Title Search and Examination of Public Records
Search versus examination
Searching is retrieving documents from the public record; examining is the legal judgment about what those documents mean for title. The search builds the chain of title by working backward through the grantee index to a chosen starting point (often a root of title or a set number of years) and then forward through the grantor index for each owner in the chain. The examiner then checks related records: probate and estate files, divorce decrees, corporate filings and assumed names, bankruptcy, federal and state tax liens, judgment dockets, mechanic's lien records, subdivision plats, and the survey.
Concepts to know
The effective date of a title commitment is not the closing date - a bring-down or update search is required to cover the gap. A title plant is a privately maintained index of recorded instruments. Constructive notice comes from properly recorded documents in the chain; inquiry notice arises from facts that would prompt a reasonable investigation. Documents recorded outside the chain of title - before the seller acquired title, or after the seller had already conveyed - do not ordinarily affect a subsequent purchaser.
Typical traps
Searching only the grantee index or only one name; missing a document recorded in the gap between the search date and closing; running judgment searches only from the date of acquisition rather than the entire period of ownership (and against prior owners whose judgments may attach); common surnames producing indexes that must be read carefully; and assuming a recorded plat or restrictive covenant is unimportant because it is old. Examiners must also flag requirements (things that must be cured before the policy issues) separately from exceptions (matters the policy will not insure).
Rule of thumb
"Back to build the chain, forward to catch the strays." For each owner, ask: what did they receive, what did they give away, and what attached to them while they held title?