Lien Search Question

[Jordan Archer]

Hello BP,

Hope you're all having a great day.

I want to do a lien search on a property, and I want to know of ALL LIENS that are on that property. I can go on my county website, where I have to enter the name of the owner of the property. BUT, how do I know that all of the liens on that property were accrued by the last owner?

Can a property have a lien on it from 3 owners' past? 

I want to purchase Tax Deeds, so knowing what liens that are on the property is critical. I just want to make sure that I can find all of them.

Thanks for your help and advice.

Sincerely,

Jordan

[James Mikel]

Look at the most recent conveyance of the property.  If it is a warranty deed prepared by a title company and it does not specifically state "This is prepared without examination of Title"  there is little cause for concern over prior owner encumbrances.   But, you will still need to search the official records for encumbrances appearing after the time of warranty deed issuance.   

If the last conveyance is anything other than the professionally prepared warranty deed look at the conveyance prior and move backwards creating a chain of title until you reach a warranty deed prepared by a title company.  We always assume every conveyance made after the warranty deed is in need of more scrutiny.  

Once you have found your way to the most recent Warranty Deed fill in the blanks moving forward to present day searching on those names found in the conveyances as well as those named encumbrance holders.  This will disclose which were satisfied/released and which were not.  

NOW take that information to the host site for the tax deed auction or to the court house and compare it to the O&E report found in the tax deed file.  That O&E report will go back to the last Warranty Deed or 20 years.  

Your search and the O&E should match up with the exception of items appearing of record in the last few months.  If they don't you probably need more time in developing your research skills.