Preliminary title report question

Understanding Property Liens: What Your Preliminary title report will reflect.

Dear Douglas,

Thank you for your follow-up question about our Preliminary title report services. I appreciate the opportunity to clarify what information is included in your Full Property Lien Report for Clark County, Washington, and what additional searches might be beneficial.

Types of Liens That May Not Appear in County Records

While your Preliminary Title Report provides comprehensive information about liens recorded with the Clark County Auditor, there are several situations where liens might exist but not appear in these records:

• Improperly recorded judgments: Sometimes judgments against property owners technically represent a lien but aren’t properly recorded or indexed by the county
• Data entry errors: Human error in indexing documents can result in liens not appearing in standard database searches
• Statutory liens: Certain liens exist by law regardless of recording (such as homeowners association assessment liens)
• Recent judgments: There may be a time lag between when a judgment is issued and when it appears in county records

How Title Professionals Handle These Scenarios

In most cases, these “hidden” liens are discovered during the final stages of a professional title search when a closing agent issues a title commitment. If they’re discovered after closing, a title insurance policy typically covers such defects.

Supplementing Your Property Lien Report

The “personal liens” section in your report should show judgment liens against the property owners. However, for maximum thoroughness, we recommend also conducting searches using the owner’s name through our Individual Profile Report service.

Many of our experienced real estate investors order a combination of property and name-based reports for complete due diligence. As a courtesy, I’d be happy to run an Individual Profile Report for the property owner(s) at no additional cost.

About U.S. Title Records

U.S. Title Records specializes in providing fast, convenient title research and information services. While many seasoned investors use our reports to conduct their own transactions, we always recommend working with a certified title company and purchasing title insurance for any property acquisition.

Next Steps

Please let me know if you would like us to run the complementary Individual Profile Report on the property owner or if you have any other questions about your Clark County property search.

Best regards,

Jeannie B.
Client Services
www.USTitleRecords.com