Long Island Expressway to exit 71-Riverhead. At the stop sign off the exit make a right. Go about four miles and the Suffolk County Center will be on your right. Ample parking is available. All of the county clerk's offices are on the first floor of the County Center. In order to search land records, you must go to the Real Property Record Room (Print Station) located in the north wing. The room does not have a number, but it is next to the public phones. When running a concise search in the real property index, you first need to obtain all the grantee, grantor, mortgagee, mortgagor microfilm cartridges that include the last name of the subject. These cartridges are kept in year order and each individual cartridge is set out alphabetically. The cartridge system starts in 1977. Search the cartridges on a reader until you see the name of your subject. Copy down the deed and/or mortgage cartridge number and page number. For example, if the mortgage number is 9999, choose the mortgage cartridge that includes this number. Go to the cartridge copiers and slip in cartridge in the left side of the copier. Go to correct page to make copy or view the document. To complete the search, write down the district, section, block and lot of the property. These numbers will be on the mortgage or deed. Next look up these numbers in the numeric indexes located in the same cartridge holder. The numeric index will tell you if the property was sold at a later date or if a second mortgage has been taken out on the property. To search property from 1660 to 1977, you have to go to the grantor-grantee, mortgagor/mortgagee indexes located in the hallway to the left as you exit the print station. Remember that in Suffolk County many small villages may be under the jurisdiction of larger towns.
Not all the land record information is on these cartridges in the print station. The more current information is on computers in the computer room. Instruction for use of these computers are in this chapter. The computers use the same system of indexing as the cartridges. You can access the computer by grantor/grantee or mortgagor/mortgagee. Once you have found a document, you can also check the section, block and lot option to see what else is filed against the property. It is important to note to what date the computers are current when doing a search.
The Uniform Commercial Code filing statements up until 1982 are kept in room E18A. To check a current UCC, go to the print station a use the cassette cartridges for you search. These are up to date. The cartridges are straight alphabetical.
Business and corporate records are kept in room E22. A separate card index is available for corporate and business records until 1990. From 1990, these records are kept on computer. No terminal is available for the public to use, but the clerk in the room will check the name for you. The cartridges in this room have the copies of these records, but a duplicate set is also kept in the print station. The only index, however, is in room E22.
The best place to check a judgment is in the computer room. A tutorial on the judgment computer is in this chapter. The hard copy indexes loctated in the print station are not always up to date. To get copies of any judgment, use the cartidges in the print station.
Federal Tax Liens are printed out and kept in binders in Room E18. These books go back many years. The index is a straight alphabetical listing. When you have filed a lien, note the file number. If you need a copy of a lien, go to the print station and select the cartridge by file number.
Lis pendens and mechanics liens are also listed in an alphabetical indexes in room E18. The indexes are a straight alphabetical listing. If you need a copy, go to the print station and select the cartridge by file number. The lis pendens will also list the Supreme Court case number of the foreclosure or lawsuit.
Miscellaneous liens (welfare, building loan, condo lien, criminal bond) are listed in an index on the same table. These do not have cartridges to view the lien in the print station.
The Supreme Court litigation record room has been moved to a new building. In order to get to the building, you must exit the County Center from the north wing and cross the parking lot. The building is on the left. The first floor has a computer which will index names back to 1984. An employee will run the check for you. If the search is positive you may obtain a copy of the case file by requesting it the clerk. To search cases before 1984, you must go upstairs to the store room where the index to clerk's minutes are kept. This room is on the left at the top of the stairs.
The Suffolk County Surrogate's Court is located in the same building as the Supreme Court. Walk through the north wing and the entrance to the Surrogate's Court is in front of you. The Surrogate's Court clerk is in the lobby on the first floor. The index to the estate records is on the third counter. Everything up to 1988 is on index cards and arranged alphabetically. From 1988 to the present, everything is on computer. There are printouts available next to the counter. Once you find the information you need, the clerk will get the file for you.
The Suffolk County Board of Elections is located on Yaphank Avenue in Yaphank.
Copyright © Reyn Inc. And Fred D. Knapp