The New York records that decide what a home really costs and what the seller has to tell you: disclosure law, property-tax reset, the official registry, and the FEMA flood map — sourced, with the county offices that hold the files.
Check the records behind the address before you offer.
Check any address — free previewThe legal standard: Under the Property Condition Disclosure Act (Real Property Law Article 14, section 462), a seller of covered 1-to-4-family residential property must deliver a completed statement based on the seller's actual knowledge before the buyer signs a binding contract.
Expect a completed Property Condition Disclosure Statement before contract - since March 20, 2024 there is no $500 credit alternative. Read the new flood questions closely, including FEMA floodplain status, flood insurance, prior flood claims and federal disaster assistance, and check the answers against FEMA maps.
Sources: criminaljustice.ny.gov · aronovlawny.com · tax.ny.gov · tax.ny.gov · rbcashoffer.com
A sale by itself does not reset your assessment, so the seller's bill is a useful starting point, subject to the town's reassessment timing and rate changes. Your bill can still differ if the seller's STAR benefit does not carry over - new owners generally receive STAR as a credit and must be registered.
Homestead: New York has no general property-tax homestead exemption; the main owner-occupant relief is the STAR program, which applies only to the school portion of the bill (Basic STAR exemption income limit $250,000; STAR credit limit $500,000).
New York State Sex Offender Registry is run by New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS). Search it by the home's address before you offer — and search again before closing, because registry data changes as people move.
Open the official New York registry
You can also search every state at once through the federal National Sex Offender Public Website (NSOPW). A CurbFacts report shows the registry count for the home's ZIP — the same public data, organized for the decision.
The only flood map that decides a lender's insurance requirement is FEMA's — the National Flood Hazard Layer behind the official FEMA flood map viewer. Listing sites license private models that can and do disagree with it; when they conflict, the FEMA map is the one your lender and insurer use.
Check the exact parcel, not the ZIP code: flood-zone boundaries cut through streets, and two houses side by side can sit in different zones.
Before March 20, 2024 a seller could skip the disclosure statement by crediting the buyer $500 at closing; the 2024 amendment removed that option entirely, so a seller who offers $500 instead of the form is relying on repealed law.
DCJS is required to maintain an online directory only of Level 2 and Level 3 offenders; information on Level 1 offenders is available only through the toll-free number 800-262-3257 with a name and an identifier, so an empty online search is not a complete check.
What the New York disclosure does and does not cover, section by section, and the questions it never answers.
Read the guideHow to run an address through the official New York registry, and how to read what comes back.
Read the guideRecords live at the county level — assessor, recorder, permits. Pick the county for its records checklist.
Sourced registry counts and FBI-reported county crime for 1,371 ZIP codes in New York — the registry figure is each ZIP’s own; the crime record is its county’s, labeled as such. Every figure dated.
Every CurbFacts report pulls the public records behind an address — flood determination, registry, tax reset, price history, permits, and what's planned nearby — and shows its sources.
Check any address — free preview