How do I find out who owns a particular property?
Information about who owns a property is on the Certificate of Title. The title will also list any rights and restrictions relating to the title, such as a mortgage or easement.
Most land records are held by Land Information New Zealand (LINZ). You can find out who owns a particular property, and other title and survey information about the property, by requesting a copy of the Certificate of Title from LINZ. It costs around $15 and takes around 2 business days.
You’ll need to:
- Find the property’s legal description e.g.
- on the rates demand and rating valuation notice or
- on a ‘rating roll’ held at the local council and public library
- Use the legal description to find the property’s Computer Register reference code (it looks like this – LOT 1 DP 12345)
- Complete an order form online or
download a form and send the completed form by email, post, fax or courier.
Note that most Maori land records are held by the Maori Land Court.
More information about how to obtain a copy of a land record is on this LINZ factsheet.