State Liens Search

Where tax and property liens are recorded, and how to ask for a sourced report.

State Liens Search

Judgment Liens

Quick answer. A judgment lien is created under state law after a court money judgment, often by filing an abstract or a notice in a recorder’s office or a state index. A state tax lien search looks for the state tax authority’s notice in the index that authority uses. A property lien search by address is usually the county recorder. A mechanic’s lien is a land record tied to a job. A judgment lien follows that state’s judgment statute.

Steps

  1. Name the lien

    State tax, judgment, mechanic’s, or federal. Each has a home office.

  2. Use the state page’s office

    The link is the starting index we have for that state, not a promise that no county filing exists.

  3. For land, open the recorder

    Address, owner, and parcel. Prior owners if the question is the parcel’s history.

  4. Read releases in the chain

    The original notice remains as history after a release.

Judgment liens follow the judgment statute

It is not a UCC financing statement. Searching only the UCC debtor index will miss it in states that keep judgments elsewhere.

Duration, renewal, and what property it reaches are statutory. Read the filing you found and the state page that explains that lien, and do not invent an expiration.

Pick the lien type before the website

Title companies search land records because real-property claims are recorded there. A statewide tax-lien brand that only queries a UCC debtor name will miss a county abstract of judgment. Say which book you opened.

Mechanic’s liens have short deadlines and are indexed under the property and the claimant. This site will not compute those deadlines. We can pull the recorded instrument the county still shows and email it.

Common mistakes

  • Calling a UCC-1 a state tax lien.
  • Searching only by city name.
  • Ignoring county records for a property question.
  • Calculating a foreclosure deadline from a blog.

Questions

Where is a property lien search done?

At the county recorder or clerk for the parcel, under the owner and the legal description.

What is a judgment lien?

A lien arising from a money judgment under state law, usually after an abstract or notice is filed in the office the statute names.

What is a mechanic’s lien?

A real-property claim for unpaid work or materials, recorded in the land records, with deadlines set by statute.

Sources reviewed