It sure is a great feeling to FINALLY find a document you have been looking for in as many places as you could possibly think of.
I have tried tracing subject tract deeds and adjoiner deeds backwards and forwards and was not finding the transfer I needed. I knew the point in time, the grantor, and the grantee, but the grantee is an agency that knows nothing about their records and the grantor is long gone. I have looked for this particular deed off and on for a couple of years (obviously, not a hurry up and get it done survey).
As luck would have it, I opened up a grantor/grantee index to begin looking yet again for any trace of the document. As most people do when using an alphabetically arranged book, I opened it up approximately to the first letter I needed. I was off by a few letters. I just stared at the page in total shock as there was the exact reference I needed with a completely incorrect first letter. A first letter that was so far off (T instead of M) I would have never thought to look for it there.
I pulled the deed it referenced - and sure enough, that is exactly the deed I was looking for to complete assembly of a property jigsaw puzzle.
I am going to buy 1 lottery ticket tonight - just in case that amazing luck holds out for the day.
Several years ago, it took me three days of digging in the courthouse in Jefferson, Texas to finally find a deed which some deputy clerk 85 years earlier had obviously massacred the name and spelling in both the direct and indirect index volumes. The other party in the conveyance was one of those people who had hundreds of entries in the deed records in that time period. Down through the years, there were various references in other deeds to the conveyance as being not of record and so forth. I even went to the title company and after they searched for it and couldn't find it, they told me that it must have just been lost or never recorded. When I finally found it, I brought it to the attention of one of the current deputy clerks and showed her the proof and she agreed with my findings. However, she was still unwilling to add it or correct it in the index until she remembered having seen me in there searching for it and she probably thought that she could go ahead and add it or I would do it myself. It got added and I'm glad to say that it was she who finally added it and not me.
Jeff
Did you receive a thank you?
Jeff
No Paul, the deputy clerk seemed to be a little bothered that I persisted in having her make the entry in the index to reference the correct information, but then again, I really don't think that she realized the importance of having it correctly in the records. I reported it back to the title company and they seemed a little more interested, but I doubt that they saved the info as I am sure they were busy with other things. I did write it in the deed recitals in my field notes which did get filed in the deed records, so hopefully it can be found and made useful again.
I just noticed - that incident happened during the same job where I took the picture in my Avatar.
and Brad
sorry to have misdirected your thread - only to say that I know exactly how you feel, so all kudos to you - go celebrate it because you deserve it.
Jeff
I have noticed something that seems to always take place after
I have made a rare discovery in the court house -- somebody else
wants the document to make sure it does not cloud the title.
Possibilities include:
Senior title examiner
Senior title officer
Title company closer
Purchaser's attorney
Seller's attorney
Purchaser's mortgage company or bank
Tax assessor if acreage errors are discovered
