From Westchester County and points south, take route 95 north to route 287 west to route 684 north. Follow route 684 north to exit 19 - route 84 west. Take route 84 west to the exit for route 312. Go to the first traffic light make a right, this puts you on route 312. At the next traffic light, turn right onto route 6. Follow route 6 to route 52. The Putnam County Center is just down on the right. There is plenty of parking behind the center.
The county clerk's office is located on the first floor, room 100-A. The Putnam County clerk has a new computer system indexing land records from 1976 forward and judgments from 1985 forward. This system is unique because all land records since June 1992 are scanned into the computer. Judgments from 1992 forward are also scanned into the computer. Once you find the record you want, you can then view it on the screen or simply press the print button to get a copy. This type of system is the future of public record access. A detailed tutorial of this computer system is in this chapter after the walkthrough.
Room 100-A contains a consolidated liens index, Federal Tax Liens, Uniform Commercial Code Financing Statements, old judgment dockets and indexes. These books are kept on a table on the right next to the computer terminal. In file cabinets to the right of the books are the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC's) statements, the certificates of incorporation, mechanics liens, transcripts of judgments and assumed business names. The index for business and corporate records is in room 100-B.
Room 100-B contains the liber books for deeds and mortgages as well as the grantor-grantee, mortgagor-mortgagee indexes. These indexes stop in 1992. All land record information is only on computer after 1992. To search a name, you look up the name in the grantee index. The grantee is the person buying the property, the grantor is the person selling the property. If the name you are searching for appears as a grantor, then they have sold property, and if the name appears in the grantee index, they have bought the property. The mortgagor -mortgagee index is different. The bank or financial institution is the mortgagee, because they are receiving a mortgage. The person who owns the land is the mortgagor because they gave a mortgage to the lending institution in exchange for money. Once you find the name you are searching, the next step is to look at the actual documents. In the indexes, they will list a liber and a page number next to the name. The liber and page numbers refer to the book and page where you will find the actual documents. Mortgages are in the mortgage libers, deeds are in the deed libers.
The lis pendens are also kept in this room. The books are located against the back wall to the left of the entrance to room 100-C. The lis pendens are indexed by year.
Room 100-C is the litigation room. The civil actions are referenced by plaintiff and by defendant, by year. The Putnam County Clerk has a computer system indexing Supreme Court cases starting in April 1993. Instructions for use of this system are in Chapter Two, "Filing Systems". To request a file, just fill out a requisition form and the clerk will obtain it for you for review or copying.
The Putnam County Surrogate's Court Clerk is in the building next door to the main building on the first floor. To search an estate, the only book you need is on the service counter. Search the name you want, fill out a requisition form and the clerk will retrieve the file for you. These files cannot leave the room, but copies may be made.
The Putnam County Board of Elections is located in Brewster at 8 Geneva Road.
Copyright © Reyn Inc. And Fred D. Knapp