| Public Records | | | | easement or other rights regarding the |
| | | | property. There is also a grantee index |
| I receive lots of emails similar to this: | | | | listing who or what is receiving the |
| "Can I see real legal evidence of my home's | | | | interests transferred by or taken from a |
| prior transactions, instead of just anecdotes | | | | grantor. |
| from my agent and maybe from the owners? What | | | | |
| do I have to do become authorized to see | | | | The indices list the parties to the |
| existing records?" | | | | transactions, the date a document was filed, |
| | | | the type of document filed, a reference |
| Hmmm - read this brief summary: | | | | number telling where a copy of the document |
| | | | can be located and a brief description of the |
| PUBLIC records are maintained by the | | | | property affected by the transaction. Record |
| government. They primarily consist of two | | | | books contain copies of the documents which |
| types of records. Documents such as deeds, | | | | can be read and photocopied or summarized by |
| mortgages, easements, leases and liens are | | | | the title searcher, OR BY ANYONE!!! |
| filed with the Registry of Deeds. The other | | | | |
| type of records deal with Probate and Family | | | | You do not need special authorization to |
| Court issues, which I'll not discuss in this | | | | access these records. Registry employees will |
| short article. | | | | usually be happy to help you find the |
| | | | information you are seeking. A little bit of |
| Records in the Registry of Deeds are usually | | | | time spent researching the PUBLIC history of |
| organized chronologically and alphabetically. | | | | your prospective home and neighborhood can |
| There is a grantor index listing transactions | | | | possibly save you thousands of dollars and |
| by a person selling property, giving a | | | | reveal information about easements and/or use |
| mortgage secured by property, granting an | | | | restrictions. |