How to do a title search on property

Liens are a matter of public record once recorded. To find if there are any liens, here are your options:. A lien on a house is a legal claim against your property. It gives creditors a stake in your home and a way to collect debts owed to them. There are two types of liens that can be placed against a property.

A voluntary lien is a lien the homeowner agrees to — like a mortgage. These are the liens that affect your ability to sell a property easily — and also the more difficult to discharge from the public record. When the lien on a house is paid off, the creditor has been satisfied.

Their primary objective was to get paid, and once that is done, removing the lien may or may not be on their radar. While title can be conveyed without all liens being paid, most retail buyers will not purchase the property without clear title. Certainly no lender would approve the purchase. The seller's loan is paid off at the closing table, and the lien is released during the closing process.

Government holders of involuntary liens like tax or IRS liens should automatically send you a lien release once the debt has been paid. The best chance of having a lien release signed is before the final installment has been paid — that is, make the final installment contingent upon them signing a lien release. Lien releases must be notarized in order for the county to accept them. With a smaller lien holder, meeting them at a bank to make the final payment will be easier than if you were dealing with a larger lien holder. After the search is performed, a policy is written.

The search should turn up any liens on the property, and the insurance policy protects against most liens not found, such as undisclosed heirs, errors, or omissions in transferring deed, as well as forgeries. Title insurance is a little different from most insurance policies. Other types of insurance policies are purchased to protect you against future issues — you buy auto insurance to cover damages and losses in potential accidents.

Title insurance protects you against past instances that actually have nothing to do with you personally. Clouds on title pop up unexpectedly. Many times, the cloud is a surprise to the seller — they may not have purchased title insurance when they bought the property. Trust but verify is the best course of action. Joshua Dorkin is a serial entrepreneur, investor, podcaster, publisher, educator, and co-author of How to Invest in Real Estate. He started BiggerPockets to help democratize the real estate investing landscape for himself and others, aiming to make it accessible for everyone, regardless of income or education.

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Using a phrase of random words like: paper Dog team blue is secure and easy to remember. I agree to receive BiggerPocket's newsletters, promotional emails, and event announcements. You can withdraw your consent at any time. With a property's APN hand, visit the applicable county recorder's website and input the APN to access available ownership records. Tony Guerra served more than 20 years in the U. He also spent seven years as an airline operations manager.

Guerra is a former realtor, real-estate salesperson, associate broker and real-estate education instructor. He holds a master's degree in management and a bachelor's degree in interdisciplinary studies. Skip to main content. Property Title Records Property title records are public documents available for viewing by anyone. Examine the Books Many different records make up a property's title and they're all filed by date in the order they occurred. Trace It Back Assembling and examining property title records can be a laborious task.

Prepare an Abstract If the property whose title you're searching isn't newly created or newly built, you'll usually need four to five hours to thoroughly search all available records.

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Search Online To conduct an online property title search, you must determine ownership of the property whose title you wish to search. About the Author Tony Guerra served more than 20 years in the U. Accessed 07 November Guerra, Tony. A clear title means the ownership of the property is unquestionable or very clearly defined. Some people attempt to sell property thinking they have clear title, when, in reality, there is a problem with the ownership history. Technically, the recipient in this case has no right to sell the property, because he or she does not have clear title.

If there are any problems in the title history of a piece of property, the current owner could have quite a mess.

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Whenever you want to purchase a piece of real estate, thoroughly research the property and its ownership history. A seller may claim to have a clear title but neglect to mention a mortgage or construction lien against the property. If you go through with the sale without researching these issues, those debts become your problems.

One of the most important steps in closing any real estate transaction is the title search. As a buyer, you should be completely certain the seller has a clear title to the property and that there are no other liens or stakeholders in the property that could turn into costly problems for you later. It may sound overly simple, but title searches help ensure a seller has the legal right to sell the property in question. The first step in your search is identifying the property and what deeds you need to find.

Ultimately, you want to gather as much information about the property as possible to make an educated decision. Most counties store public records digitally for online access. After obtaining the property tax information and records , search for the property deed online.

Most states provide these for free or for a small fee. Start by locating the most recent deed that contains the name of the current owner and the name of whoever sold the property to the current owner.

• How Does a Title Company Determine That a Title is Valid?.
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• How To Do Your Own Title Search.

This should point you in the direction of the previous deed, and so on.