Confirming the true owner before a mechanic's lien or an assessment lien
Before a mechanic's lien or an assessment lien is filed, one report identifies the owner of record from the recorded deed, quotes the vesting and the legal description, and lists every mortgage, lien and recorded notice against the property, verified with the recorder and the courts, so the lien names the right party and the right land.
The person who hired you is often not the owner of record: a tenant, a general contractor or a property manager, while title is vested in an LLC, a trust or a couple whose names appear nowhere on the contract. A lien that names the wrong party is the kind of defect the other side's attorney looks for first.
Lien statutes are exacting about identity and description, and they differ from state to state. Who must be named, how the property must be described and how notice must be given are set by each state's law. The research supplies the record those rules depend on: the recorded owner, the recorded description and the instruments already against the parcel.
For an HOA, the owner changes without the association knowing. A sale closed, a deed into a trust was recorded, a foreclosure finished, or an owner died and the heirs have not recorded anything. An assessment lien recorded against a former owner raises questions that are far cheaper to settle before recording than after.
We identify the owner of record from the recorded deed, quote the vesting, and report whether the owner has changed since the project started. Who must be named and notified under your state's lien law is a question for your construction attorney. The report gives the recorded answer to who owns the land.
A lien against the manager's name, or against the trustee personally, may not describe the owner the recorder shows. We report the entity or trust exactly as it appears on the deed and the Secretary of State record for the entity as informational, so the filing uses the owner's name as recorded.
Before the board records, we confirm who holds title to the unit or lot today, whether a sale, a deed into a trust, a foreclosure or a death has changed the owner since the account went delinquent, and what mortgages and liens already sit against it. The report makes sure the lien is aimed at the owner of record.
We pull the recorded legal description, compare it against the plat, the prior deeds and the assessor's parcel, and report each discrepancy with the instruments attached. Whether the lien can be amended, and by when, is a matter of state law for counsel. The report supplies the recorded description to work from.
A mechanic's lien attaches to the property, so it has to identify the property and its owner as the public record shows them, not as the contract describes them. Lien statutes vary by state in who must be named and notified, but all of them depend on the recorded owner and the recorded description.
No. Filing deadlines, notice requirements, forms and service rules are set by each state's lien law. The report does not state them. It supplies the recorded facts those rules depend on: the owner of record, the vesting, the legal description and the encumbrances already against the parcel.
The report shows every conveyance recorded against the parcel since the date you give us, with the deed image, so you know whether the owner at the time of the contract and the owner today are the same. Which of them a lien must name is a matter of your state's law for counsel.
Yes. Each lot or unit is a separate report at the package price, ordered together or one at a time. List the parcels in the order and note that the purpose is an assessment lien. If the list is long, email office@ustitleresearch.com first and we will confirm in writing how to place the orders.
No. Every order is confidential. The owner, the general contractor, the lender and anyone else connected to the property are never contacted or notified, and your company's or association's identity is never disclosed. The report is delivered only to the ordering email address, with the order number in the subject line.
The real estate law firm package is $695 per property, paid at checkout, and turnaround is 1 to 3+ days, depending on the county and the complexity of the records. You enter your deadline when you order. If it cannot be met, we tell you in writing before work begins.
Yes. Every recorded mortgage, deed of trust, judgment lien, tax lien, prior mechanic's lien and recorded notice found against the property and its owners is listed in recording order with its release status and recording reference. How those liens rank against yours is a question of state law for your attorney.
Describe your situation in a few sentences. We reply in writing with the package that fits, or tell you if none does.