Jordon.....there is not a website that I am familiar with to pull direct. Your best bet is a local Realtor.

Jordon.....

Your Realtor can have the local title company pull the outstanding "Deeds of Trust" on the property for you. They are publically available as they are recorded against the property.

Unfortunately, California does have many properties where sellers owe more than what the property is worth. Many purchased with 100% financing and were expecting mass appreciation.

The best is to contact the Listing Realtor to obtain this information.He can get the information from the Title company,and from the Seller ,within his mortgage papers when he obtained the loan and ,the latest mortgage statements recieved ;there may be more than one mortgage on the property ,and other liens.Best is the title search, which needs to be done to get the information.

Let me know if I can be of help.
Thank you.
Esfand Azad

The county recorder of deeds should have that information. It is part of the public record. If there is a website and you have the Property Identification Number (PIN for tax purposes) you should be able to find it.

If the listing agent (who representst the seller) is correct and the seller does owe equal to the asking price does that mean that the home is worth more? Absolutely not! A homes value is determine by sold comparables. In our current Atlanta market, you would want to pay less than the last comparable home that sold. You do not want to overpay for a home because of what a seller owes. It is a hard market for sellers; however, you are not to blame for when they bought their home and what they paid for their homes or the number of mortgages that have taken on their home.

Do you have an agent representing you or are you dealing directly with the sellers agent? Are you just inquiring on a home or have you actually visited Atlanta and seen the home with an agent? If so, I would recommend that you hire an agent. As an agent here in Atlanta, I do have access to tax records just as any agent in Atlanta or an Agent in any State does which can show the original loan amount on first mortgages and any additional mortgages. Consumers cannot access our online services to obtain this information. This information is only as good as the person who imputed the information from the county. There are typo's and missing information on a regular basis. Even if 100% accurate it would not show if the seller has paid down his mortgage balance.

I am not aware of a public website but you could attempt a Google search. I believe you that do a person check (which is like a background check) on an individual online at a cost which I do believe includes
mortgage amounts; however, based on my earlier statement I do not believe this is worth you while. It has no bearing on what you should or should not pay for a home.

Lorie from Atlanta

Jordan,

This depends on what is reported on the public records at your local courthouse. Some will give the original principal amount of the mortgage that was taken out on the property and the recording date. This will give you a general idea what might be owed.

Do you have an agent representing you on this transaction? if not, you might want to hire one to represent you and they might be able to pull the tax records to see. Good luck.

When a deed for purchase is recorded it is done thru the Clerk of the Court. In your county research the website for the Clerk of the Court and look up the mortgage by the sellers last name. Most all Clerks websites allow citizens do do so much on line like pay fines, tax bills and review public data. Hope this helps.

Public records will only show you the mortgage that was taken out on the property. It does not show you want the current balance is and how much they have paid off. Even if they owe more that what it sells for, that isn't your concern as the seller will have to pay the difference. The only time you would need to worry is if the seller is asking for a short pay from the bank as it is taking banks months to agree to the short pay amounts.

Hi Jordan,

It sounds like you have your Realtor have trust issues. When your agent told you that the seller owed his asking pricing, I hope it was after checking with the title company who can easily access the information. Your realtor should be able to get this information and show you a copy of the report.

Regardless of what the seller owes, you should only make an offer that you are comfortable with making. If you can't get this home with an amount that you are comfortable paying, you & your Realtor need to look at more properties.

Best of luck,

Karen Miller

Jordon...what is owed on the morgage should have no impact on what you offer on the home. Your Realtor should be able to guide you in making a fair price.

Hi Jordan,
I don't work in LA area, but the following link should provide some guidance.
http://www.lavote.net/RECORDER/Document_Recording.cfm

Even if you pull the records, it won't tell you what the current loan balance is. Mortgages are recorded when made.

Good Luck
Deborah

Pam: Is there a website anywhere that gives access to the public Deeds of Trust database?

Thanks,
Jordan