Documents can be searched online 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, by using the Google Chrome browser and visiting LandmarkWeb.
If copies of documents are desired, click on “Log On” in the top right-hand corner to create a new account. You may then search the Indexes using any of the icons from the home screen or one of the popular searches under the Quick Search option.
Results matching the search criteria entered will be displayed towards the bottom of the screen. Results can be opened up to fully view the Index, images will not be displayed. To obtain a copy of a document, place it in the shopping cart and then check out using a credit card.
Trying to establish a chain of title and not sure how to do so? Follow the below guidelines.
Document Search Tips
If you are trying to establish a chain of title it may be easiest, to begin with, the current owner and then search for previous, historical owners of the property starting with the date of the latest filing (deed). Locate the present owner’s deed and then identify the seller listed on the deed (the previous owner). Repeat this same process of finding the last, previous owner in order to identify all of the historical transactions for the property until you find the original patent or deed. You may also use the opposite process by starting with the patent and then tracing ownership forward. This process can take a great deal of time and patience.
Each deed is recorded in the Grantor and Grantee indices according to the date it was recorded (which is not necessarily the date the deed was issued or signed).
Once a “chain of title” or ownership is established, search for the owner(s) name in the index. Any deeds transferring easements, mineral rights, etc., should be notated. You should view a photocopy of the deed for specific details. While indexing information is found on our website, the image is not. You must visit our office to view images.
A shortcut for easements or rights-of-way is to check the last warranty deed for any reference to these or other restrictions. Most deeds list restrictions as “except easements, covenants or other restrictions of record”, which means you have to conduct a search to discover what, if any, are recorded.
Additionally, if the property is in a subdivision (duly platted and recorded), easements may be shown on the plat copy in the Recording office. This does not apply to property not subdivided.
Our records are not cumulative, but rather chronological; and that an easement or right-of-way may have been granted at any time by any of the previous owners.
A sample “chain of title” is shown below:
- Date of Sale: 03/26/1998 Buyer: Grey, Maxwell Seller: (current owner)
- Date of Sale: 07/14/1979 Buyer: Grey, Maxwell Seller: Brown, Harriet
- Date of Sale: 05/30/1962 Buyer: Brown, Harriet Seller: Tom & Mary Hill
- Date of Sale: 09/14/1925 Buyer: Hill, Tom & Mary Seller: Foxglove, Rupert
- Date of Sale: 01/01/1882 Buyer: Foxglove, Rupert Seller: United States of America
Now that you know the names of all of the owners and the time periods which they owned the property (Tom & Mary Hill, Sept. 14, 1925 to May 30, 1962), you are ready to search the “Grantor” indices, looking for any easements, covenants, etc., which they may have “granted” while they owned the property.
Images prior to 1994 must be viewed on a microfilm reader and require an in-person visit to the Recording office.
