A property's history is not kept in one place. The deed that conveyed it, the mortgage that financed it, the assignment that moved that mortgage, the release that closed it out, the liens recorded against it and the appraisal district's account of what it is each live in a different index. PlotCipher reads all of them for one address and reports what they say, with the document behind every figure.
Every instrument affecting title is recorded with the county clerk and indexed by the names on it, not by address. Deeds, deeds of trust, assignments, releases, liens, judgments and lis pendens all sit in the same index, which is why a search by owner name returns a pile of documents with no indication of which property each one touches.
The appraisal district keeps the parcel account: the owner of record, the legal description, the land and improvement values, the size, and the year built. It is the fastest way to identify a property, and the slowest to reflect a change of ownership, because it updates on its own schedule rather than when a deed is filed.
Matched together, the two answer questions neither can alone: who actually owns this today, what is recorded against it, whether the mortgage on file was ever released, and whether the sequence of deeds has a gap in it.
Properties with a notice on file, shown as examples of what the county record holds. Research works on any address in either county, not only these.
Instruments affecting real property - deeds, deeds of trust, assignments, releases, liens, judgments and lis pendens - are recorded with the county clerk and are public. Appraisal district records, including the owner of record, the legal description and the assessed value, are public as well.
The clerk's index is organised by the names on each instrument, not by property. An address search on the appraisal district tells you who owns a parcel; it does not tell you what is recorded against it. Connecting the two is the work.
Dallas County and Collin County, Texas. Both the clerk's recorded-document index and the appraisal district record are read for every address.
$1 per address, charged once. Searching is free, and no subscription is required.
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