State records guide
Property title search in Missouri
Facts below are taken from Missouri statutes and official sources, each linked, each checked on the date shown. General information, not legal advice.
A Missouri title search starts with the Recorder of Deeds in one of 114 counties or the independent City of St. Louis. Deeds of trust foreclose by trustee's sale or by suit. Most tax sales produce a certificate of purchase before any collector's deed, and a recorded beneficiary deed can move land at death without probate.
What a Missouri title search has to account for
| Where deeds are recorded | There is an office of recorder in each Missouri county, styled the Office of the Recorder of Deeds. Source: RSMo 59.010, checked 2026-11-06. |
|---|---|
| Recording jurisdictions | Missouri has 115 counties and county equivalents: 114 counties and the City of St. Louis, an independent city outside any county that is considered a county equivalent. Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Missouri state and local geography guide, checked 2026-11-06. |
| Mortgage foreclosure process | A Missouri deed of trust may be foreclosed by suit or, at the holder's option, by a trustee's sale conducted in the same manner as a mortgage with power of sale. The trustee's sale is conducted as a sale under a power of sale, and the trustee's deed is what moves title in the record. Source: RSMo 443.410, checked 2026-11-06. |
| Redemption after a mortgage foreclosure sale | Redemption after a Missouri trustee's sale exists only when the holder of the debt, or someone buying for the holder, is the purchaser. The grantor or the grantor's heirs or assigns must give written notice at the sale or within ten days before the advertised date, must redeem within one year from the date of the sale, and under a related section must give security within a set time after the sale. Source: RSMo 443.410, checked 2026-11-06. |
| Delinquent property tax sales | Land that drew no bid covering the taxes, interest, penalty and costs at two successive annual sales goes to a third offering, which sells to the highest bidder, for no less than those sums, with a ninety-day redemption period, and a certificate of purchase issues. A purchaser at a sale after the third offering is entitled to immediate issuance of a collector's deed with no period of redemption. Source: RSMo 140.250, checked 2026-11-06. |
| Redemption after a tax sale | After a first or second offering, the owner, a lienholder or an occupant has an absolute right to redeem during the one year next ensuing after the sale, and keeps a defeasible right to redeem until the tax sale purchaser acquires the deed. Source: RSMo 140.340, checked 2026-11-06. |
| Transfer-on-death deed | A Missouri owner may record a beneficiary deed that expressly states it takes effect only at the owner's death. If it is executed and recorded with the recorder of deeds for the city or county where the land lies before the owner dies, the interest passes to the named grantee beneficiary at death, with no consideration and no delivery required, subject to the revocation and other rules in the chapter. Beneficiary deed rules in Missouri, the state's transfer on death deed, RSMo 461.025, section by section. Source: RSMo 461.025, checked 2026-11-06. |
| Marital property system | The statute linked provides for division of marital property in just proportions: in a dissolution the court sets apart each spouse's nonmarital property and divides the marital property and marital debts in the proportions it finds just. Missouri community property and spousal joinder rules, section by section. Source: RSMo 452.330, checked 2026-11-06. |
| Condominium lien priority | Under the Missouri condominium statute, the association's assessment lien has limited priority over a deed of trust recorded before the assessment became due, capped at six months of common expense assessments under the periodic budget, counted back from the petition to enforce the lien or the date of the lender's sale. The priority does not apply against a purchase money deed of trust recorded before August 28, 2014, and the association loses it if it forecloses nonjudicially under chapter 443. Source: RSMo 448.3-116, checked 2026-11-06. |
Which office holds Missouri land records?
The Recorder of Deeds. Section 59.010 creates an office of recorder in each county, styled the Office of the Recorder of Deeds. The Census Bureau counts 114 counties and the City of St. Louis, an independent city outside any county, and the beneficiary deed statute speaks of the recorder of deeds for the city or county where the land lies.
Judgments follow a different rule. Section 511.350 makes circuit court judgments liens on the debtor's real estate in the county where the court is held, without a separate recording, so they are searched in the court's records. 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 Missouri deed of trust foreclose?
Two ways. Section 443.410 lets the holder of the debt sue, or have the trustee sell the land in the same manner as a mortgage with power of sale. In a trustee's sale the trustee's deed, not a judgment, moves title in the record.
The right to redeem after a trustee's sale is narrow and conditional. Section 443.410 allows it only when the holder of the debt, or someone buying for the holder, is the purchaser. The grantor or the grantor's heirs or assigns must give written notice at the sale or within ten days before the advertised date, and must redeem within one year from the date of the sale. Section 443.420 adds that no one may redeem without that notice and without giving security, to the satisfaction of the circuit court, within twenty days after the 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 does a Missouri tax sale leave behind?
In most counties the county collector sells delinquent land and the buyer at a first or second offering receives a certificate of purchase. Counties that elect the Land Tax Collection Law under section 141.230, in full or as a partial opt-in county, follow its procedures, and section 92.700 lets the City of St. Louis elect its own. Under section 140.250, land that drew no bid covering the taxes, interest, penalty and costs at two successive annual sales goes to a third offering, where it sells to the highest bidder for no less than those sums, with a ninety-day redemption period. A purchaser at a sale after the third offering is entitled to immediate issuance of a collector's deed, with no period of redemption, on the conditions the section states.
A first or second offering leaves a wider window. Section 140.340 gives the owner, a lienholder or an occupant an absolute right to redeem during the one year next ensuing, and a defeasible right until the purchaser acquires the collector's deed. Section 140.410 has the purchaser pay later taxes and record a deed within eighteen months from the sale, or the amount due ceases to be a lien. The report verifies tax sales and redemptions with the tax office and states the surviving liens, taxes and assessments in dollars.
How does Missouri real estate pass at death?
Missouri authorizes a beneficiary deed. Section 461.025 says a deed that expressly states it takes effect only on the owner's death transfers the interest to the named grantee beneficiary at death if it was executed and recorded with the recorder of deeds for the city or county before the death, with no consideration and no delivery required. Section 461.033 lets the owner revoke or change the designation during life, with all joint owners' agreement where there are joint owners.
A probate title search finds the decedent's property by name and reports vesting at death, how title passes, including joint tenancy, a beneficiary deed, a trust or a life estate, and the liens to pay. The report states the recorded beneficiary deed and any later instrument it finds, and an attorney reads the effect.
Why do divorce decrees and condominium assessments matter in Missouri?
Section 452.330 has the court set apart each spouse's nonmarital property and divide the marital property and marital debts in the proportions it finds just, and it says a certified copy of a decree affecting title may be filed for record with the recorder of deeds by the clerk of the court. The report states the recorded deed or judgment it finds, and an attorney reads the effect.
Section 448.3-116 gives the condominium association's lien limited priority over an earlier recorded deed of trust, capped at six months of common expense assessments under the periodic budget, counted back from the petition to enforce the lien or the date of the lender's sale. The priority does not reach a purchase money deed of trust recorded before August 28, 2014, and the association forfeits it if it forecloses nonjudicially under chapter 443. Recording the declaration constitutes record notice and perfection of the lien, so no separate claim of lien need be recorded, and the lien is extinguished unless proceedings to enforce it begin within three years after the full amount becomes due. The report states any recorded association lien it finds, and the balance is confirmed with the association.
Which package fits a Missouri property?
Every package covers Missouri 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 Missouri
Where are deeds recorded in Missouri?
With the Recorder of Deeds. Section 59.010 creates an office of recorder in each county, and the beneficiary deed statute refers to the recorder of deeds for the city or county where the land lies. Missouri has 114 counties and the independent City of St. Louis. Judgments become liens in the county where the court is held without a separate recording, so the search also covers court records.
Can a Missouri homeowner redeem after a trustee's sale?
Only in a narrow case. Section 443.410 allows redemption when the holder of the debt, or someone buying for the holder, purchases at the sale. The grantor or the grantor's heirs or assigns must give written notice at the sale or within ten days before the advertised date, give security to the circuit court's satisfaction within twenty days after the sale under section 443.420, and redeem within one year.
How long is the redemption period after a Missouri tax sale?
After a first or second offering, section 140.340 gives the owner, a lienholder or an occupant an absolute right to redeem during the one year next ensuing, and a defeasible right until the purchaser acquires the collector's deed. A third offering carries a ninety-day period, and a sale after the third offering carries none. Counties under the Land Tax Collection Law and the City of St. Louis may follow other procedures.
What does a recorded beneficiary deed mean for a Missouri title search?
It can name who takes the land at the owner's death. Section 461.025 says a deed that expressly states it is not to take effect until the owner's death transfers the interest to the named grantee beneficiary at death, if it was executed and recorded with the recorder of deeds before the owner died. The owner may revoke or change the designation during life under section 461.033, so the report states any later recorded instrument it finds.
What rule divides Missouri property on divorce?
Section 452.330 has the court set apart each spouse's nonmarital property and divide the marital property and marital debts in the proportions it finds just. It also says a certified copy of a decree affecting title may be filed for record with the recorder of deeds by the clerk of the court. The report states the recorded deed or judgment it finds, and an attorney reads the effect.
Does a Missouri condominium association lien come ahead of the mortgage?
Partly. Under the Missouri condominium statute the association's lien has limited priority over an earlier recorded deed of trust for up to six months of common expense assessments under the periodic budget, counted back from the petition to enforce the lien or the lender's sale date. It does not apply against a purchase money deed of trust recorded before August 28, 2014, and the association loses it if it forecloses nonjudicially under chapter 443.