How To Find Liens On A Property Or Person? Find Some Helpful Tips Here.

This article and post explain some helpful tips in looking up or checking on property and personal liens filed with the recorder and clerk’s office.

Property shopping and the big decisions that come with it can be overwhelming.  Maybe you are ready to buy a property or simply want to know if your home has a lien on it. There are some things to consider when looking up lien records on real estate or property and property owners.

Real Estate and personal lien records are not always public records or online for that matter. The records may only be available to a licensed Abstractor, title company, or real estate attorney, depending on the relevant county and state laws. (Various types of liens can be viewed on this page: Types of property liens). If lien and judgment records are available to the public in a certain state or county, the county recorder’s website or clerk’s office may offer searches for these records indexed online searched and obtained by name searches, lot and block, parcel number, or street address. In some cases, a free search may be offered by the county website and documents can be obtained for a fee. Other counties offer monthly or yearly subscriptions for high-volume users. These recorded documents and records will typically be referenced by book and page (Book/Page), instrument numbers, or grantee and grantor.

Personal liens are different from property liens as they are filed or recorded against the individual or business. Also known as a general lien first, and eventually finding their way and attaching to the individual or entity property as collateral or leverage used by the debtor. These types of Liens are usually filed by a federal or state tax authority or in the form of a judgment issued by a court as an opinion, decision, or ruling.

It is worth noting that during an asset search on an individual or entity, one must consider potential superior liens on the assets owned by the individual/entity before making decisions about whether or not to pursue the collection of a debt to you or your company.  The end game is to perform optimum due diligence by utilizing valid and trusted resources before property acquisition or asset recovery efforts.