Builders, developers and land acquisition teams
Land development title due diligence for every parcel in the deal: chain of title, recorded plats, access and utility easements, restrictions, mineral reservations and the entity that actually holds title, researched together so the problems between parcels show before the contingency period closes.
An assemblage is only as strong as its weakest parcel. Five of six lots can be clean while the sixth has a strip of road frontage still vested in a dissolved partnership, a recorded restriction that bars the intended use, or a utility easement running through the building pad. The site plan treats the land as one piece. The record does not.
Access is the question that stops a project. A parcel that fronts a platted but unopened street, a shared drive with no recorded easement, or a rear lot reached across a neighbor for decades by habit may have no recorded access at all. Finding that after earnest money goes hard is expensive, and finding it after closing is worse.
Severed minerals and entity ownership add two more layers. A mineral reservation in an old deed may carry rights of surface access that depend on its wording and on state law. Title held by an LLC, trust or partnership raises its own questions: who holds the interest today, how it was acquired and whether every link in the entity's chain was recorded. None of this shows on a plat or an assessor's card.
Every package starts from the same in-depth standard. This one adds the research your situation needs.
A PDF report by email, delivered only to the ordering address. The subject line shows the order number, never the project name, a parcel number or an address.
Page 1 carries your stated deadline and purpose, for example the contingency date and the intended use of the land, followed by the plain-language summary across the whole assemblage: what we found, what it means and what to do next. One section per parcel follows, then the exhibits, one recorded instrument per page, each as a document image with its recording reference.
The report is research, not a survey, a title commitment or a legal opinion. It shows what the county record contains for each parcel so your attorney, engineer and surveyor start from the documents rather than from assumptions. Questions after delivery are answered free, in writing. One complimentary update is available within 12 months on request, for example before a closing date that moved.
Six lots, four owners, one site plan. We research each parcel to the same depth and report them side by side: who holds title, how each was acquired, what burdens each one and where the recorded legal descriptions leave an apparent gap or overlap. A vacated alley or an unopened platted street between lots is reported with the instrument that created it.
The driveway has been used for thirty years, but nothing in the record grants it. We report every recorded access instrument touching the parcel and its neighbors, the platted rights of way and whether a street shown on the plat was ever dedicated or opened, so you know what exists on paper before you negotiate an easement.
The vesting deed names an LLC, a family partnership or a trust. We report the conveyance history into that entity, any deed out of it, and the Secretary of State record as informational, so you know who the record says can sign and whether a prior transfer from that entity was recorded at all.
A reservation buried in a conveyance from decades ago can still control who owns what is under the site. We quote the reservation from the recorded deed, attach the image and report any later conveyance of the mineral estate found in the county index. Whether the reservation still affects your use is a question for your attorney under state law, and the report gives you the instruments to ask it.
Every parcel in the deal gets the full in-depth standard: chain of title as far back as the county records go, document images for each key instrument, findings verified with the assessor, tax office, recorder and courts, recorded easements, building permits and a state-specific analysis. Added for builders and developers are the parcel-by-parcel matrix, recorded plats, access and utility easements, restrictions, mineral reservations and entity ownership, with a plain-language summary across the whole assemblage.
The first parcel is $995 and each additional parcel in the same order is $495. A parcel is one separately described tract or tax parcel, even when several are held by the same owner. For assemblages over 5 parcels, email office@ustitleresearch.com with the parcel list and county and we reply in writing with a custom quote before any work begins.
A parcel number, address or legal description for each tract, with the county and state, your deadline and the intended use of the land. Existing deeds, prior title reports, plats or surveys can be uploaded with the order and help us match the legal descriptions to the record quickly. If all you have is a plat and a list of owner names, we start there.
The report shows every recorded access instrument we find: easements for ingress and egress, platted rights of way, dedications and whether a platted street was ever opened. Whether that record amounts to legally sufficient access for your project is a determination for your attorney, and the report is not a survey. It gives you the recorded documents to make that call.
Each reservation or severance found in the chain is quoted word for word from the recorded instrument, with the document image and recording reference attached, followed by any later conveyance of the mineral estate found in the county index. Whether a reservation remains effective and what surface rights it carries varies by state and by the wording of the deed, so the report presents the instruments and leaves the conclusion to your attorney.
We report the vesting deed into the entity, the conveyance history before it and any deed out of it, all as document images from the county record. The Secretary of State record for the entity is included as informational only, since it is not an official title record. Certified copies of entity filings come from the Secretary of State, and the report identifies what to request.
Yes. Every order is confidential. No owner, neighbor, lender or anyone else connected to any parcel is contacted or notified, and your company's identity is never disclosed. When an assemblage depends on no seller learning that the surrounding lots are under contract, the research itself leaves no trace with them.
Turnaround is 1 to 3+ days, depending on the county and the complexity of each parcel's records. You enter your deadline when you order, and if it cannot be met for the number of parcels submitted we tell you in writing before work begins. Parcels in several counties are researched in parallel and delivered as one report.
If your matter changes shape, one of these usually applies next.
A preliminary report with schedule-style exceptions and print-ready exhibits for your matter.
$695 per property
1 to 3+ days
View packageKnow the total cost to own, which liens survive the sale and whether to bid at all.
$395 for 1 property
1 to 3+ days
View package