Property Deed Search: Find the Deed to Any Property

Recorder indexes are built on the names of the parties, so a deed search by address takes 2 lookups. The assessor turns the address into the owner's name and parcel number. The recorder's grantor and grantee index then turns that name into the deed. The grantor is the party who conveys, and the grantee is the party who receives.

The record keepers say so themselves. Florida's statute sets out the fields of the online recorder index, and an address is not one of them. Los Angeles County indexes by name and year and keeps the index offline. Tennessee's state archive says it cannot search a deed by address at all. Some counties do add parcel number or address search to their online systems, so check the county site before you assume either way.

The working route from an address:

1. Assessor or appraisal district. Search the address to get the parcel number and the assessed owner's name.
2. Recorder's grantee index. Search that name as grantee. The newest conveyance into that name is the vesting deed.
3. Match the land. Compare the legal description on the deed with the parcel. A common name can return deeds to other land.
4. Search forward. Search the same name as grantor for anything recorded after the vesting deed. A later deed, a deed into a trust or a foreclosure changes the answer.

If the deed names an LLC or a trust and you need the people behind it, that is an ownership question rather than a deed question. See property owner search.

A recorded deed shows 6 things: the grantor, the grantee, how title is held, the legal description, the signing and recording dates, and the instrument or book and page number. It shows the transfer on that date only. It says nothing about loans or liens recorded against the land.

• Grantor and grantee. The seller or transferor, and the buyer or receiver.
• Vesting. The exact form of ownership: one person, a married couple, joint tenants, tenants in common, a trust or an entity. This decides who must sign the next deed.
• Legal description. Lot and block, metes and bounds, or a government survey description. The street address on a deed is a convenience; the legal description is what conveys.
• Recording stamp. The instrument number or book and page and the recording date. These are the citations every later search and report uses.
• Signature and notary blocks. Who signed, in what capacity, and before whom.

The type of deed tells you what promise came with the land:

Florida's recording act puts quitclaim grantees on the same footing as other buyers: Fla. Stat. 695.01(2) deems them bona fide purchasers without notice within the meaning of the recording acts.

You get a copy of your deed from 1 office: the recorder, register of deeds or clerk in the county where the property sits. Search the index under your name as grantee, note the instrument or book and page number, then order a plain or certified copy. Online images serve for reading; a court or agency usually wants certified.

• Plain copy. A printout or download of the recorded image. Many counties offer these online; fees are set by each county.
• Certified copy. A copy the recorder certifies as true and correct. Use it when a court, lender, agency or title company asks for proof. In Florida, information retrieved electronically from the recorder's website is not admissible in court as an authenticated document unless otherwise provided by law, under Fla. Stat. 28.2221(4).
• Offline counties. Where the index is not online, you search in person or by request. Los Angeles County runs its index searches at its Norwalk headquarters and does not take telephone requests for index searches.

If you only need a copy of one recorded document, the county or a document retrieval service is the direct route. The Title Search & Asset Equity Analysis is for when the copy is not enough and you need to know what else is recorded.

A deed leaves out 4 things buyers and lenders most need: the mortgages and liens on the property, any deed recorded after it, the earlier chain that gave the grantor title, and anything never recorded. A deed is one link in a public record. Reading it alone answers who received title on that date, not who holds clear title today.

• Liens and loans. Mortgages, deeds of trust, judgments, tax liens and lis pendens are separate recordings. A deed search walks past them. See property lien search.
• Later recordings. Online indexes can lag the recording desk, and a newer deed may already exist.
• The earlier chain. A wild deed, an unprobated estate or a grantor who never held title sits behind the current deed. See chain of title.
• Unrecorded transfers. Recording is what makes a deed count against later buyers and creditors. Under Fla. Stat. 695.01(1), a conveyance or mortgage of real property is not good against creditors or subsequent purchasers for value and without notice unless it is recorded according to law.

A deed search finds documents. A title search reads them together: the chain of deeds, every encumbrance recorded against the parcel, and the releases that cleared the paid ones. Pick by the question you need answered.

If a lender or closing team has asked for an owner and encumbrance report rather than a deed, see owner and encumbrance report. If they need a policy, no records report replaces title insurance.

Most people who need a single deed can get it from the county. The people who order the Title Search & Asset Equity Analysis need the deed read in context, usually because money or a court filing depends on it.

• Attorneys and paralegals confirming vesting before a lien, a lis pendens or a quiet title filing names the right parties.
• Private lenders confirming the borrower is the grantee of record. See title search for hard money lenders.
• Heirs and estate representatives finding how a parent held title and whether a deed into a trust was ever recorded.
• Buyers of tax-defaulted and foreclosure property reading the trustee's or sheriff's deed and what came before it. See title search for foreclosure auction buyers.
• Judgment creditors checking whether the debtor is still on title. Finding what the debtor owns in the first place is the judgment collection asset search and the $295 Creditor-Status Profile.

The report examines one property and the person or entity that owns it, and arrives as a printable PDF. The deed content:

• Copy of the current deed and all recorded document images, retrieved even when the county has not digitized them
• Title search and transfer history (grantor and grantee), as far back as the county’s records go
• Transaction history: transfers with prior mortgage and sale information
• Legal description and vesting, with easement appurtenant detail where recorded
• Owner's legal name, nicknames and aliases

And what a deed search alone does not give you:

• Property lien report: voluntary and involuntary liens, lis pendens and judgments filed against the property
• First and second mortgages, including lines of credit, with lien and mortgage releases
• Individual profile report on the owner, a bankruptcy search, and judgments, criminal records and court records
• Parcel, zoning and flood maps; building permits, recorded easements and a full state-specific analysis

The full list is on the Title Search & Asset Equity Analysis page. Not included: bank or brokerage balances, a title insurance policy, an opinion on marketability, or certified copies.

1. Identify the property. Street address, or the assessor parcel number if there is no street address, with the county and state.
2. Tell us the context. The owner's name if you know it, the purpose of your matter, and any deadline. If we cannot meet your deadline, we will reach out to you.
3. Pick a format. Expanded Title Search with Asset Equity Analysis, Individual/Entity Asset Equity Analysis, or Preliminary Title Report with Schedules, $595 for every option.
4. Receive the PDF. Delivered in 1 to 5 days, depending on complexity and county.

Sources. Public records and licensed databases: county recorder and clerk indexes for deeds, mortgages, assignments, liens, releases and easements; Secretary of State filings for entities that hold title; and court records for judgments, pending cases and bankruptcy. Every finding carries the document number of the record where it was found, and the property owner is never contacted. References on this page, read on October 20, 2026: Fla. Stat. 28.2221 and Fla. Stat. 695.01 on the Florida Senate site; the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder real estate records page; and the Tennessee Secretary of State deed records page. More on the firm is on the about U.S. Asset Records page.

Published October 20, 2026 by U.S. Asset Records. Prices and delivery times on this page are current as of that date.

Property Deed Search Questions

Order the Deed and Everything Recorded Against It

$595 flat per property, delivered in 1 to 3+ days, depending on the county and complexity. The current deed and vesting, the chain of deeds behind it, every mortgage, lien and judgment matched to its release, and the owner behind the name.