Free title search — see who holds title to any property
A title search starts with one question: who is the owner of record? That's public information, and you can check it right now — search an address or draw around any property below and see who holds title, live from county records. No signup.
Draw an area to find owners — free
The three layers of a title search
“Title search” covers everything from a ten-second owner check to a pre-closing legal examination. The layers, in order of depth:
1. Who holds title now — free, here
The current owner of record, last sale, and tenure from the county's own records. The map above answers it for any property — or every property on a block at once.
2. The document chain — at the recorder
Deeds, mortgages, liens, and releases, indexed at the county recorder or clerk. Free or low-cost to search yourself; every county's system is different.
3. The examined chain — a title company
A professional abstract of the full chain of title, ending in a commitment and title insurance. The layer you buy when money is changing hands.
When the free layer is all you need
- Checking who owns a property before making an offer or knocking on the door
- Prospecting: finding long-tenure owners across a neighborhood — the classic pre-listing signal
- Verifying a seller actually holds title before you spend on the full search
- Research on who owns a property — owners of homes, businesses, or vacant land
Where this works
WhoseTitle reads county records systems directly and is live in 1,071 counties across 49 states — each county page names the county's official records source, so even where we're not live yet, you'll know exactly where to look. For the document layer, the recorder link on each county page is your starting point.
Free title search — FAQ
Can I do a title search for free?
The first layer, yes. Who holds title right now, when they took it, and what they paid are public county records — draw around any property on the map above and WhoseTitle shows them free. The full document chain (every past deed, mortgage, lien, and release) lives at the county recorder; reading it is free or cheap at the counter, and a professionally examined version is what you pay a title company for.
What does the free title search show?
The current owner of record (the name on title), the property's address and details, the last sale date and price where the county publishes them, and how long the owner has held it. That answers the question most title searches start with: who owns this, and since when.
What does a full title search add?
A full search — usually by a title company or abstractor before a closing — examines the entire chain of title in the recorder's indexes: every transfer back through time, plus open mortgages, liens, judgments, easements, and anything else recorded against the property. It ends in a title commitment and, at closing, title insurance that stands behind the result.
How do I find liens on a property?
Recorded liens live in the county recorder's index under the owner's name — most counties let you search it online, and our county pages link each county's official source. Property-tax status is separate: the county treasurer or tax collector shows unpaid taxes. A title company's search sweeps all of these at once.
Do I need a title company for a title search?
For buying, lending, or anything you need to be insurably certain about — yes, that's what title insurance exists for. For research, prospecting, or checking a property before you get serious, the free layers cover most of it: owner of record here, documents at the recorder. Order the paid search when a deal is real.
Is this a title report or title insurance?
No — it's the public-records layer a title search starts from, free. A title report is a professional examination of the full chain; title insurance is the policy backing it. WhoseTitle shows you what the county publishes: who holds title today, for any property you can draw around.