Babylon Deed Records

Deed records for all properties in Babylon are maintained by the Suffolk County Clerk's Office in Riverhead. The Babylon Town Clerk does not record or store deeds. Babylon is a town on the South Shore of Long Island that includes the villages of Amityville, Babylon, and Lindenhurst, as well as several unincorporated hamlets. Whether your property sits in a village or the town's unincorporated area, the county clerk is the one and only office that handles deed recordings for Suffolk County.

Suffolk County Clerk Records Babylon Deeds

The Suffolk County Clerk's Office records all deeds for Babylon properties. Vincent Puleo is the current county clerk. The main office is at 310 Center Drive in Riverhead. This office handles deeds, mortgages, assignments, satisfactions, liens, and judgments for every municipality in Suffolk County.

Property sales in Babylon must be recorded at the county level. This is required by New York Real Property Law. The recording gives legal notice that a transfer has taken place. Without it, a subsequent purchaser could potentially claim superior title to the same property.

Babylon includes several communities. The village of Amityville, the village of Babylon, and the village of Lindenhurst all have their own village governments. But none of those village clerks record deeds either. All land recordings go through one office: the Suffolk County Clerk.

Suffolk County Clerk Office Details

How to Search Babylon Deed Records

Suffolk County has an online records search at sccrecords.suffolkcountyny.gov. The system lets you look up deeds, mortgages, and other recorded documents for Babylon and every other town in the county. Searches can be done by party name, document type, date range, or instrument number.

For a targeted search, use the property's Section, Block, and Lot number. Each parcel in Suffolk County has its own unique SBL. This returns every document ever recorded against that parcel. You can find your SBL on your tax bill or ask the town assessor for it.

Some older records may not show up in the online system. For those, you will need to visit the clerk's office in Riverhead. The trip from Babylon to Riverhead takes about 45 minutes. Bring the property address and any other details that might help the staff locate the records you need.

Recording Fees and Transfer Taxes

Recording a deed costs $45 for the first page and $5 for each additional page. The state real estate transfer tax is $2 per $500 of the sale price. Sales of $1 million or more are also subject to the mansion tax.

Suffolk County is part of the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation District. The mortgage recording tax here includes the MCTD surcharge of 30 cents per $100 of debt. For one- and two-family residences, the first $10,000 of the mortgage is exempt from the additional tax.

You must file Form RP-5217 along with your deed. This form needs to be filled out using Adobe Acrobat. The barcode on the form is scanned electronically. Handwritten versions are not accepted by the county clerk.

Babylon Town Clerk Does Not Handle Deeds

The Babylon Town Clerk's Office serves as the keeper of town records. It maintains Town Board meeting minutes, resolutions, and local laws. The office issues permits and licenses, handles FOIL requests, and serves as the local registrar for vital statistics.

The town clerk also issues handicap parking permits and certain business licenses. But the office does not maintain deed records or property transfer documents. If you need a deed for a Babylon property, the Suffolk County Clerk in Riverhead is where you go. This is true across all of New York State.

Legal Framework

New York Real Property Law Section 291 says that deeds must be recorded in the county where the land is located. For Babylon, that means Suffolk County. RPL Section 333 sets out what a valid deed must include. You can look up these statutes at the New York State Senate website or through the Cornell Legal Information Institute.

Additional Resources

The NYS Municipal Data Portal provides property sales data and equalization rates for Babylon. Check the NYS Department of Taxation and Finance for STAR exemption information. The New York State Archives holds older government records that may include historical land documents from Suffolk County.

Villages in the Town of Babylon

Babylon contains three incorporated villages: Amityville, Babylon, and Lindenhurst. Each village has its own government and village clerk. But village clerks do not record deeds. They handle village board minutes, local permits, and some licenses. All deed recordings for these villages go to the Suffolk County Clerk in Riverhead, the same as for the rest of the town.

The town also has several hamlets, including Copiague, Deer Park, North Amityville, North Babylon, West Babylon, and Wyandanch. Hamlets have no separate government. There is no hamlet clerk to contact. Deed records for every part of Babylon, from village to hamlet to unincorporated area, are all held at the county level. The Suffolk County Clerk at 310 Center Drive in Riverhead is the only office that can help.

When you buy a home in one of these villages, the closing works the same way as anywhere else in Suffolk County. Your attorney files the deed with the county clerk. The transfer tax and recording fees are the same regardless of location within the county. The county clerk's online system lets you search all of these areas at once. Just enter the owner name or SBL number and the system pulls up every document on file.

Nearby Cities

Other communities nearby with deed records pages:

• Islip
• Huntington