Horry County Land Records: How to Search Deeds, Mortgages and Parcels
Horry County land records live in two places: the county Land Records app (parcels, PIN, owner) and the Register of Deeds index (deeds, mortgages). How to use each.
Quick answer
Horry County land records sit in two official systems. The county Land Records app maps tax parcels and finds a PIN by address or owner name. The Register of Deeds index in Conway holds recorded deeds, mortgages, plats and liens, searchable by name, book and page, legal description or document type. Neither one is a title opinion.
What are Horry County land records?
People who search for Horry County land records usually want one of two things. Some want a map and an owner name for a parcel in Myrtle Beach, Conway or North Myrtle Beach. Others want the actual deed or mortgage. The county keeps these in two separate systems run by two separate offices, and mixing them up is the most common reason a search comes back empty.
The first is the county's Land Records app, a mapping application built on tax data. The second is the Register of Deeds, which describes itself as the office that serves "as the custodian of land records for Horry County, South Carolina." Its online index is where recorded documents can be found.
Definition
Land records — The public records that describe a parcel and the documents recorded against it: the tax parcel and its owner of record, and the deeds, mortgages, plats, satisfactions and liens filed with the Register of Deeds.
Which Horry County system answers which question?
Pick the system by the question you are asking. The table lists what each office says its tool covers.
| Question | Where to look | What the office says |
|---|---|---|
| Who is the owner of record, and what is the PIN? | Land Records app (Horry County GIS) | The Assessor appraises and lists real property for taxation and maintains ownership information, and points people to the Land Records applications to find a PIN by address or owner name. |
| Where is the parcel and how is it drawn? | Land Records app or GIS app | The mapping applications represent the parcel fabric as used for taxing purposes and not for survey purposes. |
| Which deeds and mortgages were recorded? | Register of Deeds online index | Searches by party name, book and page, legal description, document type, consideration range and record date. |
| Is there a lawsuit or judgment against the owner? | Clerk of Court public index | The Clerk of Court serves the circuit and family courts and offers a public index of court records. |
How does the Horry County Land Records app work?
The Land Records app is the fastest way to identify a parcel. Search by address or owner name, find the parcel on the map and note its PIN, the number the county uses to identify the parcel. The Assessor's tax estimator asks for the same PIN before it can estimate a bill.
The county is careful about what the map means. Its Land Info page says: "The Land Record data and mapping application represent the parcel fabric as used for taxing purposes and not for survey purposes." A line on that map is not a surveyed boundary, and an owner name on it is the owner on the tax roll, not a ruling on who holds title.
How do you search the Horry County Register of Deeds?
The Register of Deeds runs an online records search over its official records. You accept a disclaimer before searching. These steps follow the search types the site itself lists.
Start with the owner name from the Land Records app
Run a Name search, which the site describes as a party name search across grantors and grantees. The disclaimer advises searching "all possible spelling variations of proper names" to get complete results, so try middle initials, suffixes and the names of any trust or company.
Open the most recent deed to the current owner
That deed is the vesting deed: the document that put title in the current owner. Note its book and page. A Book/Page search pulls a document directly once you have that reference, and older deeds often cite the book and page of the deed before them.
Search by legal description for the parcel
The site offers a parsed legal description search and a legal description or memo search. For a condo or subdivision lot, searching the subdivision, lot or unit can surface documents indexed under names you did not know, such as an earlier owner or a developer.
Filter by document type
A Document Type search narrows results to mortgages, satisfactions, plats or liens. For a sale, the consideration search lets you look for conveyances within a price range, and the record date search shows everything recorded on one day.
Match each mortgage to its satisfaction
A mortgage stays of record until a satisfaction or release is recorded. Read each mortgage, then look for the document that discharges it. Our guide to whether a mortgage is actually open explains how to pair them.
Copies, redactions and the office itself
What does it cost to record a deed in Horry County?
South Carolina sets recording fees by statute, and the Register of Deeds notes that a 2019 law (Bill H3243) replaced per-page fees with flat fees from August 1, 2019. Two separate charges apply to a deed: the flat filing fee in S.C. Code 8-21-310 and the deed recording fee (often called deed stamps) in Chapter 24 of Title 12.
| Item | Amount | Statute |
|---|---|---|
| Filing fee, deed to real estate | $15 | S.C. Code 8-21-310(A)(1) |
| Filing fee, mortgage, easement, or notice of a mechanic's lien | $25 | S.C. Code 8-21-310(A)(2) |
| Filing fee, mortgage satisfaction or release | $10 | S.C. Code 8-21-310(B)(4) |
| Deed recording fee (state $1.30 plus county $0.55) | $1.85 per $500 of value, or fraction | S.C. Code 12-24-10 and 12-24-90 |
How is the South Carolina deed recording fee calculated?
The fee is $1.85 for each $500, or fractional part of $500, of the realty's value. "Value" under S.C. Code 12-24-30 generally means the consideration paid, and a deduction is allowed for a lien that exists before the transfer and remains after it. On a $300,000 sale with no assumed lien, the arithmetic is 600 units of $500 times $1.85, or $1,110, plus the $15 deed filing fee.
The grantor (the seller) is primarily liable for the fee and the grantee (the buyer) is secondarily liable, under S.C. Code 12-24-20. The statute lists exemptions in 12-24-40, including deeds where the value is $100 or less, deeds that partition land without other consideration, and a quitclaim or corrective deed that only confirms title already vested, when no consideration is paid. The Register collects the fee before recording and notes it on the deed, or writes "exempt" if an exemption applies.
Why does the recording date matter in South Carolina?
Under S.C. Code 30-7-10, deeds, mortgages and other instruments affecting real property are valid against later creditors and purchasers for value without notice only "from the day and hour" they are recorded with the Register of Deeds. A deed signed in March and recorded in May counts against later buyers and lenders from May.
Paid-off mortgages are a frequent loose end. Under S.C. Code 29-3-310, a mortgage holder that has been paid must enter satisfaction within three months after a written request sent by certified mail or another delivery method with proof of delivery. Until a satisfaction is recorded, the mortgage remains on the record.
What will the Register of Deeds index not show you?
- Judgments: under S.C. Code 15-35-810 a judgment becomes a lien on real estate in a county once entered on that county's book of abstracts of judgments, and it lasts ten years from the judgment date. Court records are with the Clerk of Court, which runs its own public index.
- Unpaid property taxes: tax bills and delinquencies are handled through the county tax offices, not the deed index.
- Survey facts: the Land Records map is drawn for taxing purposes, so boundary questions need a surveyor and the recorded plat.
- Problems that never reached the record, such as a forged signature or a document indexed under a misspelled name.
A free recording alert for owners
Where does a title search fit?
Searching the index yourself is fine for pulling one deed. Building a full picture means reading the vesting deed, each mortgage and its satisfaction, and every lien filed under each owner's name, then checking the court index separately. That is a title search, and it is still not title insurance or legal advice: in a purchase, an attorney or title insurer decides what the record means.
HeritageDeed runs records searches in Horry County from these official sources: a $49 report. What the report covers and its stated limits are on the Horry County title search page. For the role of the office itself, see what a register of deeds does.
Key takeaways
Key takeaways
- Horry County land records are split between the Land Records app (tax parcels, PIN, owner) and the Register of Deeds index (recorded documents).
- The Land Records map represents parcels for taxing purposes, not for survey purposes.
- The Register of Deeds index searches by name, book and page, legal description, document type, consideration and record date.
- A deed in South Carolina carries a $15 filing fee plus a deed recording fee of $1.85 per $500 of value.
- Recorded instruments count against later buyers and creditors from the day and hour of recording (S.C. Code 30-7-10).
Frequently asked questions
- How do I search Horry County land records by owner name?
- Use the county Land Records app to find the parcel and PIN by owner name or address. Then run a Name search on the Register of Deeds records search for that owner to see the deeds and mortgages recorded under it. Try spelling variations, as the Register's disclaimer advises.
- Where is the Horry County Register of Deeds?
- At 1301 Second Avenue, Conway, SC 29526, open Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., per the department page. The mailing address is P.O. Box 470, Conway, SC 29528, and the phone number is (843) 915-5430.
- Can I search Horry County deeds online for free?
- The Register of Deeds offers an online records search over its official records after you accept a disclaimer. It searches by name, book and page, legal description, document type, consideration and record date. Removing redaction bars from a document requires a purchase.
- What are deed stamps in South Carolina?
- They are the deed recording fee in S.C. Code Title 12, Chapter 24: $1.85 for each $500 of value, made up of a $1.30 state fee and a $0.55 county fee. The grantor is primarily liable. It is charged on top of the $15 filing fee for a deed.
- Does the Horry County Land Records map show property lines?
- It shows tax parcels, not surveyed lines. The county says the data and mapping application represent the parcel fabric as used for taxing purposes and not for survey purposes. For boundaries, use the recorded plat and a licensed surveyor.
- Are judgments recorded with the Horry County Register of Deeds?
- A judgment becomes a lien on real estate once it is entered on the county's book of abstracts of judgments (S.C. Code 15-35-810), which is a court record rather than an entry in the deed index. Check the Clerk of Court public index for lawsuits and judgments.
Sources
Primary records and official documentation cited in this article.
- 1Horry County, Land Info (Land Records and GIS apps)
- 2Horry County Register of Deeds
- 3Horry County Register of Deeds, Records Search
- 4Horry County Register of Deeds, Recording Notification Service
- 5Horry County Assessor
- 6Horry County Clerk of Court
- 7S.C. Code Title 12, Chapter 24, Deed Recording Fee
- 8S.C. Code Title 8, Chapter 21 (Section 8-21-310, filing fees)
- 9S.C. Code Title 30, Chapter 7 (Section 30-7-10, recording)
- 10S.C. Code Title 29, Chapter 3 (Section 29-3-310, satisfaction)
- 11S.C. Code Title 15, Chapter 35 (Section 15-35-810, judgment liens)
HeritageDeed provides public-record search reports only. Reports do not constitute title insurance, an attorney opinion of title, or a title insurance commitment.