How to Do a Title Search on a Property, Step by Step
Do a title search yourself: find the parcel, trace the chain of title, list every mortgage, lien and lawsuit, and check each was released. Free records, real traps.
Quick answer
To do a title search, identify the parcel, read the current deed and trace earlier deeds back through the chain of title, then list every mortgage, lien, judgment and lis pendens recorded against the property or its owners and check whether each one was released. The records are public at the county recorder or clerk.
What a title search is
A title search answers two questions. Does the seller actually own what they are selling, and what claims will travel with the property to the next owner? Every answer comes from documents recorded in the county where the property sits, plus court and tax records that live elsewhere.
It is not title insurance. A search reports what the record shows on the day it runs; a title insurance policy from a licensed insurer pays out if the record turns out to be wrong. A financed purchase needs the policy. The search is the due diligence that comes first, and it is entirely doable on your own for a single property.
Definition
Title search — A review of the public records for a parcel to establish who holds title and what is recorded against it: deeds, mortgages and their releases, liens, judgments, lis pendens and unpaid taxes.
The seven steps
Identify the parcel
Find the property on the county assessor or property appraiser site and note the parcel number (APN, PIN, folio, or BBL in New York City) and the legal description. Search by parcel wherever the recording system allows it, because one building can carry several street addresses and a condominium has a separate lot for each unit.
Read the current vesting deed
Find the most recent deed recorded against the parcel. The grantee is the current owner. Note the deed type (warranty, special warranty, bargain and sale, quitclaim), the consideration and the document number.
Trace the chain of title backwards
From the current deed, find the deed by which the grantor took title, then the one before that. Each link should name as grantor the person who was grantee on the previous deed. A gap, a name that does not match, or an estate transfer without probate paperwork is a break in the chain.
List every mortgage and deed of trust
Search the parcel and each owner's name for mortgages or deeds of trust recorded during their ownership. In Texas and Arizona home loans are usually deeds of trust; elsewhere mostly mortgages. Note lender, amount and date for each.
Match each loan to its release
A paid-off mortgage stays on the record until a separate satisfaction, release or reconveyance is recorded. For every loan on your list, look for that document. A loan with no release may still be open, or may have been paid without the release ever being recorded.
Search for liens, judgments and lawsuits
Search owners' names for judgment liens, mechanic's liens, federal and state tax liens, HOA liens and lis pendens. Judgments may be docketed with the court rather than recorded with the deeds, so check the state court index and federal court records too.
Check taxes and municipal charges
Confirm property tax status with the tax collector, and in cities that bill separately, water, sewer and code enforcement charges. In New York City, unpaid charges can be sold in the annual tax lien sale.
The step most people skip: matching every loan to its release
A satisfaction of mortgage is its own document, recorded after the loan is paid, often by a lender that has since sold the loan or merged. It can be recorded months late, under a different lender name, or not at all. That is why an old mortgage with no matching release is the most common open item in a title search, and why it takes the most time.
The volumes make the point. Across New York City, ACRIS recorded 42,132 mortgages and 37,444 satisfactions between October 1, 2025 and September 30, 2026: fewer than nine releases recorded for every ten new loans. Releases relate to older loans, so the ratio is not a measure of unpaid debt, but it shows how much release paper a search has to sort through. Source: NYC ACRIS Real Property Master.
Our article on whether a mortgage is actually open walks through how to tell a paid loan from a live one when the release is missing.
What to record, and what clears it
| Document found | What it means | What clears it |
|---|---|---|
| Mortgage or deed of trust | A loan secured by the property | Recorded satisfaction, release or reconveyance |
| Judgment lien | A court judgment attached to the owner's real estate | Satisfaction of judgment, or expiry under state law |
| Mechanic's lien | Unpaid contractor or supplier claim | Recorded release, or expiry if not enforced in time |
| Federal tax lien | IRS claim, filed in the county land records | Certificate of release from the IRS |
| Lis pendens | A pending lawsuit affecting the property | Discharge or cancellation when the case ends |
| Unpaid property tax | A lien held by the county or a tax certificate buyer | Payment or redemption |
Traps that catch first-time searchers
- Searching a condominium by street address returns the whole building's master lot, including the sponsor's construction loans.
- Owners appear under name variants: middle initials, maiden names, trust names, LLC suffixes. Search every variant.
- A refinance often leaves the old mortgage on the record until its release is recorded weeks later.
- In Texas and Arizona, look for deeds of trust and releases of lien rather than mortgages and satisfactions.
- On Staten Island, older documents may sit only at the Richmond County Clerk rather than in ACRIS.
- Court judgments and federal tax liens are indexed by the owner's name, not the parcel.
How far back to search
Title companies commonly examine a chain going back decades, and the right depth depends on the state and the purpose. A quick check of who owns a property and whether there are open loans can stop at the current owner. Buying, lending or resolving a dispute calls for at least the previous owner and usually a longer chain, because a defect created before the current owner took title can still affect it.
HeritageDeed offers three depths for that reason: a Current Owner Search, a Two Owner Search and a 30-Year Search.
When to use a professional
Key takeaways
Key takeaways
- Search by parcel where possible, then by every owner name and variant.
- Trace the deeds backwards and check each link names the previous grantee.
- Every mortgage needs a matching recorded release; a missing one is the most common open item.
- Judgments and federal tax liens are indexed by name, so search the names, not just the address.
Frequently asked questions
- Can I do a title search myself?
- Yes. Deeds, mortgages and most liens are public records at the county recorder or clerk, and many counties let you search and view them online for free. The work is in reading every document, matching loans to releases and searching every owner name.
- How long does a title search take?
- By hand, a single-property search typically takes a few hours to a few days depending on how far back you go and how the county indexes its records. HeritageDeed reports are generated automatically and are usually ready within minutes.
- What is a chain of title?
- The sequence of recorded deeds showing how ownership passed from one owner to the next. Each deed's grantor should be the previous deed's grantee; a gap or mismatch is a break that needs explaining.
- Does a title search find unrecorded problems?
- No. A search only sees what is recorded or indexed. Unrecorded easements, boundary problems, forged documents and recording errors are outside it, which is what title insurance and a survey are for.
- What is the difference between a title search and an owner and encumbrance report?
- An owner and encumbrance report covers the current owner and what is recorded against the property during their ownership. A full title search also traces earlier owners through the chain of title.
Sources
Primary records and official documentation cited in this article.
HeritageDeed provides public-record search reports only. Reports do not constitute title insurance, an attorney opinion of title, or a title insurance commitment.