Guide · Florida public records

Florida official records vs the property appraiser: which one to search

The county property appraiser keeps the tax roll: the owner of record, the mailing address for the bill, values, exemptions, land use and a summary of each sale. The clerk of the circuit court keeps the official records: the recorded documents themselves, deeds, mortgages, liens, judgments and lis pendens. Start at the appraiser to pin down the parcel, then use the sale's book and page or instrument number to open the document at the clerk.

Map Views · 31 October 2026 · Sources: section 28.222, Florida Statutes, the Florida Department of Revenue, the county property rolls and sales files

What the property appraiser holds

Each county's appraiser values every parcel as of January 1 and builds the roll that taxes are levied on. A record there is a summary written by the appraiser's office: who owns the parcel, where the tax bill goes, the parcel ID, the legal description, acres, buildings, just, assessed and taxable values, exemptions, and the sales the office has coded. Only the appraiser decides exemptions, as the Department of Revenue's homestead guide puts it.

Search is by address, parcel ID or the owner's name as it stands today. A past owner is found through the sales, not the name search.

What the clerk holds

Under section 28.222, the clerk of the circuit court is the county recorder. Everything recorded goes into one series called the Official Records: deeds, mortgages and their satisfactions, lien notices, judgments, notices of lis pendens, federal tax liens, powers of attorney and more. Plats can be kept in a separate book. The clerk indexes every document by the names of its parties, both ways, so you can search by seller or by buyer.

These are the documents themselves, with signatures and stamps, not a summary. They are what title rests on.

Which one answers your question

• Who owns it now, and what is it worth for tax? The appraiser.
• What did it sell for, and when? The appraiser's sales list first, then the deed at the clerk to confirm it. See how to find what a Florida house sold for.
• Is there a mortgage, a lien, a judgment or a lis pendens? The clerk. The appraiser's roll does not carry them.
• What exactly was conveyed? The legal description on the deed at the clerk. The appraiser's copy can be shortened, and it can lag.
• Which subdivision plat is it in? The plat reference is in the legal description; the plat itself is at the clerk.

Getting from one to the other

1. Find the parcel at the appraiser by address or parcel ID.
2. Copy the sale's reference. Most counties give the Official Records book and page. Others give the clerk's instrument number, sometimes called a document or clerk's file number.
3. Search the clerk's official records by that reference. It is the most exact search: names are spelled many ways, a book and page or an instrument number is not.
4. Search by name for the rest. The clerk's index runs by the names of the parties, so mortgages, liens and judgments are found under the owner's name as it appears on the deed, for the years they have owned it.

How Florida's sales point to the clerk

The reference a county uses is a fact to know before you search. On the state's 2025 sales, 50 counties give book and page. 17 give the instrument number instead: Baker, Broward, Charlotte, DeSoto, Franklin, Gilchrist, Glades, Hardee, Hendry, Hillsborough, Indian River, Lee, Manatee, Okaloosa, Okeechobee, Orange and Sarasota. Some records carry both.

Where it stops

• The roll lags the records. A deed recorded this week reaches the appraiser's owner line on a later update, and the state's roll once a year.
• Neither is a title search. Whether title is clear, and which liens survive a sale, is a question for a title company or an attorney.
• Recorded is not proven. Recording puts a document on the public record; it does not settle whether the document is valid.
• Map Views stops at the sales. It does not carry mortgages, liens, judgments or lis pendens. For those, use the clerk.

On Map Views

The parcel report puts the appraiser's side on one screen: owner of record and mailing address, values, the homestead flag, land use, and in the History tab each sale with its book and page or instrument number, deed type, and seller and buyer where the county names them. From the owner, one tap shows every parcel that owner holds statewide, and a company owner links to its Sunbiz filing (who is behind a Florida LLC).

The recorded document at the county clerk is the authority on what was conveyed or charged against a property. The property appraiser is the authority on the roll. Map Views shows the roll and the sales as the counties and the state published them.