How to Verify Your Property Records

Where Property Records Live

In the United States, property records are maintained at the county level, not by the state or federal government. The recording office has different names depending on the state:

— County Clerk (New Jersey, New York, many others) — Register of Deeds (Michigan, Wisconsin, North Carolina) — Recorder of Deeds (Pennsylvania, Missouri) — Clerk of Court (Florida, Georgia) — County Recorder (California, Arizona, Ohio)

Most counties now have online portals where you can search deed records, tax rolls, and in some cases judgment indexes. Coverage is comprehensive for recent instruments (post-1990s) and spotty for older records requiring manual research of index books.

Records to Check

A complete verification of your property's title status requires checking multiple indexes and registries:

• Deed / Grantor-Grantee Index — Shows all recorded deeds, mortgages, releases, and other instruments affecting the property
• Tax Records (Assessor / Collector) — Verifies current assessed value, tax status, and whether any delinquent taxes are outstanding
• County Judgment Index — Lists civil judgments docketed against your name or any prior owner during their ownership period
• Federal Tax Lien Index (IRS) — Maintained by the county clerk; federal liens attach to all property in the county where filed
• UCC Filings (Secretary of State) — Relevant for commercial properties; fixture filings affect real estate
• Lis Pendens Index — Pending lawsuits that affect the property
• HOA Records — If in a planned community, check with the HOA directly for outstanding assessments
• Municipal / Building Department — Open permits, code violations, and certificate of occupancy status
• Environmental Databases — EPA Superfund, state brownfields registries, underground storage tank databases

How to Search Online

Most county recording offices now offer free online access to deed indexes. Start at the county's official website (.gov domain). Look for sections labeled "Property Records," "Land Records," "Recorder of Deeds," or "County Clerk."

Search by your name (as it appears on your deed) and by the property's address or block/lot/parcel number. For a thorough search, also run a search under all prior owners' names for the period during which they held the property — this is how you find unreleased mortgages and judgment liens that were recorded against a prior owner.

For federal tax liens, the IRS maintains a searchable lien registry at irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/search-for-a-federal-tax-lien. County recording offices also maintain their own copies.

Limitations of a DIY Search

Self-directed property record searches are useful for a preliminary check, but they have significant limitations:

— Online indexes are generally not complete before the mid-1990s. For older properties with potential defects from prior decades, a manual search by a professional abstractor is required. — You may miss off-record interests: unrecorded easements, boundary encroachments, and adverse possession claims don't appear in deed indexes. — Judgment searches require knowing all name variants for every prior owner, including maiden names, business entity names, and name changes. — You won't have the expertise to identify whether a gap or inconsistency is legally significant.

TitleQuiet automates the multi-registry search process and applies pattern recognition to flag defects. For anything Critical or High severity, we recommend pairing the automated search with a licensed title examiner's review.