Searching for Easements ?

Good luck Paul, and welcome to my world. Searching for easements granted to others over, across or through a piece of property can get frustrating. And around here the mention of an easement in a conveyance of the servient estate rarely happens, if ever. Generally it falls in that last "catch all" sentence "together with all existing restrictions, easements and rights-of-way".

One trick I resort to is determination of the owner of the property at the time the easement was granted or created; then search misc. documents under that name. If you know the 'grantee' to those easement rights (utility companies, etc.) you can also search all with that name.

Some of our counties here have the ability to search both S-T-R and name. That can make it a little quicker. Other counties only allow ONE data search; either name or S-T-R or by document type. That gets really frustrating in heavily populated areas.

And some easements were granted by the actions of the court and not granted by written conveyance; these may not be in the land records, but buried in the court records. Those can take some time.

Good luck. If you come up with a silver bullet let us all know.

It can be difficult when the last names of the parties are very common names like a Smith in Smithville.

Why avoid the title company?

Just curious.

Local county the on-line and in-house database, with copies available, are from today back to the
early 1980's for these types of instruments, deed, mortgages, leases, easements and misc. records.
From the early 1980's back to 1950, only deed and mortgage records, are in the database, with no electronic images
available.
Grantor-grantee indexes for leases, easements and misc. records, before the 1980's, are in the front of each of the separate paper or microfilm volumes.

paden cash, post: 379480, member: 20 wrote: Good luck Paul, and welcome to my world. Searching for easements granted to others over, across or through a piece of property can get frustrating. And around here the mention of an easement in a conveyance of the servient estate rarely happens, if ever. Generally it falls in that last "catch all" sentence "together with all existing restrictions, easements and rights-of-way".

One trick I resort to is determination of the owner of the property at the time the easement was granted or created; then search misc. documents under that name. If you know the 'grantee' to those easement rights (utility companies, etc.) you can also search all with that name.

Some of our counties here have the ability to search both S-T-R and name. That can make it a little quicker. Other counties only allow ONE data search; either name or S-T-R or by document type. That gets really frustrating in heavily populated areas.

And some easements were granted by the actions of the court and not granted by written conveyance; these may not be in the land records, but buried in the court records. Those can take some time.

Good luck. If you come up with a silver bullet let us all know.

Hello Paden,
Thanks for getting back to me, taking your suggestion about names and utility companies I've been trying every combination possible using the attached "record search form"....a lot of fun...have not found anything yet but will keep pounding away. Its a bit different than researching at the Washita County court house in Cordell. If I break through I'll keep you posted.

Thanks Again

rlshound, post: 379659, member: 6800 wrote: Hello Paden,
Thanks for getting back to me, taking your suggestion about names and utility companies I've been trying every combination possible using the attached "record search form"....a lot of fun...have not found anything yet but will keep pounding away. Its a bit different than researching at the Washita County court house in Cordell. If I break through I'll keep you posted.

Thanks Again

A lot search engines at some of the counties around here allow wildcards in their entries. Most are the "%" character..which I use a great deal. Good luck.

And by the way, if you've ever researched in Cordell, you may have stumbled upon the fact the town is actually technically "New Cordell"...since the first founding fathers weren't aware of how wild the Washita River could get. They built the present "New Cordell" up on the hill after "Cordell" washed away!

This is why land surveyors need to become better title researchers than the "barely over minimum wage" newbies working for the abstractor/title company. Work the turf you know. Better to sub out research to someone (surveyor, that is) local than to screw things up by attempting to do your own in a location you have never been and will probably never visit again. Title companies search for risk. Surveyors search for truth.

paden cash, post: 379663, member: 20 wrote: A lot search engines at some of the counties around here allow wildcards in their entries. Most are the "%" character..which I use a great deal. Good luck.

And by the way, if you've ever researched in Cordell, you may have stumbled upon the fact the town is actually technically "New Cordell"...since the first founding fathers weren't aware of how wild the Washita River could get. They built the present "New Cordell" up on the hill after "Cordell" washed away!

Morning Paden,
Thanks again...I've worked on two projects in Oklahoma,one northwest of Calumet on Rt 270 along the railroad and the other south of Elk City on Rt 152 which was in Beckham and Washita counties. Found a railroad spike in the base of an elm tree just south of rt 152 along the township line of 9N. A corner record submitted by Gregory H Gunning LS 1375 helped tie that survey. I've researched in New Cordell, Sayre and El Reno, at the time they were all busy places full of landsmen taking photos. We used to eat in two small places in Calumet, they were full of oilmen.Nice country, enjoyed the work and the people...funny the ladies who worked there looked and dressed the same way as they do in a Maine courthouse. In any event, Thanks Again, Paul

Adam, post: 379482, member: 8900 wrote: It can be difficult when the last names of the parties are very common names like a Smith in Smithville.

Hello Adam, its not very different than Maine where you have all the Morses living in Whitefield....

dmyhill, post: 379485, member: 1137 wrote: Why avoid the title company?

Just curious.

Thanks dmyhill, the project manager is an engineer and despite explaining to the nth degree he is still "in charge"....What would you recommend? The title company will do an uninsured search of public records for $400.00?
Thanks, Paul

Holy Cow, post: 379892, member: 50 wrote: This is why land surveyors need to become better title researchers than the "barely over minimum wage" newbies working for the abstractor/title company. Work the turf you know. Better to sub out research to someone (surveyor, that is) local than to screw things up by attempting to do your own in a location you have never been and will probably never visit again. Title companies search for risk. Surveyors search for truth.

Thanks Cow, how do you research?

rlshound, post: 380013, member: 6800 wrote: Morning Paden,
Thanks again...I've worked on two projects in Oklahoma,one northwest of Calumet on Rt 270 along the railroad and the other south of Elk City on Rt 152 which was in Beckham and Washita counties. Found a railroad spike in the base of an elm tree just south of rt 152 along the township line of 9N. A corner record submitted by Gregory H Gunning LS 1375 helped tie that survey. I've researched in New Cordell, Sayre and El Reno, at the time they were all busy places full of landsmen taking photos. We used to eat in two small places in Calumet, they were full of oilmen.Nice country, enjoyed the work and the people...funny the ladies who worked there looked and dressed the same way as they do in a Maine courthouse. In any event, Thanks Again, Paul

Doug Crawford, post: 379486, member: 9 wrote: Local county the on-line and in-house database, with copies available, are from today back to the
early 1980's for these types of instruments, deed, mortgages, leases, easements and misc. records.
From the early 1980's back to 1950, only deed and mortgage records, are in the database, with no electronic images
available.
Grantor-grantee indexes for leases, easements and misc. records, before the 1980's, are in the front of each of the separate paper or microfilm volumes.

Thanks Doug for getting back to me, I think I'll try going to the in-house records. Paul

rlshound, post: 380018, member: 6800 wrote:

rlshound, post: 379476, member: 6800 wrote: Hello,

I'm working in Maricopa County, Arizona which has online Assessor and Recorder sites. I'm searching for Public Utility easements in an area where the parcels are described by deeds, aliquot part descriptions. No record plats. I've reviewed the deeds looking for exceptions or citations to easements but am not finding any....ok....next step....searching by name in the "easement" and "any" categories....started tracing back by owner for each parcel along this road. I've also asked the Assessor, Recorder and the Municipalities GIS department the same. Outside of asking for a title report can anyone recommend any search methods? In any event, Your advice would be appreciated,

Thanks, Paul

It's far more expensive for me to go to the courthouse and search the records than it is to have the owner provide a title report. If I wanted to do that for a living I'd go to work for a title company...

Jim in AZ, post: 380022, member: 249 wrote: It's far more expensive for me to go to the courthouse and search the records than it is to have the owner provide a title report. If I wanted to do that for a living I'd go to work for a title company...

Thanks Jim, do you ever use the uninsured search provided by the title company?

rlshound, post: 380023, member: 6800 wrote: Thanks Jim, do you ever use the uninsured search provided by the title company?

Yes - when provided by the client/owner.

"Thanks Cow, how do you research?"

Very carefully and very thoroughly. The client is billed for my time so it is simply part of the overall invoice they receive. Many times the research turns up things of which they need to be made aware that may or may not directly impact the boundary survey. Many times research falls in the one-quarter to one-third range of the total invoice. I will not proceed without it. I still do thorough research after receiving a title commitment because of the numerous oversights and omissions that I have discovered in their sloppy work. They search based on potential risk to their company. Surveyors search for everything that might impact the survey. There can be a huge difference in those two things, as has been proven many times.

We have the index books available to us in the Register of Deeds Office, so it is very easy to trace the history of transactions impacting specific parcels, their parent parcels and the original parcels. This might not be very important in areas where a huge fraction of the work falls in subdivisions that were properly platted less than 40 years ago. That would be a very minor slice of my pie. Anyone working here had better become very adept at doing their own research or they had better find a different sandbox to play in.

Holy Cow, post: 380032, member: 50 wrote: "Thanks Cow, how do you research?"

Very carefully and very thoroughly. The client is billed for my time so it is simply part of the overall invoice they receive. Many times the research turns up things of which they need to be made aware that may or may not directly impact the boundary survey. Many times research falls in the one-quarter to one-third range of the total invoice. I will not proceed without it. I still do thorough research after receiving a title commitment because of the numerous oversights and omissions that I have discovered in their sloppy work. They search based on potential risk to their company. Surveyors search for everything that might impact the survey. There can be a huge difference in those two things, as has been proven many times.

We have the index books available to us in the Register of Deeds Office, so it is very easy to trace the history of transactions impacting specific parcels, their parent parcels and the original parcels. This might not be very important in areas where a huge fraction of the work falls in subdivisions that were properly platted less than 40 years ago. That would be a very minor slice of my pie. Anyone working here had better become very adept at doing their own research or they had better find a different sandbox to play in.

Good Morning Cow,
Thank you for your time and comprehensive explanation. In Massachusetts there are registry of deeds where you could trace back a parcels ownership, you had access to a library. In Maine the records were kept at the courthouse, again a book and page search which you had access to. Like you I try to be as careful and thorough as possible with all aspects of my surveys. I whole heartily agree with being vested in what your doing, and if you are lucky enough to work with people who care about what they're doing, great. In this situation there is no opportunity to research with the same control. Its probably set up that way to make money for the title companies, who knows. In any event I'm going to keep trying. Thanks again for your input. Paul