Although many title registries across the country have made a concerted effort to digitize their real estate records, there is still a large gap between what records are available online, and what records remain in books at the local registry’s office. In my experience, many of the larger county offices have digitized at least some portion of their real estate records, but often these digital records do not go back far enough to accurately capture ownership of all interests that could potentially be important during an acquisition.
According to the Department of the Interior, the United States has over three thousand counties. Texas alone has 254 unique counties. Each county recorder’s office is responsible for holding and maintaining the records of land ownership and making those records available to the public. Many of us probably take for granted that this system exists, but most members of the public do not have the skills or training to make much use of these records. Title examiners, however, are skilled professionals who are familiar with how to find, organize and communicate these records in a clear and accurate way. A good title examiner will use a mixture of digital and physical records in order to perform their research which is why it is important to have some local examiners on your project who are familiar with the particulars of the county records where your project is taking place.
Some counties have done an incredible job of digitizing real estate records dating back several decades, but in my experience, that is the exception, not the norm. Even in the more modern counties which have some online search tools available, these digitized records typically only contain a small portion of the records needed to make a complete determination of ownership. Furthermore, many smaller and less populated counties across the country do not have any digitized records at all, which means that in order to run title, a title examiner must actually visit the local recorder’s office in person and sort through physical records to determine ownership of property. This is most typically done by indexing, which is the process of searching the Grantor/Grantee books by name to track the passage of ownership of a particular property over time. The process of indexing can take hours or even days to complete, so a title examiner must be resourceful, thorough, and very patient.
If you have a question about title or are looking for an experienced team to help you on your next utility, energy, or Right-0f-Way project, contact one of the principals at Peak Land Services and we’d love to chat about how we can help.