Kings County is more commonly known as Brooklyn. It is a very uncommon and exciting place. The Brooklyn Municipal Building, at Borough Hall, is across from the old Brooklyn City Hall. The Brooklyn Supreme Court Building is located at 360 Adams Street. These buildings are all in walking distance of each other. The best way to go is to take the subway. Take the 2, 3, 4, or 5 to the Borough Hall stop, the M, N or R to Court Street or the A or C to the Jay Street/Borough Hall stop.

The Brooklyn Municipal Building

The Brooklyn Municipal Building houses the land records and the UCC's. Enter the building and make a left to the office of the City Register on the first floor. On the right are service counters, on left are the various index books. For a computer real property search go to your left and back to the Fairtax computers. Computers have all transactions from 1982 to present. Instructions for use of the computers are in Chapter 2, "Filing Systems". To obtain copies of a deed, mortgage or document, you go to room 203 upstairs. The counters of books near the computers are the block and lot records for all transactions prior to 1982. To check ownership of a certain property go to the block and lot book. Turn to the lot page and check the last entry. You must note the reel and page information to access older records in room 203. To get to room 203 [real estate records], just go out the door you came in and go up the stairs on your immediate right.

Federal Tax Liens for Brooklyn are kept immediately behind the Fairtax computers. The list is straight alphabetical. Immediately behind the tax liens are the UCC files. This is also a straight alphabetical index. The cards are kept in large mechanical, rotating file machines. Push the button for the letter you are looking for and the machine will rotate to the appropriate box. If you do find a UCC, be sure to check the file cabinets nearby to see if there are any schedules. The file cabinets are labeled by year and the UCC's are in numerical order. After January 1, 1991, UCC's are indexed in the Fairtax computer system.

Also on the second floor is room 200, the Real Property Assessment Department. Here is a shortcut to get the block and lot of a property just from the Brooklyn street address: Just inside room 200 on the right is the information desk. Ask the person if they would give you the assessment on a given property address. They will look it up, tell you the block and lot and detail the current tax assessment.

Room 203 is down the hall on the right. Go past the portal that says "Marriage License Bureau". The entrance to room 203 is across the hall. To obtain a copy of the deed or mortgage you go to the counter, fill out a requisition slip, show the clerk some ID and wait patiently. For documents prior to 1968, you need reel and page. For those after, you need just block and lot. Records are usually on microfiche. Go to a reader, insert the fiche, focus and scan until you find the latest deed or mortgage. The documents run oldest to most recent from the left to right, top to bottom. You can make copies on a reader/printer with the cost at 25cents. Copy quality can be poor. Never remove the fiche or reel from the office. Always place them in the return basket on the request counter. On the wall across from the service counter is a date hand written on a sign. This is the most recent date the documents will be be available on fiche. It is usually six to eight weeks back.

Supreme Court Clerk, Brooklyn

Across the street and a little to the right of the Brooklyn Municipal Building is the entrance to the County Clerk's Office. In stone over the entrance are the words "County Clerk Register". Go in and you are on the ground floor of the Brooklyn Supreme Court Building. This is the Supreme Court Clerk's Office.

To search a business name or corporation in Kings county, use the new computer system that went on-line in 1993. This system has business, corporate, and D.B.A.'s indexed. Instructions for use of the system are in Chapter Two, " Filing Systems"

To search a business name filed before the computer went on-line, find the "Index To Assumed Business Names" which is diagonally across from the service desk. These books are kept in racks. Go to the book which has the first letter of the name you are searching. Open the most recent book and you will see five columns. These break down the alphabet. They correspond to the second letter of the name. For example, the name "Rainbow, Co." will be in the first column. The name "Ryan Co" will be in the last column. Determine the column your name will fall into and start to scan down each page until you locate the name you are looking for. If you find a name, you will see the names and addresses of the principals. The date of filing will be on the extreme left. Be sure to write down all information. You will need it to get a copy of the record. To search the corporate records, check the corporate records index. The system is the same as checking business names. The important date to note is when the corporation record was filed in Brooklyn. Files can be viewed in the file room downstairs.

To check someone in the judgment index, use the judgment computers. Since 1987, all judgments are researched by computer. This computer works the same as in the other counties in the city. Be sure to have a pad and pen available to write down information from the screen. For judgments prior to 1987, go to the judgment books. They are just across from the computers. They are organized and indexed by the first letter of the last name, with a different book for each letter. These are the large, two foot square heavy binders. Take the appropriate book out, open it and you will find tabs for the alphabet along the right side. This stands for the first letter of the first name. Turn to that letter. At the proper first name section, you will see columns which are set up to correspond to the second letter of the last name. Scan down the appropriate column until the end of the section. Then repeat the process in the next large book for that letter. All the letter books are together. Information found will include the case number, court, etc. With the proper case number, you could obtain the the file in the record room downstairs.

The PVB judgment books are on a cabinet across from the judgment computers. Consult a chart for the book which has the name you are looking up. The books are straight alphabetical. There are over 50 books. These books are the same for all five boroughs.

Kings County now has a computer system to track Supreme Court cases. The system went on-line in March of 1993. Instructions for use of this computer are in Chapter Two. Before 1993, you must look up cases in the index books. If you know an index number, there are minute books by number and year and you can look up information on the case that way. If you do not know the index number, your task is a tough one. There are annual alphabetical plaintiff's books, but you have to scan an entire book with hundreds of pages to find a single case for just that year. This is extremely time consuming and the information is hand written with frequent handwriting changes. If you had a general idea when the case was filed, you could focus on that time of year and cut down your work.

Also available are the lien proceedings by block and lot for liens prior to the date entered in the computer. Maps are also available for the various parts of Brooklyn which will then identify a street address' block and lot.

Record Room

To obtain a copy of a corporation certificate, business record or a Supreme Court case file, go to the elevators immediately outside of the clerk's office. Press "C" and go down one floor. To the right you will find a service counter. Fill out a requisition slip. A file will be searched for and you will be given a folder. There are tables and five copying machines. Be sure to return the file. A trick for obtaining copies of corporate records is the date the corporation was filed in Brooklyn, not at the Secretary Of State in Albany. The Brooklyn filing date is available in the corporate index upstairs.

Surrogate's Court Records

The Brooklyn Surrogate's Court record room is on the same floor as the Supreme Court Clerk. Go out of the room the opposite side from your entrance and go down the long corridor. You will see "Surrogates Court" over a portal. Proceed to the second doorway on your right, the record room. You will see numerous index card files arranged in straight alphabetical order. Find the card index with the letters of the last name you are searching. Go through until you locate the card. Write down the information including a five digit number and the letter "p" for probate or the letter "a" for administration. To get a copy of the estate file, proceed to the counter at the far end of the room. Fill out a requisition slip. The clerk will bring a file for review and copying if necessary. Do not take files from the room.

The Kings County Board Of Elections is located across Adams Street from the Supreme Court Building at 345 Adams Street, fourth floor. The Landlord & Tenant Court is located at 141 Livingston Street, about three blocks away.

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Copyright © Reyn Inc. And Fred D. Knapp