July 2026

The Property Search API now supports searching for a property by its owner's name. You can match on an owner's first or last name with the new containsWords operator, and optionally confirm whether a specific person is on the owner record at a known address using the new exact address-match mode.

Owner-name matching with containsWords. You can now match a property by its owner's name using the containsWords operator on owner.firstName and owner.lastName. containsWords performs a tokenized, order-insensitive, case-insensitive word match, so you can find a property by an owner's name without knowing exactly how the name is stored or in what order its parts appear. When you supply both owner.firstName and owner.lastName, a property matches only if both names appear on the same owner record. When both names use containsWords, satisfying one name through one owner and the other through a second owner is not a match. Supplying a single name part matches it against either owner. This is the supported way to search by owner name, and it replaces the previous wildcard approach on owner-name fields. The same-owner rule applies when both names use containsWords or both names use equals or inList. If you use containsWords for one name and equals or inList for the other, the API checks each name separately. The two names can then match two different owners on the same property.

Exact address-match mode for owner records. For workflows that need to confirm whether a named person is on the owner record at a specific address (for example, probate and estate research), set the ownerNameAddressMatchMode request option to exact. In this mode the API resolves the address you supply to the single parcel at that address and reports whether the named owner matches there.

A search that uses containsWords on either name requires a location, such as a city and state, a ZIP code, or a full address. Without a location, the request returns HTTP 400. An owner-name search that uses only equals or inList does not require a location. For a containsWords search, the ownerNameAddressMatchMode option selects address handling:

In exact mode the response includes an ownerNameMatch object under meta.results carrying matchedParcelCount (the total, and the value to use for the zero / one / more-than-one decision), ownerNameMatchCount and trustMatchCount (attributions explaining how those parcels were reached, which overlap rather than dividing the total between them), and matchSource, which indicates which address the match came from. ownerNameMatchCount counts parcels carrying every supplied name part on the current owner record, and trustMatchCount counts parcels reached through the trust deed look-back. For a trust-owned property that look-back also matches recent deed parties, and both names must describe the same deed party. standard mode omits the ownerNameMatch object.

Confirm whether John Smith is on the owner record at a specific address:

Owner-name search is billed on the existing property-data meter. A returned property record consumes property-data quota as usual, and there is no separate charge for the match.