Table of Contents
The Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds’ Office was a historic office responsible for recording and maintaining a permanent record of all documents related to real estate in Allegheny County, as well as several other types of documents. In 2008, the power and authority vested in the Recorder of Deeds Office was transferred to the Department of Real Estate. The Department of Real Estate performs two types of functions: real estate functions and property assessment functions.
Allegheny County is large county located in Pennsylvania. In 2016, the population of Allegheny County was 1,225,365. The County seat of Allegheny County is Pittsburgh. Allegheny County is included in the Pittsburgh, PA Metropolitan Statistical Area. Allegheny County contains the cities, villages, communities, or towns of: Clairton, Duquesne, McKeesport, Pittsburgh, Aspinwall, Avalon, Baldwin, Bell Acres, Bellevue, Ben Avon, Ben Avon Heights, Bethel Park, Blawnox, Brackenridge, Braddock, Braddock Hills, Bradford Woods, Brentwood, Bridgeville, Carnegie, Castle Shannon, Chalfant, Cheswick, Churchill, Coraopolis, Crafton, Dormont, Dravosburg, East McKeesport, East Pittsburgh, Edgewood, Edgeworth, Elizabeth, Emsworth, Etna, Forest Hills, Fox Chapel, Franklin Park, Glassport, Glen Osborne, Glenfield, Green Tree, Haysville, Heidelberg, Homestead, Ingram, Jefferson Hills, Leetsdale, Liberty, Lincoln, McDonald, McKees Rocks, Millvale, Monroeville, Mount Oliver, Munhall, North Braddock, Oakdale, Oakmont, Pennsbury Village, Pitcairn, Pleasant Hills, Plum, Port Vue, Rankin, Rosslyn Farms, Sewickley, Sewickley Heights, Sewickly Hills, Sharpsburg, Springdale, Swissvale, Tartentum, Thornburg, Trafford, Turtle Creek, Verona, Versailles, Wall, West Elizabeth, West Homestead, West Mifflin, West View, Whitaker, White Oak, Whitehall, Wilkinsburg, Wilmerding, Aleppo, Baldwin, Collier, Crescent, East Deer, Fawn, Findlay, Forward, Frazer, Hampton, Harmar, Harrison, Indiana, Kennedy, Kilbuck, Leet, Marshall, McCandless, Moon, Mount Lebanon, Neville, North Fayette, North Versailles, O’Hara, Ohio, Penn Hills, Pine, Reserve, Richland, Robinson, Ross, Scott, Shaler, South Fayette, South Park, South Versailles, Springdale, Stowe, Upper Saint Clair, West Deer, and Wilkins. If you have questions about whether your property is located in Allegheny County and do not see the name of your city, town, or township on this list, you can contact the Department of Real Estate for more information.
The Offices of Property Assessment and Real Estate were combined in order to improve accuracy and efficiency in assessment and records management for the benefit of county residents. Previously, the functions of the Department of Real Estate were performed by two distinct offices, but those functions overlapped, making it logical to combine the two offices.
The County Recorder of Deeds remains an important position in many Pennsylvania counties, and had a long history in Allegheny County. The first Allegheny County Recorder of Deeds was appointed to office in 1788, and was an appointed position until 1852, when it became an elected position. In 2008, the position was abolished and the county adopted a Department of Real Estate instead of a Recorder of Deeds.
The Department of Real Estate’s real estate functions include: recording documents such as deeds, mortgages, plans, military discharges and other government documents; maintaining and mapping records for all properties in the county; curating a repository for all recorded documents and providing access to public; collecting and distributing the realty transfer tax; and sanctioning of the Notary Public Commission. The Department of Real Estate’s property assessment functions include: delivering uniform base year assessments for real property; administering abatements and exemptions for real property; maintaining accurate property description records; coordinating property appeals in conjunction with the Board of Property Assessments, Appeals, & Review; providing access to all real property record cards to the public; processing interim assessment requests on behalf of taxing bodies, and identifying and assessing real estate changes that result from building permits.
Allegheny County uses the base year methodology to set assessed values for property tax purposes. Base year methodology allows similar homes to have similar assessments by eliminating the effect of changing market conditions. The last county-wide reassessment was in 2013. Reassessments will only be done if you can establish: omissions; mathematical or clerical errors; physical changes; or an appeal.
To find the assessed value of a parcel, you can use the Real Estate Website’s parcel assessment search. The values on the website reflect the base year value of a property as it stood on January 1 of that year, with any applicable changes as noted above. The website also contains information on recorded deeds.
In most of Pennsylvania, the County Recorder of Deeds is an elected position. However, Allegheny County no longer has a Recorder of Deeds. Instead, those functions are performed by the Department of Real Estate.
Allegheny Department of Real Estate
County Office Building
542 Forbes Avenue, Room 101
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
General Questions: 412-350-2446
Fiscal Office: 412-350-3055
Military Discharge: 412-350-4299
Deed & Plan Companies: 412-350-4224
Deed Mapping & Registry: 412-350-5024
Deed Certification: 412-350-5021
Fax: 412-350-3787
Board of Property Assessments Appeal and Review
County Office Building
542 Forbes Avenue, Room 334
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
412-350-4600
Allegheny County no longer has a Recorder of Deeds, but instead has a Department of Real estate that took over the historic duties of the Recorder of Deeds as well as the county’s assessment functions for the purposes of property taxes. For questions about property assessments, as well as information on deed and other public record recording, you can visit the Allegheny County Department of Real Estate’s website http://www.county.allegheny.pa.us/real-estate/contact/index.aspx.