Title searches that reveal liens
2 Replies
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Holli Phillips Residential Real Estate Broker from Westfield, Indiana
posted almost 3 years agoHey all! Trying to find a way to discover what liens are on my properties without having to have a title company run an expensive search on them. I've tried a couple of the top ones like searchq.com and their sister company nextace.com but they do not cover Marion County.
Thanks!
Jim Viens from Kansas City, Kansas
replied almost 3 years agoOne way is to search the county records yourself...if you know what you're looking for. Sometimes the employees at the courthouse can tell you how to do the searches. You'll want to search the Land records, for deeds, mortgages, and UCC filings. You'll then want to check the district court records for any judgments against past and present owners. If there are any unexplained gaps in the chain of title (i.e.: Joe and Mary take title together but only Joe deeds out) you'll want to check divorce and probate records. Then you'll need to check for bankruptcies and federal liens, but I can't remember if those are available online without a paid subscription service.
Or, you can talk to a title company about just doing an "O&E" report (Ownership & Encumbrance). This will just show current ownership along with any open liens. These are usually pretty inexpensive ($50-$150) as they don't include insurance. Depends on how much your time is worth. The added bonus with this route is that if you end up buying the property and getting an Owner's Title Policy (VERY much recommended), they will often convert the O&E to a Title Insurance Commitment and credit the cost of the O&E toward the title insurance policy.
David Mitchell from San Luis Obispo, California
replied almost 3 years agoThe suggestion of doing your own search is always the cheapest way to go. Here's a 5 minute video on how to do it yourself:
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