Luzerne County, PA Property Records

    Recent U.S. Census estimates place Luzerne County's population at approximately 331,000, making it the 12th-most populous county in Pennsylvania. The average home value in Luzerne County, PA, is $204,613, up 8.2% over the past year, well below the Pennsylvania statewide average of approximately $286,351 and among the more affordable markets in the state.

    Luzerne County offers a moderately active real estate market, shaped by its anchor cities of Wilkes-Barre and Hazleton and proximity to the Scranton metro. Listings typically go under contract in about 15 days, reflecting steady demand amid limited inventory. Home prices have been rising faster than wage growth in the region, a dynamic that is squeezing affordability despite the county's low absolute prices.

    According to Federal Reserve Economic Data, approximately 30–32% of Luzerne County households are cost-burdened, spending 30% or more of their income on housing. Property records in Luzerne County are maintained at the county level by the Recorder of Deeds, though assessments and tax data are handled through separate county offices.

    Who Keeps the Official Land Records

    The official custodian of all land records in Luzerne County is the Recorder of Deeds function within the Division of Judicial Services & Records. The Division Head is Paula L. Radick, Esquire. Luzerne County's home rule charter assigns judicial records functions under this division rather than through a traditional, standalone elected Recorder of Deeds, as used in most PA counties.

    The primary office is located in the Courthouse Annex, 153 North River Street, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711. The Hazleton Annex also accepts recordings and provides most services. Online records are accessible through three platforms: Landex Remote, Landex Webstore, and IQS Infodex/E-Film Reader (for records pre-1967, free to search). E-recording is available through CSC, ePN, and Simplifile, three vendors. A free Record Alert system (PIN-based fraud monitoring) is available.

    What Luzerne County Property Records Include

    The Recorder of Deeds' function is to maintain all instruments affecting real property within the county. Recorded document types include deeds (warranty, quitclaim, correction, trustee, and personal representative deeds), mortgages, mortgage satisfactions, releases, assignments, easements and rights-of-way, agreements of sale and installment land contracts, leases, court orders, declarations of taking and condemnation awards, agricultural security area documents, powers of attorney, UCC financing statements, charters, notary commissions, elected official bonds and commissions, and veterans' discharge papers (DD-214).

    Pennsylvania uses a recorded land title system statewide. Documents are indexed by grantor/grantee name, instrument number, and book and page. A PIN (Property Identification Number), Luzerne County's term for the Uniform Parcel Identifier, is required on all documents before recording (except Notary Public Commissions and General Powers of Attorney).

    PIN certification is performed by the County Assessors' Office, which stamps the PIN on the top margin of the document. The PIN certification fee is $20.00 per PIN, payable to the Luzerne County Treasurer (not the Recorder of Deeds).

    Records at the office date to 1787, the year after the county was formed. Older anthracite coal title chains may include mine subsidence easements, coal company severances, and mineral rights instruments that predate modern residential development. These are common in townships and boroughs throughout the Wyoming Valley and the Hazleton Plateau.

    How to Access Luzerne County Property Records

    Records can be accessed online through three platforms covering different date ranges, in person at either the Wilkes-Barre Courthouse Annex or the Hazleton Annex, by phone, by mail, or via e-recording.

    Online Access Three Platforms

    Luzerne County maintains three distinct online access paths:

    • Landex Remote at landex.com/land-records-access.asp: Account-based, billed at $0.10 minute plus $0.15 copy. Covers 1968 to present (document images indexed from December 1980 to present). Best for frequent users or extended research sessions.

    • Landex Webstore at landex.com/webstore: Free index searching, pay-per-document image download. Covers August 1993 to present. Best for occasional or targeted single-document lookups.

    • IQS Infodex or E-Film Reader at Luzerne Recorder of Deeds: Free to search for deeds and instruments from 1786 to 1967. Grantor Grantee Index 1 through 5 is also free (1786 to August 1, 1993). Fee applies for copies. This platform is essential for research involving chain-of-title on pre-1968 parcels. The Index tab at the top of the page leads to the pre-1993 index.

    The county website recommends saving desktop shortcuts to all three platforms to ensure access when the county website is down.

    In Person

    • Address: 153 North River Street (Courthouse Annex), Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711.

    • Hours: Monday–Friday, 9:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m. (closed holidays). Public retrieval terminals available; no fee to search in person. Copies: $0.50/page. Parking Courthouse Annex Parking Lot (enter from W. Jackson Street, turn onto Jackson, then first left). Do not use courthouse parking; jurors/courthouse visitors use the Water Street Parkade.

    In Person

    The Hazleton Annex also accepts all deed and land record filings, as well as most judicial services. No cash is accepted at the Hazleton Annex; accepted forms of payment are money orders, cashier's checks, personal/business checks, and credit cards. With any filing or recording, the customer must wait for documents to be completed; they cannot be left with the staff.

    Probates are conducted via Skype with Wilkes-Barre staff; paperwork is then brought to the Hazleton office for filing. Contact the county for the current Hazleton Annex address and hours.

    By Phone

    Call (570) 825-1641 for the Recorder of Deeds during office hours (Mon–Fri 9:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m.). For PIN certification questions, call the Assessors' Office at (570) 825-1525.

    By Mail

    Mail documents and payment to Luzerne County Recorder of Deeds, 153 North River Street, Wilkes-Barre, PA 18711. Mail copy fees: $5.00 for the first page, $2.00 per additional page, plus $2.00 for certification.

    E-Recording

    E-recording is available through three vendors: CSC (866-652-0111, erecording@cscglobal.com), ePN (GOePN) (888-325-3365, sales@GOePN.com), and Simplifile (800-460-5657, erecord@simplifile.com).

    What's Not at the Recorder's Office (But Matters for Property Research)

    Luzerne County's home rule structure means that the Recorder of Deeds function sits within the Division of Judicial Services & Records, which also handles Register of Wills and Clerk of Courts functions under the same Division Head. The Register of Wills function (estates, probate, marriage licenses) is reached at (570) 825-1668; the Clerk of Courts (civil liens, judgments, criminal records) is at (570) 825-1500.

    PIN certification is a separate step handled by the County Assessors' Office at (570) 825-1525. The PIN fee ($20/parcel) is payable to the Luzerne County Treasurer, not the Recorder. Delinquent taxes are handled by the Tax Claim Bureau. Zoning is administered at the municipal level across all 76 municipalities; contact your local township or borough for zoning inquiries.

    Step-by-Step: How to Pull a Deed Online

    Luzerne County maintains three online platforms covering different date ranges:

    • For deeds from 1786 to 1967: Go to Luzerne Recorder of Deeds (IQS Infodex/E-Film Reader). Index searching is free. Click the “Infodex” heading to access the grantor/grantee index. Pay for copies of deed images.

    • For documents from August 1993 to present (occasional searches): Go to landex.com/webstore (Landex Webstore). Index is free; pay per image download.

    • For documents from 1968 to present (frequent/professional searches): Use landex.com/land-records-access.asp (Landex Remote). Set up an account and draw down by time and copy.

    • Search by grantor/grantee name, instrument number, or book and page. Note the book/page references for all instruments in the title chain.

    • For pre-1786 research or in-office certified copies, visit 153 North River Street, Wilkes-Barre, Mon–Fri 9:00 a.m.–4:30 p.m.

    Cities & Towns in Luzerne County (and Their Record Custodians)

    All recorded property documents for every municipality in Luzerne County are maintained by the single Luzerne County Recorder of Deeds. The county contains 76 municipalities, the second-highest count in Pennsylvania, comprising 4 cities, 36 boroughs, and 36 townships.

    • County Seat or Largest City: Wilkes-Barre, Wyoming Valley, Susquehanna River, Wilkes University.

    • Hazleton (Second City by population): Located on the Hazleton Plateau in the southern part of the county; second-largest city in Luzerne County; significant Dominican and Puerto Rican communities; major distribution and manufacturing hub; Hazleton Annex available for recordings.

    • Other Cities: Nanticoke and Pittston.

    • Selected Boroughs: Ashley, Dallas, Duryea, Edwardsville, Exeter, Forty Fort, Harveys Lake, Jenkins Township, Kingston, Luzerne, Mountaintop, Pittston Borough, Plymouth, Swoyersville, West Hazleton, West Pittston, Wilkes-Barre Township, Wyoming, and others.

    • Selected Townships: Bear Creek, Blythe, Buck, Butler, Dallas, Dennison, Dorrance, Exeter, Fairmount, Foster, Franklin, Hanover, Hazle, Hollenback, Huntington, Jackson, Jenkins, Kingston, Lake, Lehman, Nescopeck, Newport, Nuangola, Plains, Plymouth, Rice, Ross, Salem, Slocum, Sugar Notch, Union, Wilkes-Barre, Wright, and others.

    Full municipality list at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luzerne_County,_Pennsylvania and county sources.

    City/Town Resources for Assessments & Taxes

    Property assessments are administered at the county level by the Luzerne County Assessors' Office (phone: 570-825-1525), which also certifies PINs for recording. The Tax Claim Bureau handles delinquent tax proceedings. Zoning authority rests entirely with individual municipalities across all 76 jurisdictions.

    With 76 municipalities, Luzerne County's tax collection structure is complex. The county collects real estate taxes directly for the cities of Hazleton, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, and Nanticoke, and for Newport Township, through the Hazleton Annex Treasurer's Office. Other municipalities use their own tax collectors or contracted services. Confirm the appropriate tax collector for any specific parcel before making a tax inquiry.

    Luzerne County-Specific Nuances

    • Home rule county Division Head of Judicial Services & Records, not an elected Recorder of Deeds. Luzerne County operates under a home rule charter with a county council instead of commissioners. The Recorder of Deeds function is administered by the Division Head of Judicial Services & Records rather than a separately elected Recorder of Deeds. This is the same structural distinction seen in Allegheny County. For practical purposes, the recording services are identical to those of other PA counties, but the governance model and title of the responsible official differ.

    • Most PA counties require a 2- or 3-inch top margin for recording stamps. Luzerne County instead requires a 2.5-inch margin at the BOTTOM of at least two pages for the Recorder of Deeds recording stamp. The Assessors' Office certifies the PIN on the top margin. Documents prepared with a top margin reserved for recording stamps will not meet Luzerne County's requirement without modification.

    • PIN certification check payable to Luzerne County TREASURER, not Recorder of Deeds. The $20.00 per-PIN certification fee is payable to the Luzerne County Treasurer, not the Recorder of Deeds. This is unlike most PA counties, where the UPI/PIN fee goes to the Recorder. Submitters who write a single check for all recording fees will need to prepare a separate check for the PIN certification fee.

    • Three e-recording vendors offer more options than most PA counties. Luzerne County accepts e-recording through CSC, ePN (GOePN), and Simplifile. The additional ePN option is used by title professionals who have pre-existing ePN accounts from other states or counties.

    • Blighted Properties Fee ($15.00) is included in the deed mortgage base fees. A $15.00 Blighted Properties surcharge applies to deeds and mortgages and is already incorporated into the base recording fees. Unlike Lawrence County, where this surcharge is added to the base, Luzerne County's fee schedule notes that the $15.00 fee is included in the deed mortgage line items. The current deed recording fee is $71.75 (with the $15.00 blighted properties fee included).

    • No blanket assignments accepted. Luzerne County does not accept blanket assignments of mortgages. Each assignment must be a separate instrument referencing a specific mortgage.

    • 76 municipalities, the second most in PA, create complex transfer tax apportionment. With 76 taxing jurisdictions, deeds for properties near municipal boundaries must carefully state the applicable municipality to ensure correct transfer tax collection. The county's 76 municipalities also each have their own tax collector, zoning authority, and municipal government. There is no county-wide zoning ordinance; all zoning is municipal.

    • Record Alert free service: register by name or PIN for up to 5 properties. The Record Alert system allows registration by either name or PIN, and up to 5 PINs or names per registration. This flexibility is useful for title companies, property managers, or anyone monitoring multiple properties.

    • Hazleton Annex accepts recordings but no cash, no left-behind documents. The Hazleton Annex is a full-service recording location for the southern part of the county. No cash is accepted; money orders, checks, and credit cards are accepted. Credit cards are accepted for all filings except marriage licenses and inheritance tax payments. Customers must wait for documents to be completed; documents cannot be left with staff for later processing.

    Typical Contents of a Luzerne County Property Record

    When reviewing recorded instruments at the Luzerne County Recorder of Deeds, you will typically find:

    • Deeds:

      • Grantor and grantee names (consistent throughout document).

      • Complete legal description of the property.

      • The municipality stated in the document.

      • Consideration amount or Statement of Value (in duplicate).

      • Certificate of Residence for the grantee.

      • PIN (Property Identification Number) certified by the Assessors' Office in the top margin.

      • 2.5-inch bottom margin on at least two pages for recording stamps.

      • Notarial acknowledgment (acknowledgment date on or after execution date).

    • Mortgages and Related:

      • Lender/borrower names, property description, and loan terms.

      • Satisfactions, releases, and individual assignments (no blanket assignments).

    • Other Common Instruments:

      • Easements and rights-of-way (including mine subsidence and coal company instruments in older chains).

      • Agreements of sale and installment land contracts.

      • Leases (under 30 years: Statement of Value required if not taxable; over 30 years: taxable).

      • Agricultural security area documents.

      • Powers of attorney (General POA exempt from PIN requirement).

      • Court orders and condemnation awards.

      • UCC financing statements.

      • Veterans' discharge papers (DD-214).

    Recording Changes to Property Titles

    All new deeds, mortgages, easements, and other instruments affecting real property in Luzerne County must be recorded with the Recorder of Deeds. Submissions may be made in person at the Wilkes-Barre Courthouse Annex or Hazleton Annex, by mail, or via e-recording (CSC, ePN, or Simplifile).

    Before submitting, have the PIN certified by the County Assessors' Office (call 570-825-1525). The Assessors' Office stamps the PIN on the top margin of the document. Prepare a separate check payable to the Luzerne County Treasurer for the $20.00 per-PIN certification fee. Pennsylvania's 2% Realty Transfer Tax (1% state + 1% local) applies to most deed transactions. All deeds must include the true consideration or a Statement of Value in duplicate. Ensure the 2.5-inch bottom margin is reserved on at least two pages for recording stamps.

    The deed recording fee is $71.75. Foreign-language documents require an English translation recorded alongside. No blanket assignments are accepted. Copies: $0.50/page in office; $5.00 first page + $2.00/additional page + $2.00 certification by mail.

    Practical Research Flow (Checklist)

    A practical approach for researching property records in Luzerne County, PA:

    • Search the appropriate online platform by date range: Pre-1968, pre-1993 index IQS Infodex at searchiqs.com/paluze, 1993–present Landex Webstore. 1968–present Landex Remote.

    • Note all book/page references. Collect references for deeds, mortgages, satisfactions, releases, and all instruments in the title chain.

    • Check for coal/mineral instruments on older properties. Anthracite coal severances, mine subsidence easements, and coal company instruments may appear in chains for Wyoming Valley and Hazleton plateau properties dating to the 19th or early 20th century.

    • Obtain PIN certification. Contact the County Assessors' Office at (570) 825-1525. Prepare a separate check payable to the Luzerne County Treasurer for $20.00 per PIN.

    • Check assessment data. Contact the Assessors' Office for parcel value and characteristics.

    • Sign up for Record Alert. Free at landex.com/recordalert/luzerne. Register by name or PIN (up to 5 per registration).

    • Verify zoning. Contact the specific municipality (city, borough, or township) directly. No county zoning.

    • Check delinquent taxes. Contact the Tax Claim Bureau. For Hazleton, Wilkes-Barre, Pittston, Nanticoke, and Newport Township, county taxes are collected through the Hazleton Annex Treasurer's Office.

    • Prepare recording documents. PIN certified; 2.5-inch BOTTOM margin separate PIN fee check to Luzerne County Treasurer; SOV in duplicate; no blanket assignments; foreign-language documents need English translation; e-record via CSC, ePN, or Simplifile; or Hazleton Annex (no cash; customer waits for completion).

    Appendix A: Municipalities in Luzerne County

    • Cities: Wilkes-Barre, Hazleton, Nanticoke, Pittston.

    • Selected Boroughs: Ashley, Avoca, Bear Creek Village, Courtdale, Dupont, Duryea, Edwardsville, Exeter, Forty Fort, Freeland, Harveys Lake, Hughestown, Jeddo, Kingston, Luzerne, Mocanaqua, Nescopeck, New Columbus, Nuangola, Penn Lake Park, Pittston, Plains, Plymouth, Pringle, Shickshinny, Sugar Notch, Swoyersville, Warrior Run, West Hazleton, West Pittston, White Haven, Wilkes-Barre Township (borough), Wyoming, Yatesville, and others.

    • Selected Townships: Bear Creek, Blythe, Buck, Butler, Dallas, Dennison, Dorrance, Exeter, Fairmount, Foster, Franklin, Hanover, Hazle, Hollenback, Huntington, Jackson, Jenkins, Kingston, Lake, Lehman, Nescopeck, Newport, Plains, Plymouth, Rice, Ross, Salem, Slocum, Union, Wright, and others.

    Complete municipality list at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luzerne_County,_Pennsylvania. Confirm the current list with county offices.

    Appendix B: Key Contacts & Portals