A dynamic ownership model is utilized for Internet protocol (IP) address allocation and management. Dynamic ownership is determined on a first-come, first-serve basis. According to an embodiment, IP address ownership can be coordinated through a lock coordinator on a per-node basis via a communication channel that is independent of the IP network being assigned. A per-node IP manager can request for a lock for a specific IP address, and if granted, the per-node IP manager can create an IP resource object, apply the IP resource object data to an interface on the node, set up the interface to receive traffic, and continuously issue checks to ensure that the node is allowed to own this IP resource object. Since each node participates in IP address ownership based on its own network status, overheads associated with synchronizing node state to a central IP address coordinator can be significantly reduced.