County Treasury sends many notices over about 28 months before a tax foreclosure, and owners can pull a parcel from the auction by paying in full or keeping a signed payment plan in good standing, so the final sale list is shorter than the published delinquent list.

Worth knowing

County auction buyers take the property subject to any unpaid City of Rochester taxes and water charges, which the city may have sold to private lien buyers, plus school and village taxes, so check those before bidding.

Worth knowing

The United States has 120 days after a tax auction to redeem a parcel that carries a federal lien.

Every town in Monroe County

The cities, towns and townships inside the county line.

  • Brighton town
  • Chili town
  • Clarkson town
  • County subdivisions not defined
  • East Rochester town
  • Gates town
  • Greece town
  • Hamlin town
  • Henrietta town
  • Irondequoit town
  • Mendon town
  • Ogden town
  • Parma town
  • Penfield town
  • Perinton town
  • Pittsford town
  • Riga town
  • Rochester city
  • Rush town
  • Sweden town
  • Webster town
  • Wheatland town

Questions

Where are deeds recorded in Monroe County?

Deeds and mortgages are recorded by the Monroe County Clerk at the County Office Building, 39 W. Main Street, Rochester. A deed or mortgage can also be searched in the Clerk's Online Records Database.

When is the Monroe County tax sale?

Monroe County holds its tax foreclosure auction once a year in the fall; the 2026 auction was September 11 at the Rochester Riverside Convention Center. The Notice of Sale and parcel list are posted on the county Treasury page, and the City of Rochester holds its own separate auctions.

How do I find who owns a property in Monroe County?

Look up the parcel in the free Monroe County Real Property Portal, which shows the owner, assessment, taxes and past sales. The deed itself is in the County Clerk's records.

Are Monroe County property records online?

Yes. Deeds and liens, owner and assessment data, tax bills, county GIS maps and court foreclosure filings can all be looked up online.

Sources for this guide

Office hours, fees and sale dates change. We checked these sources in October 2026; confirm with the county before you act.

Every parcel in Monroe County, on one map

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