Public records property data is a powerful tool for mortgage, real estate, and insurance industry professionals to add to their toolbelts. Public records data refers to official legal information that is available to the public, either by default or upon request. The property data found within public records is harnessed by lenders, insurers, analysts, servicers, and others to perform due diligence, market to customers, analyze trends, and more. Read on to learn what type of information is contained within these records, and how you can leverage this powerful data.
What type of data is found in public records?
There are several types of public records, which are maintained at the federal, state, and county levels. When we reference public records data in this post, we’re talking about two specific types of property data records: county tax assessment data and county recorder deed data.
County tax assessment data
Tax assessment data is typically managed and maintained by the assessor’s office in any given county. It includes information about a property and its value, which is used to determine property taxes. The key components of county tax assessment data are:
- Ownership details: Current owner information, owner-occupied indicators, and vesting codes
- Property characteristics: House address, lot size, building area, stories, year built, zoning, construction type, amenities
- Land use insights: Standardized land-use codes and descriptions, along with assessor-specific classifications
- Building and improvement details: Building materials, number of units, garage capacity, fireplaces, heating and cooling systems, pools, patios
- Tax and assessment data: Tax rates, total taxes levied, delinquent tax years, and historical assessments
- Valuation metrics and market trends: Changes in property value over time.
County recorder deed data
Recorder deed data is managed by county deed registries or recorder’s offices. When a property changes hands through a sale, inheritance, or other means, the transaction is documented in a deed. The deed is then filed with the recorder’s office, and is used to establish legal ownership. As a result, county recorder deed data includes information about properties and the property owners:
- Ownership and transaction history: Seller and buyer names, corporate entities, and vesting information
- Recording and document details: Official recording dates, book and page numbers, and sequential document numbers
- Tax and sales price data: Documented sales prices, city and county transfer taxes, and total transaction amounts
- Concurrent trust deed information: Lender names, loan amounts, interest rates, and document identifiers
- Derived insights for residential properties: HOA presence, distressed sale status, and REO indicators
How to use public records property data
County tax assessment and recorder deed data can solve many key points of frustration that mortgage, real estate, and insurance professionals face. These two datasets are the backbone of any system that needs to identify property insights across the U.S. In our industry, data is king. Access to accurate, current, and historical data can fill gaps left by other tools and ensure accuracy for lenders, borrowers, and other stakeholders. We’ll review how assessment data and recorder deed data can improve accuracy.
Assessment data
Assessor data lessens the risk of inaccurate property valuations. It provides crucial details about property characteristics, including size, usage, and age, that are fundamental for accurate valuation. Lack of access to this data can lead to incorrect property valuations, affecting everything from real estate listings to property taxes and insurance premiums.
While accurate valuations are important for nearly every facet of mortgage lending, professionals working in property data and analytics, mortgage tech and servicing, mortgage lending, and insurance can especially benefit from accurate assessor data.
Tax assessment information can also remove impediments to market analysis. Real estate analysts and investors use assessor data to perform market analysis and identify trends. Without comprehensive data, these analyses may be incomplete or inaccurate, leading to misguided investment decisions. This information can be crucial to improving the workflow of insurers, real estate investors, and real estate financers.
Public records data can break down barriers to transparency and fairness. Comprehensive assessor data contributes to the transparency of the real estate market, ensuring fairness in transactions, assessments, and taxation. Lack of access to this data can decrease market transparency, which heightens the risk of fraud and manipulation. Lenders, servicers, and others working in mortgage tech and property analytics may find this information useful to their business.
Recorder deed data
Financial institutions and insurance companies rely heavily on recorder deed data to assess risk when underwriting loans or insurance policies. Incomplete data can result in inadequate risk assessment, which can open the door for bad debt or insurance claims. Mortgage lenders, servicers, real estate financers, and insurers can all benefit from better risk assessment data.
Without comprehensive and updated sales and recorder data, professionals in the real estate, finance, and investment sectors struggle to perform accurate market analysis and property valuations. This lack of reliable data can cause properties to be mispriced, either by undervaluing or overvaluing them. Inaccurate valuations can affect investment decisions, lending, and insurance underwriting. Bad data can also disrupt market equilibrium by contributing to price volatility, as stakeholders are unable to make informed decisions based on the most current market trends and historical transaction records.
Comprehensive recorder deed data is crucial for smooth property transactions. Lack of such data can cause delays and increased due diligence costs as parties work to verify property ownership, check for encumbrances, and ensure compliance with local regulations. Investing in public records property data can improve outcomes for mortgage lenders and insurers.
In the event of a title discrepancy or legal dispute, recorder deed data can be crucial. Without access to complete and accurate recorder data, there can be unresolved issues with property titles. Undisclosed liens, boundary disputes, or prior claims that are not clearly documented may be hidden by bad data. This leads to prolonged legal disputes, increased costs, and potential transaction failures.
Using public records property data alongside other datasets
Tax Assessment Data and Recorder Deed Data provide a foundational understanding of nearly every U.S. property. These public records can be combined with other datasets to further enhance decision-making. Pair property data with ClearAVM™ or Home Data Index (HDI®) bulk files to to leverage the automated valuation model’s computer algorithm to estimate property values. Or pair with other broker-generated property insights for further valuation analysis.
Learn more about PropertyNova™, our suite of property data products, and our Tax Assessment Data and Recorder Deed Data public records solutions.
