1. Understanding Land and Property Records Ron Nixon Minneapolis Star Tribune Western Knight Center for Specialized Journalism April 20,2005

2.  Land records exist to do four or five basic things:  Identify the owner.  Identify anyone with claims against that land, including lenders, utilities and the taxman.  Ensure building standards are met.  Determine permissible uses of that land.  Establish the exact location of a piece of property.

3. Grantor/grantee record: An index that shows alphabetically who sells or transfers the property (grantor) to the buyer or recipient (grantee). Shows if owner mortgaged property. Shows if there are notice of defaults or liens (claims) against the property and if they have been released. The indexes give the book and page number for where the actual documents are located. Basic use: Finding owners, sellers, borrowers, lenders, claims and business or individuals whose finances are going bad.

4. Deeds: Quitclaim, warranty and deed of trust. Quitclaim is just transfer, not sale. Not proof or ownership. Warranty says owner does own the property. Deed of trust is really mortgage document. Basic uses: Helps in tracking who owns it, possible straw buyers, and loans on property.

5. Tax lien index: Show any tax liens filed against the property. Basic use: Finding out owners, who owes money, property used for loans and what businesses are going bad.

6. Uniform Commercial Code filings: Documents showing personal property (equipment, etc.) for which loans have been taken out. Lenders file. Good way to find assets of a company. Maps: Legal descriptions allow you to track the history of the land and to find exactly the land owned.

7. Tax assessments- real property: Has name and address of owner being assessed taxes and the amount the owner should pay. Basic uses: Finding out who owns property by street address, parcel number, or legal description. Tax assessments - personal or unsecured property: Lists property and assessment for cars, boats, planes, equipment. Basic uses: Finding out what a business or individual owns other than buildings and land and indicating its value.

8. * Remember that assessed value is not necessarily appraised value. Disparity in assessments of the same kind of property is a huge issue everywhere. Appeals board, board of equity: Place where owners appeal property assessments. Basic use: Finding out if there is favoritism in appeals and decisions.

9. Tax collection records: Individual records telling if property owners have paid taxes on time or at all. Basic use: First stop in backgrounding public officials and businessman to see if they are paying. Tax delinquent file: Usually a separate file on late payers. Basic use: Reporting who isn't paying taxes and indicator of businesses or individual finances going bad. One of the first files to get when you hit town.

10. Zoning maps: Shows commercial, residential, rural and other kinds of zoning. Basic use: Not helps identify where business and residential buildings are supposed to go, but shows uncontrolled development and political influence. Zoning applications for changes: Critical zoning documents. Change usually increases value of the property. Basic use: See where changes are being made, whether they violate "the master plan" for the community (the overall plan), and who benefited from the change.

11. Application records: Applications to build or add onto a building. Basic use: Tracking development and change in the community that might be missed in legal notices.

12. Legal notices: Notice of zoning changes, of defaults (failure to pay mortgages or loans) and other land issues. Basic use: Way to track changes in communities and the individuals and businesses whose finances are going bad.