To search the grantor-grantee index, pick the side that matches what you’re looking for: the grantor index lists people who transferred a property interest, and the grantee index lists people who received one. Look up the full legal name in the county where the property sits, note the reference numbers next to each entry, and use those numbers to pull the full recorded documents. A complete search almost always means checking both sides for the same person, because anyone who bought a property will show up as a grantee on the way in and as a grantor when they later sell, refinance, or grant an easement.
Grantor or Grantee: Pick the Right Side First
The grantor gives up a property interest. In a sale, that’s the seller. The grantee receives one. In a sale, that’s the buyer. Those labels stay consistent across every document filed at the county recorder’s office, but the practical meaning shifts by transaction type.
When a homeowner takes out a mortgage, the homeowner is the grantor, because they’re granting a security interest to the lender. The lender is the grantee. This trips people up, since the homeowner isn’t “selling” anything. The index doesn’t care about the economic direction of the deal; it only tracks who gave an interest and who received one.
Search both indexes as a matter of course. A single owner will appear as grantee when they acquired the property and as grantor when they encumbered or transferred it. Skipping one side risks missing a recorded lien or unresolved claim that still affects the title.
What to Gather Before You Start
A name-based index is only as useful as the name you feed it. Three pieces of information make the difference between a productive search and a dead end:
- The full legal name of the person or entity, including middle names, suffixes like Jr. or Sr., and any former names.
- The county where the property sits. Records are filed at the county level, so the wrong county returns nothing.
- A rough timeframe for the transaction. This lets you narrow which index volume or date range to open.
Name variations cause more failed searches than anything else. Older records were handwritten, and clerks often recorded names phonetically. A property owner named “Schneider” might appear as “Snyder” in an 1890s ledger. Build a short list of plausible alternate spellings before you begin. Courts have recognized this problem through a doctrine called idem sonans, which holds that a name written inaccurately can still identify the right person if the two spellings sound alike. The doctrine cuts both ways, though: a misspelled name in the index may not provide effective public notice to future buyers, which is how these errors turn into real title problems.
Corporate entities and trusts are another stumbling block. A company doing business as “Lakewood Homes” might be recorded under its legal name, “Lakewood Development LLC.” Checking the entity’s registration with the Secretary of State confirms the exact name on file. Older records also use Latin abbreviations that still appear regularly. “Et Ux” means “and wife.” “Et Al” means “and others,” signaling that additional owners exist beyond the one named in the entry.
Where the Index Lives
Every county maintains an official repository of recorded property documents, usually overseen by the County Recorder, Register of Deeds, or County Clerk, depending on the jurisdiction. That office is the permanent home for deeds, mortgages, liens, and every other instrument affecting title to land in the county.
Most counties now offer digital portals where you can search the index and view scanned images of original documents from home. Free search access is common, though some jurisdictions charge for downloads, prints, or high-volume use. Copies typically run a few dollars per page, with certified copies costing slightly more. Online systems generally cover records from the mid-to-late twentieth century forward, which handles most modern transactions.
Older records still exist on microfilm reels or in large bound ledger books stored at the county seat. Physical access is open to the public during business hours, and staff can usually point you to the specific room or terminal where the grantor-grantee indexes are shelved. Long ownership histories often require time in both the digital system and the physical archives.
Running the Search
In a Physical Office
Decide which side of the index to open. If you’re tracing someone who sold or transferred property, pull the grantor index. If you’re tracing someone who bought or received an interest, pull the grantee index. Grab the bound volume covering the correct year range and flip to the alphabetical tab matching the surname’s first letter.
Within each letter group, names appear alphabetically, though entries under the same name are typically listed in the order they were recorded. Each entry shows the recording date, both parties’ names, the document type, and reference numbers pointing to the full instrument. Scan each entry carefully. Skipping one because the middle initial doesn’t match could mean missing a relevant deed.
On an Online Portal
Online systems simplify the process with search fields where you type the last name followed by the first name. Most let you filter by document type or narrow the date range. Some support wildcard characters, usually an asterisk, to catch spelling variations. If an initial search returns hundreds of results for a common surname, adding a middle name or tightening the date range will cut the list to something manageable.
Recording the Reference Numbers
Once you find the right entry, note the reference numbers the index provides. Older systems use book and page numbers pointing to the physical location of the document in the county’s archives. Newer systems assign a unique instrument number or document ID. Either way, those numbers are what you need to pull up the full document or request a certified copy from the clerk.
Reading the Results
Each line in the index is shorthand pointing to a full recorded document. The useful fields are the document type, the recording date, the names of both parties, and the reference code.
Document type abbreviations vary by county but follow common patterns. WD typically means warranty deed. QCD means quitclaim deed. MTG signals a mortgage. REL or SAT indicates a release or satisfaction, meaning a prior mortgage or lien has been paid off. Recognizing these codes lets you sort a long result list quickly and zero in on what matters.
The index is a finding aid, not a substitute for reading the actual document. It tells you a deed exists and where to find it, but the full instrument contains the legal description of the property, the purchase price or loan amount, any conditions or restrictions, and the signatures of the parties. Always pull the complete document before drawing conclusions about ownership or encumbrances.
Check Whether Your County Uses a Tract Index Instead
Not every county relies on the grantor-grantee index exclusively. Some maintain a tract index, which organizes records by the property itself rather than by the names of the parties. Each parcel gets its own page or file, and every document affecting that parcel is listed chronologically in one place.
The practical difference is significant. In a grantor-grantee index, you reconstruct a property’s history by linking names together, hopping from one owner to the next across separate index entries. In a tract index, you look up the parcel number and see the entire history on one page. Tract indexes also make it easier to spot a deed recorded outside the normal chain of ownership, which can be nearly invisible in a name-based system.
The grantor-grantee index remains the standard in most counties. If you’re searching an unfamiliar jurisdiction, assume that’s what you’ll find, but check the recorder’s website first. If a tract index is available, searching by parcel number or legal description will be faster and more reliable than searching by name.
Pitfalls That Hide Recorded Documents
Name Errors and Misspellings
A misspelled name in the index can effectively hide a recorded document. If a judgment creditor files a lien under “Johnson” when the property owner’s name is “Jonson,” a searcher looking under the correct spelling won’t find it. Courts have generally held that the burden falls on the person filing the document to get the name right, not on future searchers to guess every possible misspelling. A careful searcher still tries common variations, especially for names with multiple accepted spellings.
Wild Deeds
A wild deed is a recorded deed that can’t be connected to the chain of title because a prior deed in the sequence was never recorded. Suppose Owner A sells to Owner B, but B never records. B then sells to Owner C, who does record. C’s deed sits in the index, but no searcher working backward from the current record would ever find it, because the link between A and B doesn’t exist in the public record. Courts uniformly hold that wild deeds don’t provide constructive notice. In a name-based index this problem is especially hard to catch: if a name in the chain simply doesn’t appear as a grantee, the trail goes cold.
Liens and Lis Pendens
The index captures more than deeds. Judgment liens, tax liens, and mechanic’s liens all appear as recorded interests against a property owner’s name. A judgment lien typically attaches to a debtor’s real property once a court judgment is recorded with the county recorder, and it often reaches any property the debtor later acquires in that county as well.
A lis pendens is a recorded notice that a lawsuit involving the property is pending. It doesn’t mean the owner has lost anything yet, but it warns the public that the title might change depending on how the case ends. Finding a lis pendens during a search is a serious red flag. Lenders are reluctant to finance a property carrying one, and any buyer who proceeds despite the notice takes the property subject to whatever the court ultimately decides.
When to Hand It Off to a Professional
Searching the grantor-grantee index yourself works well for quick lookups: confirming when a property last sold, identifying the current owner, or checking whether a mortgage has been released. For anything involving a purchase, a refinance, or real money on the line, hire a professional.
Title companies and real estate attorneys do this work daily. They know where the traps sit: the misspelled name three owners back, the unreleased mortgage from a lender that went bankrupt years ago, the easement buried in a document recorded under a corporate name nobody would think to search. An untrained eye can easily overlook or misunderstand a filing that turns into a major liability after closing.
Most mortgage lenders require a professional title search and a lender’s title insurance policy before funding a loan. Owner’s title insurance, which protects the buyer rather than the lender, is optional but covers defects that even a thorough search can miss: forged documents, undisclosed heirs, and clerical errors in the public record. The cost is a one-time premium paid at closing.