How to check for liens on a property in McDowell County, NC

In McDowell County, liens and lis pendens recorded against a property are in the McDowell 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 deed of trust also needs a recorded satisfaction to be off the title. A HeritageDeed report does this for one address in McDowell County: $49, usually within minutes, with the source of every finding.

Search a McDowell County property, $49

Step by step in McDowell County

1
Identify the parcel
Find the owner of record and the parcel number in the McDowell County Tax Office records: liens are indexed against the owner's name and the property.
2
Search the recorded liens
Search the McDowell County Register of Deeds index under the owner's name and the property for liens, lis pendens and other notices.
3
Check the court for judgments
Judgments are docketed with the Judgments are docketed with the Clerk, not with the McDowell County Register of Deeds; search the owner's name there too.
4
Check every deed of trust
A deed of trust with no recorded satisfaction is still a lien of record; North Carolina gives the lender 30 days after the creditor receives full payment (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 45-36.9).
5
Or order the report
A HeritageDeed report runs these searches for one McDowell County address and lists every finding with its source, $49, usually within minutes.

What McDowell County records show

In North Carolina, deeds and other real property documents are recorded by the county Register of Deeds. A recorded conveyance is effective against lien creditors and purchasers only from the time of its registration (G.S. 47-18), so the order of recording decides priority.

A North Carolina home loan is secured by a deed of trust. The lender must submit a satisfaction for recording within 30 days after payoff (G.S. 45-36.9), so a loan with no recorded satisfaction is still a lien of record.

Judgments are docketed with the Clerk of Superior Court, not the Register of Deeds, and a docketed judgment is a lien on the debtor's real property in the county for ten years (G.S. 1-234).

What the report checks in McDowell County

Liens and other notices recorded with the Register, listed as name matches to verify
Federal court records matched to the owner

Not covered here

Judgments, and the liens, estates and wills kept by the Clerk of Superior Court, are not searched.

Questions

Are judgments recorded with the McDowell County Register of Deeds in McDowell County?

Judgments are docketed with the Clerk of Superior Court, not the Register of Deeds, and a docketed judgment is a lien on the debtor's real property in the county for ten years (G.S. 1-234).

How long does a lender have to record a satisfaction in North Carolina?

30 days after the creditor receives full payment (N.C. Gen. Stat. § 45-36.9). Statutory duty to submit the satisfaction for recording.

What does a HeritageDeed search in McDowell County not cover?

The Register's index is searched by the owner's name; documents are tied to the property by their description, and any tied only by the name are marked.

Is this title insurance?

No. It is a search of the public record for one McDowell County property. A lender closing a loan will still require a title insurance commitment from a licensed insurer.

More about McDowell County property records

Check the title of a McDowell County property

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