Understanding Land and Property Records

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Understanding Land and Property Records
Ron Nixon Minneapolis Star Tribune Western Knight
Center for Specialized Journalism April 20,2005
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• Land records exist to do four or five basic
  things
• Identify the owner.
• Identify anyone with claims against that land,
  including lenders, utilities and the taxman.
• Ensure building standards are met.
• Determine permissible uses of that land.
• Establish the exact location of a piece of
  property.

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Grantor/grantee record An index that shows
alphabetically who sells or transfers the
property (grantor) to the buyer or recipient
(grantee). Shows if owner mortgaged property.
Shows if there are notice of defaults or liens
(claims) against the property and if they have
been released. The indexes give the book and page
number for where the actual documents are
located. Basic use Finding owners, sellers,
borrowers, lenders, claims and business or
individuals whose finances are going bad.
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Deeds Quitclaim, warranty and deed of trust.
Quitclaim is just transfer, not sale. Not proof
or ownership. Warranty says owner does own the
property. Deed of trust is really
mortgage document. Basic uses Helps in tracking
who owns it, possible straw buyers, and loans on
property.
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Tax lien index Show any tax liens filed against
the property. Basic use Finding out owners, who
owes money, property used for loans and what
businesses are going bad.
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Uniform Commercial Code filings Documents
showing personal property (equipment, etc.) for
which loans have been taken out. Lenders file.
Good way to find assets of a company. Maps Legal
descriptions allow you to track the history of
the land and to find exactly the land owned.
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Tax assessments- real property Has name and
address of owner being assessed taxes and
the amount the owner should pay. Basic uses
Finding out who owns property by street address,
parcel number, or legal description. Tax
assessments - personal or unsecured property
Lists property and assessment for cars, boats,
planes, equipment. Basic uses Finding out what a
business or individual owns other than buildings
and land and indicating its value.
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Remember that assessed value is not necessarily
appraised value. Disparity in assessments of the
same kind of property is a huge issue everywhere.
Appeals board, board of equity Place where
owners appeal property assessments. Basic use
Finding out if there is favoritism in appeals and
decisions.
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Tax collection records Individual records
telling if property owners have paid taxes on
time or at all. Basic use First stop in
backgrounding public officials and businessman to
see if they are paying. Tax delinquent file
Usually a separate file on late payers. Basic
use Reporting who isn't paying taxes and
indicator of businesses or individual
finances going bad. One of the first files to get
when you hit town.
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Zoning maps Shows commercial, residential, rural
and other kinds of zoning. Basic use Not helps
identify where business and residential buildings
are supposed to go, but shows uncontrolled
development and political influence. Zoning
applications for changes Critical zoning
documents. Change usually increases value of the
property. Basic use See where changes are being
made, whether they violate "the master plan" for
the community (the overall plan), and who
benefited from the change.
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Application records Applications to build or add
onto a building. Basic use Tracking development
and change in the community that might be missed
in legal notices.
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Legal notices Notice of zoning changes, of
defaults (failure to pay mortgages or loans) and
other land issues. Basic use Way to track
changes in communities and the individuals and
businesses whose finances are going bad.