Davidson County Property Records in Tennessee

A Davidson County title search examines the recorded chain of deeds at the Davidson County Register of Deeds to confirm who owns a property and how title is held, identifies every open deed of trust and lien, confirms that paid deeds of trust have been released, searches for judgments and tax liens registered against the parties, and surfaces easements, restrictions, and any recorded foreclosure. Because Tennessee is a notice state in which a money judgment liens property only once it is properly registered, and because the deed, the deed of trust, and the registered judgments live in different indexes, a reliable title search confirms exactly what is registered and when, and combines the Register of Deeds records with the Metropolitan Property Assessor and the Metropolitan Trustee data. You can search the assessor and Register of Deeds yourself for basic information, but a complete examination that confirms the parcel, verifies deed of trust releases, and surfaces registered judgments is what catches an unreleased loan or a judgment lien. U.S. Title Records performs the full search and delivers it by email, with the Expanded Title Search ($375) as the most comprehensive option.

Tennessee’s recordation tax is made up of two separate taxes that often apply to the same closing. The first is the realty transfer tax, charged when a deed is recorded at the rate of thirty-seven cents per one hundred dollars, based on the greater of the consideration paid or the value of the property, so on a Davidson County home it is calculated on the purchase price. The second is the indebtedness tax, almost always called the mortgage tax, charged when a deed of trust or other instrument evidencing a debt is recorded, at the rate of eleven and one-half cents per one hundred dollars of the indebtedness, with the first two thousand dollars of the loan exempt. The mortgage tax is paid by the debtor to the Register of Deeds, and it is a tax on the lending instrument itself rather than on the transfer, which means it can apply even when the underlying transfer is exempt. There is also a title implication worth knowing: outside of Uniform Commercial Code filings, a secured lender’s lien is generally entitled to priority only up to the amount of indebtedness on which the mortgage tax was actually paid, so the tax paid and the protected loan amount are connected. Both taxes are reflected in the recorded deed and deed of trust, which a title search reviews. U.S. Title Records retrieves the recorded instruments and the stated amounts in the Deed Copy ($45) and the Property Detail Report ($29).

Tennessee foreclosures are non-judicial, meaning they happen out of court. Because a Tennessee home loan is secured by a deed of trust that places legal title with a trustee and grants a power of sale, a lender that is owed money can foreclose without filing a lawsuit. In practice the lender appoints a substitute trustee, who advertises a trustee’s sale by publishing a notice of sale in a newspaper in the county where the property lies, once a week for three consecutive weeks, and then conducts a public sale at the courthouse, where the property is sold to the highest bidder and a trustee’s deed is delivered to the buyer. Because there is no court case, the process can move comparatively quickly, and the documents that signal it, the deed of trust, any appointment of a substitute trustee, and the notice of sale, are recorded or published rather than filed in a lawsuit. Tennessee law does provide a statutory right of redemption that would let the former owner buy the property back within a set period after the sale, but that right can be waived in the deed of trust, and most Tennessee deeds of trust do waive it, so in the typical residential case there is no redemption once the trustee’s sale is complete. For a buyer at a trustee’s sale, the foreclosing deed of trust’s priority and any liens that survive the sale are decisive. U.S. Title Records identifies open deeds of trust, releases, and recorded foreclosure notices in the Full Owner Lien Report ($195).

Nashville and Davidson County share a single consolidated government, the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, which was one of the earliest city-county consolidations in the country, so there are not separate city and county recording offices. Real property documents, including deeds, deeds of trust, releases, and liens, are recorded with the Davidson County Register of Deeds, which serves the entire county. Ownership and parcel information, including the parcel number and assessed value, is maintained by the Metropolitan Property Assessor, and property taxes are billed and collected by the Metropolitan Trustee. Money judgments must be registered to become liens on real property, so they are checked where they are registered. For a complete picture of a Davidson County property, all of these need to be read together, which is what a professional search does. Because the records are public but spread across several offices, ordering a single report that consolidates them saves time and reduces the chance of missing something. U.S. Title Records combines the Register of Deeds, the assessor, the trustee, and the registered judgments and delivers the result by email, starting at the Property Detail Report ($29).

Tennessee uses a few main deed types, and which one was used affects how much protection the buyer received. The general warranty deed offers the strongest protection, because the grantor warrants the title against all claims, whether they arose during the grantor’s ownership or before it. The special warranty deed, sometimes called a limited warranty deed, warrants the title only against claims arising from the grantor’s own period of ownership, which is common in transfers by entities, estates, and some commercial sales. The quitclaim deed conveys whatever interest the grantor has, if any, with no warranties at all, and is used between family members, to clear a possible cloud on title, or to transfer into or out of a trust or entity. Separate from these conveyance deeds is the deed of trust, which despite its name does not transfer ownership in the ordinary sense but is a security instrument that places title with a trustee to secure a loan. A title search notes the deed type in the chain because a string of quitclaim deeds, or a special warranty where a general warranty was expected, can be a reason to look more closely. U.S. Title Records identifies the deed type and retrieves the recorded deed in the Deed Copy ($45) and traces the full history in the Chain of Title ($275).

Pricing is the same in Davidson County and across all 95 Tennessee counties: Property Detail Report $29, Deed Copy $45, Title Search by Name $75, Lien Report $95, Full Owner Lien Report $195, Chain of Title $275, and Expanded Title Search $375. The $29 report is the quick ownership, parcel, and value check, the $195 report is the recommended due-diligence search that includes the registered judgments and foreclosure picture, and the $375 Expanded is the full title examination with chain and deed of trust release verification. There is no account, subscription, or commitment, one fee per property, delivered as a PDF by email. See the full schedule of fees. BBB A+ since 2009.