A parcel number is assigned by your local tax assessment office and is used to help identify your property for tax, title, deed and property line reasons. Your local tax office and city hall use your property address and the parcel number to accurately identify your property for tax bills, liens and other reasons. Whether you own a piece of property or not, there are several ways to find the parcel number.
Parcel Number Format
The parcel number is used as an identifier on your local parcel maps and it has a unique format. Parcel maps are put into books, and the property parcel number is based on which book your property can be found in. Most property parcel numbers are in three or four sets of numbers. The first set is the number of the book where your parcel is located and the second set is the page in the book where your map is found. The final sets are the actual parcel number and that can vary in length. The three or four sets are all separated by a hyphen.
Your Tax Bill
The easiest way to find the parcel number for a property you own is to simply look on your annual property tax bill. The parcel number is clearly marked and it can be found next to your name as the property owner. Some people get confused because of how a parcel number can vary, but they are easy to spot once you understand how they are formatted.
Renewing Your Home Purchase Paperwork
It is understandable that, after several years, many homeowners lose their original paperwork and cannot find it. If you have an escrow account that handles your property taxes, then you might not ever see your property tax bill. If you fall into both of these categories, then you can renew your deed and title to get your property parcel number. There is a cost involved in this process, but at least you will have all of your paperwork if you ever need it.
Research With Your County Tax Assessor’s Office
Many counties throughout the United States have created websites for all of their departments, including their tax assessor’s office. If your county tax assessor has a website, then you should easily be able to research any property parcel number in the county through that site.
If your county tax assessor does not have a website, then you can go to their office and request any property parcel number. Most counties do not charge a fee for this information, and you would not need to prove that you own the property you are researching.
A property parcel number can help you to confirm the address of a property, or see where that property falls on a parcel map. The parcel number is used when paying taxes, selling a property or sometimes when getting a permit to do work on a property. If you ever need a property parcel number, it is something you can easily find with a little research at the county tax assessor’s office or by checking your property tax bill.
Jim Treebold is a North Carolina based writer. He lives by the mantra of “Learn 1 new thing each day”! Jim loves to write, read, pedal around on his electric bike and dream of big things. Drop him a line if you like his writing, he loves hearing from his readers!