Title search on buyers

[Anonymous]

When the title company does the title search on the buyers & sellers will they do it by social security number?  Don't they search the buyer & sellers for public records?  Do they use a company like choice point or lexis nexis or do they actually go to the courthouses?  Or is it the lender that checks the buyers?  I am a buyer & ran my choice point & discovered a medical judgment from 11yrs. ago for $215.00.  I am going to pay it immediately (had no clue it existed).  It was not on my credit report, but I am sure the lender/title co. will find it if they run my social.  I was curious & choicepoint allows 1 free personal report for judgments/liens/bk etc.  on yourself that is how I found it.  Please let me know if title co./lender run social looking for pub. rec. & who they use (choicepoint, lexis nexis etc.) Thanks!! 

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

When the title company does the title search on the buyers & sellers will they do it by social security number?  Don't they search the buyer & sellers for public records?  Do they use a company like choice point or lexis nexis or do they actually go to the courthouses?  Or is it the lender that checks the buyers?  I am a buyer & ran my choice point & discovered a medical judgment from 11yrs. ago for $215.00.  I am going to pay it immediately (had no clue it existed).  It was not on my credit report, but I am sure the lender/title co. will find it if they run my social.  I was curious & choicepoint allows 1 free personal report for judgments/liens/bk etc.  on yourself that is how I found it.  Please let me know if title co./lender run social looking for pub. rec. & who they use (choicepoint, lexis nexis etc.) Thanks!! 

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I don't know the answer to your question, however please be careful when paying that judgment.  I have heard from others that sometimes simply paying things will reset the date of last activity and something that isn't on your credit reports, may end up back on your reports, your score could tank and your preapproval/approval may go out the window.  I may not be on there right now simply because it's been so long. 

You may want to go over to the rebuilding credit board and ask about paying it off, before you do so.  

[ShanetheMortgageMan]

They search by social security number, name, past addresses, who your employers have been, amongst other items.  Here in California there is a form called "Statement of Information" which is often required to be completed so a full public records search can be done, or if items on a public records search are claimed not to be valid.

[Anonymous]

What? I thought the title search was to establish ownership and liens on a property.

The title company searches for information on BUYERS??? Is that correct?

[ShanetheMortgageMan]

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@Anonymous wrote:

What? I thought the title search was to establish ownership and liens on a property.

The title company searches for information on BUYERS??? Is that correct?

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Yes.  For example, a title company likely won't insure title if you have an outstanding judgment or tax lien that could be placed on title after closing.

[Anonymous]

Each state may have different requirements, but I have worked for a real estate attorney and a title company in Louisiana and Mississippi.  When they did a search on the buyer(s), they only searched the buyer's names and social security numbers in the Parish where the property being bought was located.  For example, if you had a lien filed against you in ABC Parish, but not in XYZ Parish where the property was located, then the lien would not show up when they ran the search.

The title company is guaranteeing the title on the land.  If you have a judgment against you in the Parish you are purchasing in, it is up to the individual agent to determine whether or not that judgment could be transferred to a different property.  In all my years of work in the title business, there was only one occasion when I saw a title agent refuse to write a policy because of a lien and it was a federal tax lien for more than the value of the property.

The agents and attorney I worked with all felt it was the mortgage companies responsibility to monitor the credit worthiness of the buyer and we never did a complete public records search.  I have worked for three of the biggest title companies in Louisiana, and they all conducted business like that.

Just food for thought.