Whether you’re buying, selling, or assisting someone else who is buying property, or you’re searching for information on someone, real estate title search software can offer a wealth of information you may not find elsewhere.

A property records search can be an extremely important tool for many legal professionals. You might not think about property records very frequently. But having these records actually gives you a range of information that can help you understand more about both a piece of land and the person who owns the parcels of land or claims to own them. Property search software and property search tools can help you find this information quickly. Here are a few use cases of property records to consider for your agency.

Use public property records to help someone buy a home

Do you regularly assist individuals with purchasing land, a home, or commercial property? Even if your primary area of practice isn’t real estate law, it’s actually fairly common for a lawyer or other legal professional to help someone with buying real estate because it’s a very complicated legal procedure.

When you’re helping someone make this type of huge purchase, you want to have as much information as you can about the property they’re buying. Skip tracing with a public records search engine or property data software that includes address lookup in their address search results can help you get that ownership information.

• Buying a property is a huge undertaking, and you want as much information as you can get about the transaction
• If you’re able to verify information with a third party and get the right documents, you’re more likely to get a good deal and not fall victim to a scam
• With the right public property records search software, you may find it easier to purchase a home for a client

Verify information before selling a home with the best property records search software

What about on the other end of things? It can be just as dangerous to sell a home without the right information as it is to buy one. This is especially true if you’ve agreed to represent someone or sell their home for them. You need to make sure the information you have about that person’s home is true.

Do you know how to search for property owners? Instead of just trusting their word, title companies and others working in real estate can use a public search engine to perform searches like an address search and verify the information you’re receiving. Real estate property database software and land record software can retrieve additional information not available in public searches.

• Selling a home requires as much investment and thought as buying a home, and it may even require more
• When you sell a home for someone else, you need to make sure that person has the right to sell it and is giving you truthful information
• A public records search engine can help you verify the information you’re receiving from the purported seller by providing you with documents

Is there a lien on the property?

Nobody likes unpleasant surprises, but a lien can cause problems if there is one that no one knows about ahead of time. Many can prevent someone from selling their property until it is paid in full to remove the lien. Most buyers don’t want to buy a property with a lien, and lenders will likely not approve any loans for one. So it’s important to find out ahead of time if there is a lien, how many, and the total dollar amount of any liens.

An owner may disclose a lien on the property, be unaware of a lien, or conveniently “forget” to mention one. Having a lien can make selling a property much more difficult, and more expensive for a buyer. Recorded or voluntary liens like mortgages and tax liens are usually disclosed by the seller and visible in the public record for the property. But unrecorded or involuntary liens are not visible in the public record, such as:

• Outstanding charges for utilities
• Unpaid fees for certifications, open building permits and inspections
• Unpaid charges from a city or county for services such as pest control, overgrown weeds, or boarding up an abandoned structure
• Special assessments for neighborhood and property enhancements such as road paving, sidewalk repairs, and sewer hookup
• Code violations stemming from issues such as structural problems, overgrown lawns and debris

This is where real estate title search software can really show its value. That’s why Tracers’ real estate search engine software can help. Using Tracer’s property title search software, a municipal lien search can uncover involuntary and unrecorded liens before they endanger the sale or purchase of a property.

Use property tax records to uncover hidden assets

Property can sometimes be an extremely valuable asset, especially for estate planning and probate law. If you’re working for a collections agency that needs to seize someone’s assets or handling a divorce case where the partners are supposed to split assets equally, a person might try to hide this property to unlawfully keep certain assets to themselves. If you have access to a public records search engine, you can discover these hidden assets with an asset search and incorporate them into your calculations. Adding property search software to your due diligence can give you the information you need to find all of a person’s assets.

• Although you want to be able to rely on the information people give you, they can try to hide crucial information at times.
• When you’re handling asset recovery or transfer, it’s extremely important to know all the assets someone has.
• You can use a public records search engine to verify information rather than relying on an individual to tell you about all their assets.

Find out someone’s background information with property records

Whether you’re doing due diligence to manage corporate risk or working with law enforcement to help catch a criminal, uncovering background information can be an extremely important part of your job. Traditionally, this mostly has to do with someone’s criminal record, but property records can actually help you understand more about someone’s background and ask the right questions. With property records, you can get reporting of where the person has moved, permits, the year they moved, property payments, whether they’ve rented or owned homes in the past, links to other properties, and much more.

• Background information isn’t limited to just information about whether the person has committed crimes before
• Property records can give you access to information about someone’s past, including their property habits
• That’s why you need a comprehensive public records search engine that can help you find that information

How can Tracers help you discover more using property records?

You can find public property records in many places. When you’re trying to figure out where you should get your property records, you shouldn’t just think about whether you can access the records you’re looking for. You should also consider the structure that will deliver you the property records after it all. Tracers’ real estate property search software will help you do that more effectively.

From individual searches on the people you’re investigating to batch processing that can help you run through hundreds of profiles at once, Tracers gives you options to use property records more effectively. That’s why so many legal professionals are Tracers users. They trust Tracers property research software to deliver the data they need when they need it.

More information

What is a property records search?

A property records search can be an extremely important tool for many legal professionals. Although you might not think about property records very frequently, these records actually contain considerable information that can help you understand more about a piece of land, the person who owns the land, or who simply claims to own it.

What do I need to run a property records search?

A property records search can be performed by anyone who has access to a public records search engine. Legal professionals, collections agencies, and law enforcement are all examples of people who can do a property records search.

What does a property records search reveal?

If you’re a legal professional assisting someone in buying or selling a home, a property records search can reveal and verify information about the home. A property records search can also help you discover property assets, as well as understand more about someone’s background – such as their property habits.

What do I need to run my own property records search?

To start running your own property records searches, you will need access to a public and private records database like Tracers. From individual searches on people you’re investigating to batch processing that can help you run through hundreds of people at once, Tracers gives you options to use property records more effectively to find needed information.