- 1). Find out the complete property address and the name of the owner for the property you want to check on to find out if a quit claim deed has been recorded. You will need at least the address to know the county where the quit claim deed would be recorded.
- 2). Locate the county office for the property address on which you are interested in performing a records search. Go to the office's filing room and inquire about searching the property records. There should be a room specifically designated for the public to use when searching property records. You are unlikely to find the property records accessible online from the county office's website because of privacy concerns.
- 3). Go to the appropriate viewing room where the records are kept for the property you want to search. The actual record retrieval system will vary by county, and you may need assistance the first time you go there to be shown how to use the retrieval system, be it a microfiche file or computer. County employees should be available for this purpose. Look in the records for the name of the current owner of the property you want to search.
- 4). Find the records for the "grantor-grantee index." This index lists all property transfers by the name of the persons involved in the transfer. For example, for the quit claim deed you are checking on, the person who would have signed the quit claim deed will be listed under the "grantor" part of the index and the person to whom the property was quit claimed to will be listed under the "grantee" part. Check the grantee index for the name of the current owner, and you will find the name of the associated grantor--the person from whom the current owner received the property. You will also find out what type of deed was used for the transfer, such as a quit claim deed, grant deed or special warranty deed.
- 5). Repeat Step 4 if the transfer document was not a quit claim deed, except now look up of the name of the "associated grantor" under the grantee index to find out what type of deed was used to transfer the property to him and the name of the grantor for that transfer. You can repeat this as many times as you deem necessary until you find the quit claim deed you are looking for or determine that it was not filed.
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