Cameron County Property Search
Cameron County property records are official documents providing valuable data about a piece of real estate in the county. These documents contain a variety of real estate information, including a property's legal description, ownerships, encumbrances, and tax assessments.
Property records are useful to individuals and real estate agencies, among others, who need to verify the ownership of a property before finalizing a real estate transaction. They are part of Cameron County Public Records and are also vital for:
- Settling disputes regarding land boundaries
- Making informed decisions before investing in real estate
- Confirming tax obligations
- Financial planning
Section 191.001 of Texas's Local Government Code designates the county clerk as the official recorder for their respective jurisdictions. The Cameron County Clerk is tasked with maintaining alphabetical indexes of recorded property documents, such as deeds and mortgages. The Clerk also releases property records to the public upon request.
Are Cameron County Property Records Public?
Yes. Cameron County property records are considered public per Texas's Public Information Act. Moreover, per Section 191.006 of the Local Government Code, all documents kept by the Cameron County Clerk and not restricted by a court order or law must be accessible to the public at all reasonable times. These statutes allow members of the public to inspect and copy property records.
Note, however, that the Texas PIA contains certain restrictions. For example, the following information is considered confidential or closed to members of the public:
- Driver's license numbers
- Dates of births of living persons
- Credit card numbers
- Insurance policy numbers
Where to Perform a Cameron County Property Lookup
These are the options for looking up property situated in Cameron County:
- Query the Cameron County Clerk's Office
- Conduct an online Land Records Search on the Cameron County's official website
These methods are discussed below.
How to Perform a Property Owner Lookup in Cameron County
Individuals can find property ownership information in Cameron County by querying the Office of the Cameron County Clerk via email or mail for land title documents (e.g., deeds). Interested parties can send their email requests for plain and certified copies of land records to officialpublicrecords@co.cameron.tx.us. Individuals who prefer a search by mail can send their requests to:
County Clerk's Office
P.O. Box 2178
Brownsville, TX 78522-2178
Obtaining copies of property documents in Cameron County attracts a $1 per page fee. Meanwhile, conducting a mail search costs $5 per search and $5 per certification. Individuals can view a detailed breakdown of search/copy costs on the Clerk's Real Property Recording Fees page.
Another way interested parties can conduct a property search is through the Clerk's Official Records Search. The search parameters include grantor/grantee, document type, and document number.
Note that for documents recorded between 1848 and 1912, individuals should conduct their searches on the Cameron County Clerk Quicklink portal. (To access the database, go to the Clerk's Records Management page > click "Public Access Portal Office Records (1848-1912)" under "Public Records Searches" in the left menu.) Through the Quicklink platform, interested parties can search the county's history books and view or purchase records of available land documents.
The search parameters for searching index books on Quicklink include a year range and the last name of a grantor or grantee. Meanwhile, document searches can be conducted with the book, volume, or page number.
How to Find Cameron County Property Records Online
As discussed above, individuals can find Cameron County property records online via the Cameron County Clerk Official Records Search or Quicklink portal.
Alternatively, one may use online property search services provided on third-party aggregator websites. Third-party websites have no affiliation with the government of Texas. They are run by private entities that collect and organize property information (and other public records) from multiple sources to provide the records to the public, in many cases, for a fee. Third-party aggregate websites are often convenient alternatives for accessing a wide range of property information using one platform.
How to Find Property Owner by Address for Free
Interested parties can find property owner information with property address as a search parameter by accessing the Cameron County Appraiser District's Property Search website. The site's drop-down menu has an "Property Address" and "Compound Text Search'' option. Either can be used for an address search.
Generally, users must input at least a street name and tax year to obtain corresponding property results, which include an owner's name.
Cameron County Property Tax Lookup
To obtain property tax information in Cameron County, a person can access the local Tax Office's Property Quick Search website. Searches can be conducted by name, address, or account/billing number. A mailing address search is also available to users who encounter difficulty finding a property with the previous search parameters.
Individuals conduct property tax lookups to verify the tax status of a piece of real estate. This includes tax amounts, paid taxes, and outstanding tax bills.
How to Find Cameron County Property Appraiser
Individuals can find property appraisers in Cameron County through the Texas Appraiser Licensing & Certification Board. The Board has an online License Holder Search application, which accepts the input of a name/license number or county to find state-licensed appraisers within a region or to verify an appraiser's license.
The primary role of a property appraiser is to give an estimated and fair market value of real estate. This professional may be hired by real estate companies, insurance firms, individuals, and others who want to ascertain a property's value before a sale or transaction.
Cameron County Property Assessor
County property assessors discover, list, and appraise property for taxation. These local offices ensure that ad valorem taxes are fairly assigned to each property owner within the county.
However, in Cameron County, the Assessor-Collector focuses primarily on collecting property taxes and distributing them to their appropriate units. The main office is located at:
835 East Levee Street
1st Floor
Brownsville, TX 78520
Individuals can find the locations of the office's branches on the Tax Office Locations page.
It is the Cameron County Appraiser District that performs the above-stated traditional role of an assessor. This distinction is necessary to avoid any confusion about the roles of both agencies.
Besides appraising property for tax purposes, the Cameron County Appraiser District also handles protests from taxpayers about the appraised values of their properties.
The Cameron County Appraiser District is located at:
2021 Amistad Drive
San Benito, TX 78586
Phone: (956) 399-9322
Fax: (956) 541-3365
