Revere Deed Records Search
Deed records for Revere are held by the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds, located in Boston, and most documents are available to search online at no cost through masslandrecords.com. This page covers where to find Revere deed records, how to search them online, what to do if you need older historical records tied to the city's past as part of Chelsea, and what other local resources can help you piece together a property's ownership history.
Revere Overview
Where Revere Deed Records Are Kept
Revere is part of Suffolk County, so all deed records for the city are filed with the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds. The physical office is not in Revere. It is at 24 New Chardon Street, Boston, MA 02114, phone (617) 788-6221. Register of Deeds Anne Merry Donoghue runs the office. Hours are Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 4:00 PM, with the recording window open from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM. The registry covers all of Suffolk County, which includes Revere, Boston, Chelsea, and Winthrop. Every deed, mortgage, discharge, lien, and homestead declaration recorded in Revere goes through this one office.
If you need to visit in person, the registry is accessible by public transit from Revere. Staff can assist with searches, help you understand how records are indexed, and pull older documents that may not be easy to find online. For most research needs, though, the online system handles everything you need without a trip to Boston. The registry does not have a separate Revere office. All Suffolk County recording takes place at the New Chardon Street location.
How to Search Revere Deed Records Online
The main tool for searching Revere deed records is Massachusetts Land Records for Suffolk County at masslandrecords.com/suffolk/. The portal is free and open to the public with no account needed. You can search by grantor name, grantee name, or address. When you find a document, you can view the full image and download it. No fees are charged for viewing or printing through the site.
The portal below, masslandrecords.com, is the main online access point for Suffolk County deed records covering Revere properties.
The Massachusetts Land Records portal shown above is where you search Suffolk County deed records online. Revere documents are indexed here alongside Boston, Chelsea, and Winthrop records. The search is free and the document images go back many decades.
When you search masslandrecords.com for a Revere property, keep in mind that Massachusetts has two types of land systems: recorded land and registered land. Most properties use recorded land, where each new transaction adds a new deed to the index. Registered land works differently. A certificate of title is issued once and updated when the property sells, rather than stacking new deeds. If you search and find nothing for a property you know has changed hands, try the registered land side of the portal. Both systems are on the same site, but they are searched separately. This trips up a lot of first-time users, so it is worth knowing before you start your search.
Historical Records and the Chelsea Connection
Revere has an unusual history that directly affects deed research. Before 1846, what is now Revere was part of Chelsea, known at the time as North Chelsea. The city incorporated separately in 1846 and was officially named Revere in 1871. This matters for anyone searching older records. Deeds recorded before 1846 that cover land in present-day Revere will appear under Chelsea in the index, not under Revere. Records from 1846 to 1871 may be indexed under either North Chelsea or Revere depending on the document and the indexing conventions used at the time. Records from 1914 onward are reliably indexed under Revere.
If you are doing a full chain of title search on a Revere property and need to go back before the mid-1800s, plan to search Chelsea records as well. The Suffolk County Registry holds those documents, and the masslandrecords.com portal covers them. You just need to know what names to search and what time period to focus on for each name. This is not a gap in the records. The documents exist. They are filed under the name that was in use when they were recorded. Staff at the registry can help you navigate this if you run into trouble. It is a common issue for Revere title research and the staff know the history well.
For very old records or genealogical research, the Massachusetts State Archives at 220 Morrissey Boulevard, Boston, MA 02125, (617) 727-2816, holds materials that go back to the colonial period. Their collections include original land records, grants, and maps that predate the current registry system. The New England Historic Genealogical Society also holds deed microfilm and indexes that can help with older Suffolk County research.
Types of Documents Recorded in Revere
The Suffolk County Registry records a range of property documents for Revere. The most common are warranty deeds and quitclaim deeds, which transfer ownership from a seller to a buyer. Beyond those, the registry also holds mortgages and mortgage discharges, homestead declarations, liens, easements, restrictions, and notices of purchase and sale. Each of these documents tells a different part of a property's story.
A mortgage discharge shows when a loan was paid off. A homestead declaration protects a portion of a home's value from certain creditors. An easement records the legal right of one party to use another's land for a specific purpose, such as access or utilities. If you are researching a property and want a complete picture, it is worth pulling not just the deeds but also any easements or restrictions that have been recorded. Those documents stay with the land and can affect how the property can be used even after it changes hands. The masslandrecords.com portal indexes all of these document types together, so you can see everything recorded against a given parcel or owner in one search.
Land Court documents for registered land in Revere are also available through the portal, starting from 1899. If a property is on the registered land system, you will see a certificate of title rather than a stack of deeds. That certificate is updated each time the property sells. The current certificate reflects the current legal owner and any encumbrances on the title.
Revere City Assessor
A good first step before searching the registry is to check the Revere City Assessor's records. The assessor's office tracks current ownership, assessed values, and parcel IDs for all taxable property in the city. If you know the street address but not the owner's name, the assessor's records can give you that name quickly so you can run a more targeted search at masslandrecords.com.
The Revere City Assessor is at City Hall, 281 Broadway, Revere, MA 02151, phone (781) 286-8170. Their online tools are available through the Revere Assessors Office website. You can look up a parcel by address to get the current assessed owner name and parcel data. Once you have that name, plug it into masslandrecords.com as the grantee to find when and how the current owner acquired the property. Use the same name as the grantor to see if they have recorded any other documents in Suffolk County. This two-step approach saves time compared to starting cold in the registry system, especially for properties with common street addresses or similar owner names.
The assessor also maintains records of property sales, which can be useful when the deed itself is hard to locate or when you need to confirm a sale date quickly. The assessor's data is updated regularly but is not a substitute for the actual deed. For legal purposes, the recorded document at the registry is what controls.
Recording Fees and Transfer Tax
The Suffolk County Registry charges set fees for recording documents. A standard deed costs $155 to record. A mortgage costs $205. A discharge of mortgage runs $105. A homestead declaration is $35. These fees apply per document. If you are recording multiple documents as part of one transaction, each gets its own fee.
Massachusetts also charges a real estate excise tax at the time of recording. The rate is $4.56 per $1,000 of the sale price, rounded to the nearest $500. On a $400,000 sale, for example, the excise tax would be $1,824. The tax must be paid at the time the deed is recorded. Recording staff can calculate the exact amount if you are not sure. The legal framework for deed recording in Massachusetts is set out in Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 183, which governs how documents must be prepared and recorded to be legally valid. The statute covers requirements for signatures, notarization, and what must appear on the face of the document for it to be accepted by the registry.
Getting Copies of Revere Deed Records
You can view and print deed images for free through masslandrecords.com. If you need a certified copy for legal or official use, you have to get it from the registry directly. Certified copies can be requested in person at the New Chardon Street office or by mail. The registry will provide the copy along with a certification stamp that verifies it is a true copy of the recorded document.
For most research purposes, the uncertified copy you can print from masslandrecords.com is enough. Courts and title companies sometimes need certified copies, but for personal research, reviewing ownership history, or understanding what easements or restrictions affect a property, the free online images are sufficient. If you are not sure whether you need a certified copy, ask the party requesting the document. They will know what they need. The registry staff can also advise you on what is required for common purposes like refinancing, estate settlement, or title disputes.
The Consumer Notification Service at cns.masslandrecords.com is a free tool that sends you an email alert any time a document is recorded in Suffolk County that includes your name. It is a useful service for Revere homeowners who want to know if anything is recorded against their property between regular title checks.
Suffolk County Deed Records
Revere deed records are part of the Suffolk County system. All documents recorded in Revere go through the Suffolk County Registry of Deeds, which serves the entire county including Boston, Chelsea, and Winthrop.