Who owns the bridge?

[Rooty1]

Thanks so much, I will phone the title company today.

Just spoke with the title company. They are refusing my request to purchase a title search and told me I must seek the advice of an attorney. How can that be?

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

They do not do that kind of work.

 

[Rooty1]

They do not do that kind of work.

A property title search is the process of retrieving documents evidencing events in the history of a piece of real property to determine relevant interests in and regulations concerning that property.

Anyone may do a title search. Documents concerning conveyances of land are a matter of public record.

Reports are issued by a title insurance company.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

No law requires them to take every customer. Many limit their service to standard residential and commercial transfers. The paper trial is easy to follow and the money is good. They are looking to make a profit on every job. Why don't you go to the county recorder of deeds and do the legwork yourself. You will find out why they declined.

A property title search is the process of retrieving documents evidencing events in the history of a piece of real property to determine relevant interests in and regulations concerning that property.

Anyone may do a title search. Documents concerning conveyances of land are a matter of public record.

Reports are issued by a title insurance company.

 

[Rooty1]

No law requires them to take every customer. Many limit their service to standard residential and commercial transfers. The paper trial is easy to follow and the money is good. They are looking to make a profit on every job. Why don't you go to the county recorder of deeds and do the legwork yourself. You will find out why they declined.

Thanks! The first title company said I must own the property before I can order a chain of title. That doesn't pass the smell test.

The second title company said an attorney can order a Litigation Guarantee. He is checking on pro per litigants. All I want is a chain of title. I have no idea where to begin to search at the county's recorder of deeds office. I have a plat map with the bridge; can I just show them that and then hope they lead me in the right direction? Sorry I do not know more

 

[quincy]

You should be able to do a records search at your county clerk's office.

 

[quincy]

If it is a commercial link that requires paying a fee (and, again, I haven't checked it out), you might want to first see if your county has a website. You can check to see if records are available online.

 

[Rooty1]

If it is a commercial link that requires paying a fee (and, again, I haven't checked it out), you might want to first see if your county has a website. You can check to see if records are available online.

My county is still in the dark ages; no records are available online. I think I'll take a trip to visit the recorded of deeds office myself.

 

[quincy]

My county is still in the dark ages; no records are available online. I think I'll take a trip to visit the recorded of deeds office myself.

Sounds like a plan.

Good luck.

 

[tranquility]

Thanks! The first title company said I must own the property before I can order a chain of title. That doesn't pass the smell test.

The second title company said an attorney can order a Litigation Guarantee. He is checking on pro per litigants. All I want is a chain of title. I have no idea where to begin to search at the county's recorder of deeds office. I have a plat map with the bridge; can I just show them that and then hope they lead me in the right direction? Sorry I do not know more

It is not as easy to do a search as you might suspect. I remember having to go to the recorder and do a search as part of my Property class. It is slow and iterative and hard. It is nowhere near as simple as looking up the seller's name to see if he had title. Unless you are retired and are willing to spend some time in study to see how to do the search and then a lot more time in actually doing the search in a file system that is bizarrely complex to a person used to Google, find a title company to do the search. (Maybe, just hire a property attorney to do it--who will probably farm it out to the title company.)

The trick title companies have is that they have done many searches before and have access to larger company's data bases who have done many searches before. They don't have to go all the way back to the beginning as they have confidence in many titles as of some earlier period. (And a record of the chain.) For you to be sure, you have to search all the way back to the patent. For them, many times they have confidence in a title up to the last transfer and only have to do a search from there.

For more, see:

http://enesop.xyz/tafylow.pdf

 

[Rooty1]

It is not as easy to do a search as you might suspect. I remember having to go to the recorder and do a search as part of my Property class. It is slow and iterative and hard. It is nowhere near as simple as looking up the seller's name to see if he had title. Unless you are retired and are willing to spend some time in study to see how to do the search and then a lot more time in actually doing the search in a file system that is bizarrely complex to a person used to Google, find a title company to do the search. (Maybe, just hire a property attorney to do it--who will probably farm it out to the title company.)

The trick title companies have is that they have done many searches before and have access to larger company's data bases who have done many searches before. They don't have to go all the way back to the beginning as they have confidence in many titles as of some earlier period. (And a record of the chain.) For you to be sure, you have to search all the way back to the patent. For them, many times they have confidence in a title up to the last transfer and only have to do a search from there.

For more, see:

http://enesop.xyz/tafylow.pdf

Thanks, the title company is refusing to do a chain of title search. I am retired and plan to go to the county today. I will need to go back at least 100 years to find what I am looking for

 

[Zigner]

Thanks, the title company is refusing to do a chain of title search. I am retired and plan to go to the county today. I will need to go back at least 100 years to find what I am looking for

Are you saying that when you offered to pay the additional money they refused?

 

[Rooty1]

Are you saying that when you offered to pay the additional money they refused?

YES, they said I had to own the property in question to order a search.

 

[quincy]

YES, they said I had to own the property in question to order a search.

I think you are smart to head to the county. Most record searches will not be done for you by the county (or city/township/agency/whatever), even for a fee, unless the search has been narrowed and defined sufficiently. Your search parameters, in other words, are probably too large.

A search firm can cut down the time for you to find what you want, but it can get costly. That said, I agree with tranquility that records searches of any kind can often be time-consuming and tedious. Good luck.