Search Union County Land Records

The Union County Clerk

Joanne Rajoppi is the Union County Clerk. The office records and files all land transactions within the county's 21 municipalities. It also handles passports, elections, business and trade names, notary services, and veteran ID cards. The Clerk is not the court clerk, so it does not hold Superior Court case files. It holds recorded documents like deeds, mortgages, liens, and trade names.

The public land records search lives at the Union County Clerk land records portal.

The portal states it holds official land records from June 1, 1977 forward, while the Record Room keeps land transactions back to 1857. Imaging of documents before January 1986 is still in progress.

How to Search Union County Land Records

The portal uses an older style of search page with separate tabs. Each tab matches a different way to find a document. The name search is the most common path for the public, since most people start with a person or business name.

The name search form lets you look up records by party name within a date range.

Once you find a document, you can view any image published on the web and request a certified copy.

1. Open the land records portal and choose the search tab that fits what you know.
2. For a name search, enter a last name and pick exact, starts-with, or soundex matching.
3. Set the date range; the default starts at June 1, 1977.
4. Pick a party type and any document types, then run the search.
5. Open a result to view the imaged document and request a certified copy if needed.

Land Records Name Search Fields

The name search form accepts several fields. Knowing them ahead of time speeds up a search and cuts down on no-result tries. The date range and party type narrow a common name fast.

A date-range search works differently and starts from a document type instead of a name.

The date range search form finds all documents of one type in a window.

That tab is useful when you want every deed or mortgage of a kind filed in a set period.

Searching by Book, Page, and Instrument Number

If you already have a recording reference, two more tabs get you straight to the document. The book and page search uses the recorded location. The instrument number search uses the unique number the office assigned at recording.

The book and page search form needs a document type, a book, and a page.

The instrument number search is the most precise path when you know the recording number.

The instrument number search form uses a document type, a year, and the instrument number.

The instrument search defaults the year to 1977 and lets you add a prefix and suffix around the number.

Record Coverage and the Record Room

Union County land records reach far back, which makes them useful for both legal and historical research. The online index covers June 1, 1977 to the present. The Record Room holds land transactions from 1857, the year the county was formed, up to today. So a title search that needs older chain-of-title may require a Record Room visit rather than the website alone.

The office is still imaging documents recorded before January 1986, so some older records may not yet appear as a web image even when the index lists them. The portal itself uses an older style of page with image buttons and separate search tabs. It is the official county site, even though it does not look like a modern web app, so do not mistake it for an unofficial third-party page.

Recording a Document: Cover Sheet Fields

To record a new document, the office uses a cover sheet that indexes the filing. The cover sheet captures the parties and, for deeds, the property details. The first and second party labels change with the document type, such as grantor and grantee for a deed, or mortgagor and lender for a mortgage. The fields below show what the cover sheet asks for.

How to Request a Certified Copy

A certified copy is the official version banks, title companies, and courts often need. The Clerk's certified-copies help page explains how to request one from a recorded document. You identify the document first, then ask for the certified copy.

The certified copies help page covers how to request recorded-document copies.

Recording and copy fees are set by the office, and a fee calculator on the portal handles recording costs.

1. Find the document using a name, date, book and page, or instrument search.
2. Note the recording details, such as book and page or instrument number.
3. Use the certified copies help page or contact the Recording Office to request the copy.
4. Pay the fee; the office notes that overpayments of $20 or less are not refunded.

Office Locations and Hours

The Clerk runs a main office in Elizabeth and a satellite office in Westfield. Different services keep different hours, and some need an appointment. The Westfield office is handy because it keeps evening and Saturday hours that Elizabeth does not.

Property Fraud Alert and Daniel's Law

The Clerk runs two privacy tools. Property Fraud Alert notifies a registered owner when their name appears in recording activity, which helps catch deed fraud. Owners can register online or by phone, and a common name may produce more than one alert. The office advises anyone who gets an alert to review the records and report suspicious activity to local police.

Property owners can register for the alert online at propertyfraudalert.com/NJUnion or by phone at 1-800-728-3858. The alert triggers when the registered name is used in recording activity, so it works best for owners who want early warning of a forged or fraudulent filing against their property.

Daniel's Law protects certain public servants by removing their personal information from county records. It is free for Union County property owners. Once the State confirms a registration, the Clerk's office is notified to remove the personal information from county records.

Other County Clerk Services

Beyond land records, the Clerk handles several public services. These are county functions, not court matters, and most run out of the Elizabeth or Westfield offices.

• Passport applications and photos.
• Elections, including ballot and candidate filing functions.
• Business and trade name registration.
• Notary services and veteran ID cards.

Many residents visit the Clerk for several errands in one trip, since recording, passports, and notary service share the same offices. The Westfield satellite office is useful for residents who cannot reach Elizabeth during the workday, since it keeps evening hours twice a week and Saturday morning hours. For court case files, deeds will not help; use the court records page. For estate files, see the Surrogate's Court.

Related Union County Records

For statewide court case filing, see the Superior Court Clerk. For open government records, see public records. For the trial court, see Superior Court. For estates, see the Surrogate's Court.