How to check for liens on a property in Cook County, IL

In Cook County, liens and lis pendens recorded against a property are in the Cook County Clerk, Recordings index, searched by the owner's name and the property. Each mortgage also needs a recorded satisfaction or release to be off the title. A HeritageDeed report does this for one address in Cook County: $49, usually within minutes, with the source of every finding.

Search a Cook County property, $49

Step by step in Cook County

1. 1

   Identify the parcel

   Find the owner of record and the parcel number in the Cook County Assessor's Office records: liens are indexed against the owner's name and the property.

2. 2

   Search the recorded liens

   Search the Cook County Clerk, Recordings index under the owner's name and the property for liens, lis pendens and other notices.

3. 3

   Check every mortgage

   A mortgage with no recorded satisfaction or release is still a lien of record; Illinois gives the lender 30 days after payment of the debt (765 ILCS 905/4).

4. 4

   Or order the report

   A HeritageDeed report runs these searches for one Cook County address and lists every finding with its source, $49, usually within minutes.

A real Cook County report

We ran this search on the Willis Tower (233 S Wacker Dr, Chicago, IL 60606): 5 deeds, 2 open mortgages, 9 recorded liens. See the Cook County sample report.

What the report checks in Cook County

• Deeds, mortgages, releases and liens recorded with the Cook County Clerk
• Federal court records matched to the owner

Questions

More about Cook County property records

• Find the owner
• Search deeds
• Check for a loan
• Title search cost
• Cook County title search guide