Who presently owns the land parcels comprising Zorro Ranch according to Santa Fe County deed records?
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Executive summary
Santa Fe County deed records reported in local news show that parcels of Jeffrey Epstein’s Zorro Ranch were recorded as transferred in October 2020 from Epstein’s holding company, Cypress Inc., to a Florida nonprofit called Love and Bliss for $200, according to the Santa Fe County Assessor’s search and KRQE’s records request [1]. Public-clerk and assessor webpages explain how such recordings and instrument numbers are managed but do not by themselves confirm motives or the completeness of the acreage transferred [2] [3] [4] [5].
1. What the county records that reporters obtained actually say
Reporters at Nexstar’s KRQE located a deed filed in Santa Fe County in October 2020 that, on its face, transfers portions of Zorro Ranch from Cypress Inc. — an Epstein entity — to Love and Bliss, a Florida nonprofit, with a stated consideration of $200, and that deed image is what prompted local coverage [1]. Multiple Nexstar affiliates reproduced that finding, noting the county assessor’s office surfaced the recording when reporters asked how much of the estate the Epstein trust still owned [6] [7] [8].
2. Who is listed as the recipient in those recorded documents
The name shown in the news accounts as the grantee on the recorded deed is Love and Bliss, identified as a nonprofit “church” formed in Florida in 2018, with a small Redington Beach mailing address reported by KRQE [1]. Local coverage also named a listed president, Alexander Leszczynski, and referenced Florida court records mentioned by KRQE concerning past arrests; those personal details were part of the outlets’ efforts to verify the nonprofit’s identity and credibility [1] [6].
3. How the county’s systems and offices relate to that finding
Santa Fe County’s Clerk records real-estate instruments and issues instrument numbers for recorded deeds, while the county assessor maintains property assessment and tax rolls that can be searched to locate recent transfers, and county resources instruct the public on how to request or access recorded documents [2] [3] [4] [5]. The KRQE reporting cites the assessor’s staff as locating the October 2020 deed in the county’s recorded documents, indicating the transfer appears in the official recording system [1].
4. Ambiguities, caveats and alternative explanations in the public record
News coverage describes the deed as “mysterious” and does not provide a chain-of-title analysis proving whether the recorded instrument conveyed fee simple ownership, whether all parcels of Zorro Ranch were included, whether the transfer was later rescinded or superseded, or whether clerical errors, quitclaims or other encumbrances affect the substantive ownership — matters that require direct inspection of the recorded deed, subsequent filings and assessor parcel records [1] [6]. The public county webpages explain that recorded documents must meet formalities (original signatures, notarization) to be accepted, but the presence of a recorded deed alone does not answer every legal or factual question about current beneficial ownership absent further deed-chain review [5].
5. What the reporting does not and cannot, from provided sources, establish
The sources furnished do not include the deed image itself, a parcel-by-parcel assessor list confirming acreage transferred, or post-2020 recordings that could confirm whether the county’s records still list Love and Bliss as the owner today; therefore, it cannot be asserted from these sources that Love and Bliss remains the present owner of every parcel comprising Zorro Ranch without consulting current Santa Fe County clerk and assessor records directly [1] [3] [4].
6. Bottom line based on available Santa Fe County-record reporting
According to the Santa Fe County filing located and reported by KRQE and reproduced by other outlets, portions of Zorro Ranch were recorded as transferred in October 2020 from Epstein’s entity Cypress Inc. to Love and Bliss, a Florida nonprofit, for $200 [1] [6] [7] [8]. The county’s clerk and assessor maintain the underlying records and provide public access procedures to verify and trace deeds and subsequent recordings; confirming present ownership of all parcels requires a direct, current search of those official public-record databases or copies of the recording instruments themselves [2] [3] [4] [5].