Information Available
County property records may contain information on the existence, location and value of debtors’ assets. A creditor may also obtain copies of recorded documents through paper documents and microfilm imaging. Commonly found nuggets of information include the owner’s name and mailing address, date deed was recorded, last sale price, tax value, property use, tax amount, mortgage and other secured interests, etc. Understandably, this can be precious information for a creditor.
Currently, there is not a “one stop” website to obtain this information (Westlaw and Lexis do provide subscription based nationwide computer databases). Accordingly, searches of public records must be done in each county where a debtor may own real estate.
On-Iine Access to Minnesota County Records
One web site that bills itself as a “portal” or directory, provides nationwide contact information for property records. The address for the web site is www.netronline.com and you just click on the state and you’ll get a full listing of contact information for each state’s county. There are also links to official state web sites, and those Tax Assessors’ and Recorders’ offices that provide retrieval services of public records over the Internet.
Most all of Minnesota’s counties are providing Internet access to their property records. Each county individually designs and provides this service so each county’s website has varying information at varying costs. Please visit www.netronline.com for a comprehensive listing on each county’s contact information. Of course, you can always just “google” [state name county name] and “property records”. Which, 9 times out of 10, will point you in the right direction to find a place to refine your search within easily narrowed confines to get to the records you need.
MKT