1. Start from the property record
Copy the owner name exactly as the county property record or the recorded deed writes it, including “LLC”, “Inc” or “Trust”. Small differences matter: “Bayview Holdings LLC” and “Bayview Holdings Inc” are different companies.
Note three more things from the same record, because you will use them as evidence later:
- The owner’s mailing address. Tax bills go here. It often matches the company’s own address on file.
- The date the company acquired the property, from the deed or the sale history.
- The parcel number, so you can tie everything back to one property.
2. Find the company in the state registry
An LLC is filed in the state where it was formed, and usually registers as a foreign company in other states where it does business. Start with the state where the property is. In Florida, that is the Division of Corporations, whose public search site is Sunbiz.
Florida’s search guide lists these ways to search business records:
- Entity name: companies and registrations by name.
- Officer or registered agent name: officers, directors, managers and registered agents.
- Registered agent name: every registered agent by name.
- FEI number: the federal employer number and the companies linked to it.
- Document number: one specific company or registration.
A document number is the strongest key you can have, because it names exactly one record. If your list or a deed gives one, search by it. If you only have the name, search by name and expect more than one result.
3. Make sure it is the same company
This is the step most people skip. A matching name is a lead, not proof. Before you trust the people on a record, look for something that ties the record to the owner of your property:
- Strong
- The document number matches. Or the owner mailing address on the property record matches the company’s mailing or principal address on file.
- Supporting
- A former name of the company matches the owner name. Registries keep name changes.
- Weak
- Only the name and the city agree. Or the matching address is shared by many companies, which usually means a registered agent or a mail service.
- Against
- The company was formed after the property was bought. The street matches but the unit does not.
- Not against
- A mailing address that isn’t on file. Tax bills often go to a manager, bookkeeper or property manager, so an exact name that only one company has can still be the owner.
When two companies share the name, do not pick the one that looks right. Keep both until an address or a date separates them.
4. Read the people on file
A record lists people by title. Florida’s Division of Corporations explains the roles in its FAQ:
- “In an LLC, a member is the equivalent of an owner.”
- An LLC is either member-managed or manager-managed, and “the manager may or may not be a member of the LLC.”
- A manager or member “may appoint an authorized representative to execute and file records” with the Division.
- A registered agent is “the individual or legal entity that will accept service of process on behalf of a business entity.”
So a manager may not own anything, an authorized representative may only have filed paperwork, and the registered agent is the address for legal papers. For contact about a property, members and managers are the usual starting point.
Title abbreviations
Florida records abbreviate titles. The Division’s FAQ gives these common ones, among others:
- MGR
- Manager
- AR
- Authorized Representative
- P
- President (or Pastor)
- V
- Vice President
- S
- Secretary
- T
- Treasurer (or Trustee)
- D
- Director (or Deacon)
- C
- Chairman or Chief Executive Director
Other titles appear on filings too. When a title is not explained, the filing image on the record usually shows what the company wrote.
Finding the registered agent
The registered agent is on every record, and Florida lets you search by agent name. That makes it easy to find, and easy to mistake for the owner. Many companies use a professional agent whose office serves hundreds of companies at one address. Treat that address as the agent’s, not the owner’s.
5. Check the dates
Roles change. A manager listed today may have joined after the property was bought, and a former manager may still appear on older filings. Look at the filing history and the annual reports to see when each person held a role, and prefer the role that was current when the property changed hands or that is current now, depending on what you need.
Status matters too. An inactive or dissolved company can still be the owner of record on an older deed, so inactive does not mean wrong.
6. When the manager is another company
Holding structures put a company in the manager’s seat. Look that company up the same way and read its people. Set yourself a limit, such as three levels, and watch for loops where two companies list each other. If a company in the chain is not in the registry, note it as unresolved rather than guessing.
7. What a registry cannot tell you
- It is not a list of beneficial owners. A manager-managed LLC may not list its members at all.
- It does not give phone numbers or email addresses. Finding those for a manager or member is a separate search, using the name and the address on the filing.
- It shows what was filed. Records are only as current as the company’s last filing. Florida says its database records are updated daily.
8. A worked example
The record below is a sample: an invented company in Florida’s data file layout, shown in Locate. The owner name and the owner mailing address on the property list both agree with the company’s filing, so the match is strong. It still waits for a person to confirm it.
The same record lists a current manager and a current authorized member, a former manager with the date the role ended, an authorized representative that only files paperwork, and a registered agent. The current manager and member are the sensible first contacts.
9. Doing this for a whole list
One company takes a few minutes by hand. A list with hundreds of LLC owners needs the same rules applied the same way every time. That’s what Locate’s LLC owner lookup does: it finds each company, shows what lines up and what doesn’t, keeps the registered agent separate, and waits for your okay before anyone gets searched.
Florida also publishes its business records as free downloads for informational purposes: daily files of each work day’s filings, and quarterly files of every active record in January, April, July and October, with a published layout for each field.
Sources
- Florida Division of Corporations: corporation records search guide. Search options and record fields. Checked October 1, 2026.
- Florida Division of Corporations: frequently asked questions. Members, managers, authorized representatives, registered agents, title abbreviations and update frequency. Checked October 1, 2026.
- Florida Division of Corporations: data downloads. Daily and quarterly files, offered as is for informational purposes. Checked October 1, 2026.
- Florida corporate data file definitions. The field layout Locate’s Florida reader follows.
This guide explains public records. It is not legal advice, and it does not establish who owns or controls a company.