San Francisco Assessor-Recorder Joaquín Torres has launched an online portal that lets users search properties by address or parcel number and provides easy access to basic information.
Jana Asenbrennerova/For the S.F. ChronicleSan Francisco has launched an online portal allowing property owners to access records and file paperwork digitally.The new tool consolidates property data, tax forms and disaster relief requests into a single platform, eliminating the need for in-person visits.Since its soft launch, nearly all assessor-recorder services are now available online, expanding digital access to millions of property records.
San Francisco has launched a new online tool to help property owners access and file paperwork, part of a push to modernize and simplify City Hall bureaucracy.
The portal will help San Franciscans avoid time-intensive trips to City Hall and outdated paper filing systems, according to a statement from the city’s assessor-recorder announcing the change.
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“As a San Franciscan, I want and expect the option of doing business with our city online,” Joaquin Torres, the assessor-recorder, said in the statement. “Government should be welcoming, easy to understand, fast, and affordable.”
The platform lets users search properties by address or parcel number and provides easy access to basic information. Property owners can use the tool to fill out a range of forms directly on the site, including those to change their addresses, apply for certain tax exemptions or request disaster relief. Previously, some of those forms had to be printed out and emailed, mailed or delivered in person to the assessor-recorder’s office.
The portal’s completion, announced Monday, caps off the office’s sweeping upgrade to its records technology. Records that had been stored in separate databases, including property characteristics, value history and previous years’ filings, are all accessible in the same place through the portal.
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Since the portal soft-launched in the fall, “virtually all” of the office’s services are available online, according to the statement.
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Torres has promoted a variety of initiatives to modernize and streamline the department’s public-facing systems since he took office in 2021, including revamping its website and debuting an updated supplemental tax calculator. In 2024, the office launched a service that let members of the public view more than 7 million property records online for free. Before that, residents had to pay or go to City Hall to see the physical records in person.
Supervisor Rafael Mandelman calls the online portal for property owners “a major step forward.”
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Rafael Mandelman, president of the Board of Supervisors, praised the office’s modernization efforts and the new online portal in the statement Monday.
“I hear firsthand from residents about how confusing and time-consuming these processes can be given the laws on the books today, and this new level of digital service is a major step forward,” Mandelman said.
Mayor Daniel Lurie has made simplifying City Hall bureaucracy a priority during his first term, championing efforts to pare back the city’s charter and streamline its notoriously complex permitting systems through his PermitSF initiative. He thanked Torres for his “work to make government work better for San Franciscans” in the statement.
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The city launched a version of the tool for business owners in 2021, allowing them to submit annual filings related to “equipment, machinery, technology, and fixtures,” according to the statement. The new portal expands that program to all property owners.
Ben Bleiman, founder of the SF Bar Owner Alliance, says the online portal for property owners prevents the need to print forms, mail documents or wait in line.
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Ben Bleiman, owner of Harrington’s Bar & Grill and the founder of SF Bar Owner Alliance, said in the statement that the initial version of the program “has saved small businesses a lot of time and hassle.”
“No printing forms, no mailing documents, no waiting in line,” he said. “You submit what you need online and get back to doing literally anything else.”
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