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- 760K Residents
- $66B County GDP
- $86,200 GDP per Capita
Monroe County
Monroe County
Monroe County is anchored by Rochester (county seat and largest city) on Lake Ontario. The economy mixes the University of Rochester / URMC (largest employer), RIT, healthcare (Rochester Regional, UR Medicine), tech and optics legacy (Eastman Kodak, Xerox, Bausch & Lomb), Wegmans (HQ), and a fast-growing supply chain economy. The County Clerk (Jamie Romeo) operates from 39 W Main Street.
Property in Monroe
What every owner, heir, and investor should know.
Owning a home in Monroe.
Monroe is one of the most affordable big-metro homeowner markets in the Northeast.
- STAR / Enhanced STAR, senior, veteran, Cold War veteran, and disability exemptions apply.
- Property tax cycle: school bills September; county/town bills January (combined).
- City of Rochester reassesses periodically; equalization rates vary by town.
- Tax-foreclosure redemption under RPTL Article 11 (two-year window); City of Rochester runs its own track.
- Foreclosure surplus rights under RPAPL § 1361.
- Watch for City of Rochester rental registry, lead-paint compliance (Rochester Lead Law), and historic-district approvals.
Investing in Monroe.
Monroe is a leading upstate distressed-property and value-add multifamily market.
- Tax-foreclosure auctions: City of Rochester runs its own; Monroe County runs the rest of the towns.
- Judicial foreclosure auctions held at the Hall of Justice, Rochester.
- Land records search via Monroe County Clerk online records.
- Real Property parcel lookup at monroecounty.gov.
- NYSCEF case search for lis pendens.
- Watch for Rochester Lead Law (C of O), rental registry, vacant-property registry, and water/sewer liens.
After a Monroe foreclosure or tax deed sale.
Monroe uses New York's judicial foreclosure process and runs in rem tax foreclosure under RPTL Article 11.
- Mortgage foreclosures filed in Supreme Court, 7th Judicial District.
- Judgment of Foreclosure and Sale executed by court-appointed Referee.
- Surplus money proceedings under RPAPL § 1361.
- Monroe County holds in rem foreclosure for towns; City of Rochester runs its own annual auction.
- Post-Tyler v. Hennepin reforms require return of tax-foreclosure surplus to former owner.
- Notices published in the Daily Record (Rochester) and Democrat & Chronicle.
Courts and records in Monroe.
- Hall of Justice — 99 Exchange Boulevard, Rochester, NY 14614 — 7th Judicial District
- County Office Building — 39 W Main Street, Rochester (County Clerk)
- Supreme Court & County Court — Hall of Justice
- Family Court — 99 Exchange Boulevard, Rochester
- Surrogate's Court — 99 Exchange Boulevard, Rochester
- 7th Judicial District (Cayuga, Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Seneca, Steuben, Wayne, Yates)
- Appellate Division, 4th Department — 50 East Avenue, Rochester (this courthouse)
- County Clerk — Jamie Romeo — 39 W Main Street, Room 101 — (585) 753-1600 — monroecounty.gov
- Real Property Tax Services — 39 W Main Street — (585) 753-1125
- Department of Finance — 39 W Main Street — (585) 753-1200
- Sheriff — 130 S Plymouth Avenue, Rochester — (585) 753-4178