Michigan Property Records: How to Search Deeds, Liens, and Title Statewide

Yes. Michigan property records are public documents. Deeds, mortgages, land contracts, and liens are recorded with and maintained by the Register of Deeds in the county where the property is located, and anyone may search the grantor-grantee index or obtain a copy, in person, online through the county, or through a professional report. Ownership and assessed-value information is public and is held by the local city or township assessor, and recorded judgment liens attach to real property in the county. The main practical points are that value is set by the local assessor at 50 percent of market as the State Equalized Value, that taxable value uncaps when the property transfers, and that a land contract can leave legal title with a seller. U.S. Title Records compiles the public record into one report from $29.

The fastest way to find the current owner of a Michigan property is the local city or township assessor for the community where the property sits, which lists the owner of record by address along with the parcel and the assessed and taxable value. To confirm legal ownership and how title is held, the most recent recorded deed in the Register of Deeds is the controlling record, and it will show whether the property is held by an individual, a married couple, a trust, or an entity such as an LLC. One Michigan wrinkle is the land contract: if the property was sold on a land contract, the seller may still hold record title while the buyer holds an equitable interest, so a reliable answer reads the deed record and checks for a recorded land contract. A Property Detail Report ($29) combines the assessor’s owner with the recorded vesting deed, and a Title Search by Name ($75) finds every property tied to a given person or entity across Michigan. Property owner search.

A Michigan title search reads the chain of recorded deeds in the Register of Deeds to confirm ownership and how title is held, identifies any recorded land contract, identifies open mortgages, searches for recorded judgment liens and construction liens, checks for federal and state tax liens, and reviews the local assessor for value and tax status. Because Michigan uses land contracts that can separate legal and equitable title, judgment liens are recorded with the Register of Deeds, and a foreclosure by advertisement carries a redemption period, a reliable search reconciles the Register of Deeds, the local assessor, and the court records. You can do much of this yourself through the county and the assessor, but the land-contract question, the recorded judgment liens, and the foreclosure-and-redemption timeline are where a professional search earns its keep. U.S. Title Records performs the full examination from $29, with the Expanded Title Search ($375) as the most comprehensive option.

A land contract is a form of seller financing that is common in Michigan, and it works differently from a mortgage in a way that matters to title. Under a land contract, sometimes called a contract for deed, the buyer agrees to pay the purchase price in installments over time and takes possession of the property, but the seller keeps legal title until the buyer completes the payments, at which point the seller delivers a deed. The buyer holds what is called an equitable interest in the meantime. With a mortgage, by contrast, the buyer takes legal title at closing and gives the lender a mortgage as a lien, so the buyer owns the property from day one, subject to the loan. The practical consequences for a records search are real: under a land contract, record title can remain in the seller’s name for years, a lien against the seller can affect the property, and if the buyer defaults the seller can pursue forfeiture or foreclosure of the land contract. A recorded land contract or memorandum gives notice, and it also uncaps the property’s taxable value. U.S. Title Records identifies recorded land contracts and confirms who holds title in the Full Owner Lien Report ($195).

Michigan allows a lender to foreclose without going to court, through a process called foreclosure by advertisement. If the mortgage contains a power of sale, the lender publishes a foreclosure notice in a local newspaper for several weeks, posts notice on the property, and then sells it at a sheriff’s sale, all without filing a lawsuit, though judicial foreclosure through the courts is also available. The feature that surprises many people comes after the sale: Michigan law gives the borrower a statutory redemption period, commonly six months for owner-occupied residential property and longer for certain property such as abandoned or larger parcels, during which the borrower can redeem the property by paying the sale price plus interest and costs. Until that redemption period expires, the winning bidder at the sheriff’s sale holds a sheriff’s deed but does not have clear title or the right to possession, and the property can still be redeemed. For a buyer or a researcher, the recorded mortgage, the sheriff’s deed, and the redemption deadline are the documents that matter, and catching a foreclosure still within its redemption period before closing is essential. U.S. Title Records flags open mortgages and foreclosure status in the Full Owner Lien Report ($195).

A deed and a title are related but not the same. A deed is a physical, recorded document that transfers ownership of real property from a grantor to a grantee, and Michigan uses the warranty deed, the covenant deed, and the quitclaim deed depending on how much the grantor warrants. Title, by contrast, is the legal concept of ownership itself, the bundle of rights to possess, use, and dispose of the property; it is not a single document but a status established by the chain of recorded deeds. You take title to a property by receiving and recording a deed, and a title search examines the full chain of deeds and other recorded instruments, and in Michigan also any recorded land contract and judgment liens, to ensure the seller holds clear title. In short, the deed is the instrument; the title is the ownership it conveys. U.S. Title Records retrieves the deed in the Deed Copy ($45) and examines the title in a title search.

Pricing is the same in every Michigan county: 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 recorded judgment liens, land contracts, and tax status, and the $375 Expanded is the full title examination with chain and discharge verification. There is no account, subscription, or recurring charge, one flat fee per property, delivered as a PDF by email. See the full schedule of fees. BBB A+ since 2009.

A standard Michigan title search typically examines the chain of title back about 40 to 60 years, which is generally enough to establish a marketable chain and surface the mortgages, land contracts, judgment liens, and defects that matter for a current transaction. A full chain of title can go back much further, to the original federal land patent, and is assembled when a transaction or a legal matter requires it, such as a quiet-title action, an estate, a boundary or easement dispute, or a property with a complicated history. How far the records reach in practice depends on the county; Michigan Register of Deeds records can extend back well over a century, though older documents are more likely to require retrieval from physical liber and page books. U.S. Title Records traces the full conveyance history in the Chain of Title ($275).