Real Estate Title Search: Understanding Records, Transfers and Tax Assessments

A real estate title search is the step that protects your purchase before you sign. It traces ownership history, flags liens, and surfaces any claims that could complicate your closing. Skipping it — or rushing it — costs buyers far more than the search fee itself. This guide explains what the process covers, why real estate transfers and real estate records matter, and how a real estate tax assessment connects to the picture.

You can expect a standard search to take three to five business days for residential property. Complex parcels with multiple owners or boundary disputes can run two weeks. Knowing what real estate results you’re looking for going in helps you read the report without getting lost in legal language.

What a Title Search Actually Covers

A real estate title search pulls data from county recorder offices, court dockets, and municipal databases. Researchers check the chain of title — every recorded transfer of ownership going back 40 to 60 years depending on state requirements. Each link in that chain must be clean for closing to proceed.

Real estate records include deeds, mortgages, easements, mechanic’s liens, and lis pendens filings. Any of these can affect your right to use, sell, or refinance the property. The search also looks at real estate transfers to confirm the current seller actually holds title and has the legal authority to convey it.

Common Title Defects Found During a Search

Unpaid contractor liens appear in roughly 8% of residential title searches. Judgment liens attached to a prior owner’s name show up even after real estate transfers have closed. Unreleased mortgages — where a loan was paid off but never formally discharged — are another frequent finding.

When a defect surfaces, your closing attorney or title company issues a requirement: fix it before funding, or obtain title insurance coverage that specifically excludes or insures around the issue. Most defects are curable within the existing closing timeline.

Real Estate Tax Assessment and How It Affects Title

A real estate tax assessment determines the taxable value of a property each year. Unpaid property taxes become a lien that attaches to the property itself, not just the owner. That means you can inherit a tax debt through a sale if the search misses it.

The title search cross-checks the county tax rolls to confirm real estate tax assessment payments are current through the most recent billing cycle. If the seller owes back taxes, those amounts get prorated and resolved at closing. Any delinquency older than one year may require a tax certificate redemption, which can take 30 days or more to clear.

Real estate results from the tax records section also tell you whether any special assessments — for street improvements, sewer connections, or stormwater systems — have been levied. These run with the land and become your responsibility after closing.

Reading Your Title Report

Title search findings arrive as a preliminary title report or title commitment. The document lists Schedule A — the basic facts of the transaction — and Schedule B exceptions, which are items the insurer will not cover. Read Schedule B closely. It shows you what real estate records revealed that fall outside standard coverage.

Real estate results in this section often include easements, CC&Rs, and rights-of-way. These are not defects. They’re conditions that affect how you can use the property. A utility easement across the rear 10 feet, for example, means you cannot build a permanent structure in that strip.

Bottom line: A thorough real estate title search takes time, but it’s the most reliable way to know what you’re buying. Review the report with your attorney before you waive any contingencies, and confirm the real estate tax assessment balance is zero at closing.