State records guide

Property title search in Delaware

Facts below are taken from Delaware statutes and official sources, each linked, each checked on the date shown. General information, not legal advice.

What a Delaware title search has to account for

Where are Delaware deeds recorded?

Delaware keeps land records in 3 county offices, one each for New Castle, Kent and Sussex; section 9601 provides for a recorder in each county, and section 9605 has the recorder record deeds, mortgages, releases of mortgages, leases, assignments, powers of attorney relating to land and the other instruments the section lists.

The report traces the chain of title as far back as the county's records go, with document images of the key instruments, and verifies findings with the assessor, tax office, recorder and courts.

How does a Delaware mortgage foreclosure work?

Delaware forecloses mortgages in court by an old writ. Section 5061, subject to the provisions of sections 5062A to 5062D, lets the mortgagee, on breach of a mortgage condition, sue out of the Superior Court of the county where the premises lie a writ of scire facias upon the mortgage.

For a bidder at a sheriff's sale, an auction title report reports the foreclosing lien's position and the liens that would survive, in dollars, for the bidder's attorney.

What happens when Delaware property taxes go unpaid?

Delaware has more than one tax sale procedure. Section 8729 covers real estate sold under the monition subchapter: the owner may redeem within 60 days from the day the court approves the sale by paying the purchaser the purchase price plus 15 percent and the costs of the case.

In Kent and Sussex counties, subchapter IV adds a separate route. Section 8771 lets the tax collecting authority sell the lands of a delinquent taxpayer without first using other remedies, and under section 8776 no deed is made until 1 year from the time of sale, within which the owner or the owner's heirs, executors or administrators may redeem by paying the costs, the purchase money with 20 percent interest, and the expenses of the deeds. The report verifies tax sales and redemptions with the tax office and states the surviving liens, taxes and assessments in dollars.

How does Delaware title pass at death or on divorce?

A probate title search finds the decedent's property by name and reports vesting at death, how title passes, including joint tenancy, a trust or a life estate, and the liens to pay.

Divorce follows equitable division. Section 1513 has the court, on request of either party, equitably divide, distribute and assign the marital property in the proportions it finds just after weighing the statutory factors, and lets it impose a lien or charge on the marital property assigned to a party as security for the payment of alimony. The report states the recorded deed or order it finds, and an attorney reads the effect.

Why does a Delaware community association lien matter?

Section 81-316 of the Delaware Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act gives the association's statutory lien priority over a first or second security interest recorded before the assessment became delinquent, for an amount not exceeding the customary common expense assessment for 6 months under the association's periodic budget. For that priority the association must have recorded, in the county where the community is located, a document with its name and contact details, and must also have recorded the further filing the section requires not less than 30 days before the sheriff's sale of a unit.

The report states any recorded association document or lien filing it finds, and the bidder's attorney reads its effect.

Which package fits a Delaware property?

Every package covers Delaware property wherever it is recorded. Pick by situation:

• Probate law firm: Find every property a decedent held, how it was vested and what has to be paid before it passes. $595 per estate.
• Real estate law firm: A preliminary report with schedule-style exceptions and print-ready exhibits for your matter. $695 per property.
• Builders and developers: Multi-parcel research on access, easements, restrictions, mineral reservations and entity ownership. $995 first parcel.
• Auction buyer: Know the total cost to own, which liens survive the sale and whether to bid at all. $395 for 1 property.
• Home buyer: Confirm the seller owns the home and learn what has to be cleared before you pay. $449 per property.
• Home seller: Find the old mortgage, judgment or name mismatch before a buyer's title company does. $449 per property.

Questions about a title search in Delaware