· AFX Research
How to Read a Title Search Report
A section-by-section walkthrough of your title search report: vesting, legal description, open mortgages, liens and judgments, tax status, and the document copies behind it all.
Your report arrives by email, usually within 2-3 business days for an in-person search — often same-day for a current owner report. Here’s how to read it the way an examiner does: section by section, verifying as you go.
1. Vesting: who holds title
The report opens with the current owner’s name exactly as recorded, and how title is held — individually, jointly, in a trust, or under an LLC. Check it against your purchase contract or the party you’re dealing with. A mismatch isn’t automatically a problem, but it’s always a story you need resolved before closing: a divorce, a death, a transfer into a trust nobody mentioned.
2. The legal description
This is the parcel as the county defines it — lot and block, metes and bounds, or a recorded map reference, along with the assessor’s parcel number. Confirm it matches the property you think you’re buying. Street addresses lie: they change, they repeat across county lines, and a listing photo can sit on two parcels while the deal covers one.
3. Open mortgages and deeds of trust
Every open security instrument, abstracted with the lender, original amount, and recording reference. Two things to watch: a mortgage you expected to see missing (was it really paid off, or just not recorded properly?), and open HELOCs — a credit line with a zero balance is still a recorded lien until it’s formally closed and reconveyed.
4. Liens, judgments, and other encumbrances
Mechanics liens, judgment liens, HOA assessments, and state or federal tax liens, each with its amount and document number. This section is the negotiation agenda: every open item needs a payoff, a release, or a plan before money changes hands.
5. Tax status
Whether property taxes are current, due, or delinquent. Unpaid taxes follow the property, not the seller — and in most states they outrank everything else on this list.
6. The document copies
Every AFX report includes a full set of copies of all open and pertinent documents. This is the part too many people skip. The abstract summarizes; the recorded instruments are the ground truth. Because each item carries its recording date, book, and page, you — or your attorney — can verify any line of the report at the source.
The sixty-second first pass
Before reading deeply, make three quick checks: the vesting matches the seller, the legal description matches the parcel, and the count of open items matches what was disclosed to you. If anything surprises you, that’s what full customer support is for — call or write us and we’ll walk through the report with you.
Ready to put one in your inbox? Order your title search online in a few minutes.