New Orleans Deed Records
New Orleans deed records are maintained by the Orleans Parish Clerk of Civil District Court at 1340 Poydras Street in New Orleans. New Orleans and Orleans Parish share the same geographic boundaries, so all property within the city is recorded at this single office. The office holds conveyances and mortgage records with historical records dating back to the 1700s.
New Orleans Quick Facts
Orleans Parish Clerk of Civil District Court
New Orleans deed records are kept by the Orleans Parish Clerk of Civil District Court, not by the city government. The Land Records Division is at 1340 Poydras Street, 4th Floor, New Orleans, LA 70112. Phone: (504) 407-0005. Email: civilclerklandrecords@orleanscivilclerk.com. A separate Civil Division is located at 421 Loyola Avenue. The research center is in Suite 360. Contact the land records division directly for deed and mortgage record inquiries. See the full Orleans Parish deed records page for complete clerk details.
New Orleans uses a unique legal description system for real property. Instead of lot and block numbers based on subdivision plats, the city uses a "District, Square, Lot" system based on historic city planning. When searching deed records or describing property in a New Orleans conveyance, you will encounter this system. Legal descriptions also reference the traditional street grid, and many documents describe property by its municipal address along with the District, Square, and Lot designation. Understanding this system is important for title searches in New Orleans.
The Orleans Parish Clerk of Civil District Court website provides access to New Orleans deed records and the online land records portal.
The clerk maintains two separate indexes for New Orleans property. The conveyance index tracks property transfers, acts of sale, donations, exchanges, partitions, rights of way, and easements. The mortgage index tracks mortgages, judgments, liens, and encumbrances. Both must be searched for a complete title examination on any New Orleans property. The office also maintains the Notarial Archives, which contain the oldest property records for the city, including documents from the French and Spanish colonial periods. Historical records predate Louisiana's statehood and include some of the earliest European property documents in North America.
Search New Orleans Deed Records Online
The Orleans Parish Clerk of Civil District Court provides an online land records portal for searching New Orleans deed records. Online subscriptions are: 24-hour access at $20; monthly access at $100; annual access at $700. The portal supports searching by grantor and grantee names, municipal addresses, filing date, document type, legal description (District, Square, Lot), instrument number, and Notarial Archive number (NA#). Contact the land records division at (504) 407-0005 or email civilclerklandrecords@orleanscivilclerk.com for access details.
The Orleans Parish Clerk online records portal provides paid subscription access to New Orleans deed records including conveyances and mortgages.
The free statewide eClerks LA portal at eclerksla.com also covers Orleans Parish for free name-based index searches. This portal, created under La. R.S. 13:754, shows filing dates, document types, and instrument numbers at no cost. Full document images require a paid subscription. For in-person research, the Land Records Division at 1340 Poydras Street, 4th Floor, is open during regular business hours. The research center in Suite 360 provides workspace for title searchers.
Copy costs for New Orleans deed records: remote copies are $0.50 per page; in-office copies are $1.00 per page; certified copies cost $10 plus $1 per page. Documents must have a 2-inch top margin on the first page or a $20 surcharge applies. Note that structures and improvements are generally not well described in New Orleans conveyances. Many historical documents describe property simply as land "along with all buildings and improvements."
New Orleans Recording Fees
Recording fees for New Orleans property (Orleans Parish) follow the standard state Act 173 schedule under La. R.S. 13:844: 1-5 pages at $105; 6-25 pages at $205; 26-50 pages at $305; 51-plus pages at $305 plus $5 per additional page. The $5 LCRAA portal fee is included. Documents without the required 2-inch top margin incur an additional $20 surcharge.
Louisiana Civil Code Article 3338 requires recording to make documents affecting immovable property effective against third parties. An unrecorded deed in New Orleans cannot be enforced against a later buyer who had no actual notice of the prior transaction. Under Louisiana Civil Code Article 2742, recorded documents become permanent Orleans Parish archives and are not returned after filing.
Nearby Cities
These nearby cities are also within the New Orleans metro area, all using parish clerk offices for deed records.