How much does a title search cost in Oahu, HI
A HeritageDeed title search in Oahu (Honolulu County) costs $49: the owner of record, deeds, mortgages matched to their releases, liens and tax status from the State of Hawaii Bureau of Conveyances and county records, usually within minutes. Traditional title search firms quote about $100 to $400 for a comparable search.
Step by step in Oahu
- 1
Decide what you need
A current owner search (owner, deeds, open loans, liens, tax) answers most buyer and investor questions; a lender closing needs a title insurance commitment instead.
- 2
Search it yourself or order it
The State of Hawaii Bureau of Conveyances index is public; matching every mortgage to its satisfaction or release and checking the courts takes time. A HeritageDeed report does it for $49.
What Oahu records show
Hawaii has two recording systems. In the Regular System a document is recorded and indexed by the parties' names and the TMK. In the Land Court system (registered land) title is held by a certificate of title and documents are registered against it; the Bureau keeps both and a parcel's report says which applies.
What the report checks in Oahu
- The parcel's tax map key and location from the statewide parcel records, and the owner of record from the latest title-transferring document in the Bureau's index
- Deeds, mortgages, releases, assignments and other documents the Bureau has indexed to the parcel, in both recording systems
- Documents indexed under the owner's name as grantor, for loans and liens not indexed to the parcel
- Each mortgage matched to its release where the index cross-references them
- Federal court records matched to the owner
Not covered here
- The Bureau's online index covers documents recorded from 1976; earlier instruments are not searched.
- A condominium unit is searched by its fee parcel's tax map key and the owner's name; documents registered only under the unit's own key are not read.
- Document images and certificates of title are not purchased; the report is built from the index entries (parties, dates, document types and references).
Questions
What does a HeritageDeed search in Oahu not cover?
The Bureau's online index covers documents recorded from 1976; earlier instruments are not searched.
Is this title insurance?
No. It is a search of the public record for one Oahu property. A lender closing a loan will still require a title insurance commitment from a licensed insurer.
More about Oahu property records
Check the title of a Oahu property
AI title search, $49 per report. Usually ready in about a minute. Full refund if we can't deliver.