New Courthouse Recording System Makes Research For Private Noteholders More Profitable

by Leonard W. Stitt

Woodburn, OR. - In my travels around the country, I'm discovering something going on in a number of courthouses that's really strange. What's strange is they're upgrading their record systems. The upgrade will make courthouse research for noteholders more profitable and productive.

I use the word "strange" because I've been in a hundred-plus different courthouses. I'm not used to a county bureaucracy upgrading something that makes a person more productive.

What the courthouses are doing is putting their recorded documents and index files on computer.

But be warned: the technology is slow in coming because the system is expensive. A county incurs a large cost in transferring everything to the computer. One county which I've done lots of research bought a new system seven months ago. Its still not installed. So much for making things more productive.

How The Recorders Office In Your Courthouse Is Set Up

You Know that documents, such as trust deeds, mortgages and real estate contracts, etc. are usually recorded on microfilm, or they may be in books. You research these documents for the information you need on the noteholder.

Some people prefer to look up private names on the index file. Then they individually look up each document in the separate microfilm reel or book. My experience is the index file can slow you down, so I don't bother using it. You can speed up the research process by going through the book or microfilm reel completely, taking down the names of people who have deals that are profitable for you.

If your county installs this new computer recording system your research will go a lot faster. You'll also be able to use the index file productively.

Here's How The System Can Work Faster For You

Lets say you want to research deals recorded during the past month. You go to the computer and get into the index file. Ask the computer for a list of all trust deeds/mortgages recorded during the month. Next go over the list and take down the names of privately-held notes, along with the book and page number or instrument number showing where the document is recorded. Then you simply tell the computer you want to look at a certain document in, for example, book 20, page 45. The document comes right up for you to examine. When you're finished go to the next name on your list, enter the book and page number and you're on your way.

The biggest plus this new system can provide is it allows you to use your county's index file productively. If you own my courthouse course you can appreciate this.

If you prefer to scroll through an entire book the computer can let you do it. The scrolling mode will be very helpful when you check out other documents associated with the trust deed/mortgage (such as warranty deeds, assumption agreements and so forth). These other documents can give you an indication of the size of the down payment or position of the loan.

When a county installs this system they usually don't put their past recordings on the computer. Anything recorded before the system was installed has to be looked up the old way.

The system won't let you bring up separate lists of private noteholders with their addresses. You must look at each individual document. The counties I've researched as of this writing don't offer modem service. However, your county may offer it.

Time will tell how long it takes before most counties have this new system. With the rural counties it will probably take longer. Their tax base is a lot smaller than the large metropolitan counties. 

The methods I teach in my courthouse program will help you better implement this new information in your research for notes. It doesn't matter whether your courthouse is on books, microfilm or computer; the strategies I teach will help you be productive---and the new courthouse system will help you make money. You can get more information by reading my article "How To Tap Into The Mother Lode Of Discount Mortgages".

Leonard W. Stitt has vast experience doing courthouse research for notes. He's produced a course that teaches brokers, and investors from the ground up how to do effective courthouse research for private noteholders nationwide. For more information on his program click here.



Back to Top