How to check for liens on a property in Detroit, MI
In Detroit (Wayne County), liens and lis pendens recorded against a property are in the Wayne County Register of Deeds index, searched by the owner's name and the property, and judgments are kept by the court clerk, not the recorder. Each mortgage also needs a recorded satisfaction or release to be off the title. A HeritageDeed report does this for one address in Detroit: $49, usually within minutes, with the source of every finding.
About Detroit: The county seat of Wayne County is Detroit. Wayne County borders Macomb, Monroe, Oakland and Washtenaw counties. Wayne County has about 801,083 housing units, 64.8% of the occupied ones owner-occupied. Last verified November 9, 2026.
Search a Detroit property, $49
Step by step in Detroit
- 1
Identify the parcel
Find the owner of record and the parcel number in the Wayne County Equalization Division records: liens are indexed against the owner's name and the property.
- 2
Search the recorded liens
Search the Wayne County Register of Deeds index under the owner's name and the property for liens, lis pendens and other notices.
- 3
Check every mortgage
A mortgage with no recorded satisfaction or release is still a lien of record.
- 4
Or order the report
A HeritageDeed report runs these searches for one Detroit address and lists every finding with its source, $49, usually within minutes.
What Detroit records show
Deeds, mortgages, discharges, land contracts and liens are recorded with the Wayne County Register of Deeds.
What the report checks in Detroit
- Deeds, mortgages, discharges, assignments, land contracts and liens indexed under the owner's name with the Register of Deeds
- Federal court records matched to the owner
Not covered here
- Judgments and court cases that are not recorded with the Register of Deeds are not searched.
Questions
Are judgments recorded with the Wayne County Register of Deeds in Detroit?
Judgments and court cases that are not recorded with the Register of Deeds are not searched.
What does a HeritageDeed search in Detroit not cover?
Documents are tied to the property by their legal description or address; any tied only by the owner's name are marked.
Is this title insurance?
No. It is a search of the public record for one Detroit property. A lender closing a loan will still require a title insurance commitment from a licensed insurer.
More about Detroit property records
Check the title of a Detroit property
AI title search, $49 per report. Usually ready in about a minute. Full refund if we can't deliver.