How Do We Find Notes?

Take a look around your neighborhood – it is almost certain that some of your neighbors who own their homes are also making payments on a mortgage or trust deed. There is no shortage of mortgages and other real estate notes but many new note finders find themselves at a loss when trying to locate person-to-person real estate notes. The process of looking for privately held mortgages and trust deeds is exactly the same in most cases as locating those liens that are held by banks and other institutional lenders and it just takes a little digging and some practice to learn where to look.

All notes should be recorded with the county clerk – this is done for the protection of both the note holder and the payor on the note. Once a note is recorded with the county clerk it becomes public record and is accessible to anyone who wants to view it. Since public records are maintained at the county level you may find some variety in the protocol for searching records across the nation, and even within the same state. Some counties' records are accessible from home via the Internet while others are only available in person; some require party names or dates while others allow you to search through the entire catalog of records at your leisure. There may be small differences from courthouse to courthouse, however the overall idea behind the process is the same. Once you have mastered the general idea of what you are looking for you can learn the nuances of each county you search in, whether that's in Alaska, Florida or anywhere in between.

To help you expertly navigate each county you should enlist the guidance of the County Clerks. It is their responsibility to help visitors find the information they are after – so don't hesitate to ask them to assist you in your hunt for private real estate notes. Simply let them know that you are interested in viewing their private mortgage or trust deed records and let them point you in the right direction. The records may be stored on a computer, microfiche, or in bound volumes so make sure that you take the time to learn the system your county employs – and don't be afraid to ask for additional guidance. Remember, County Clerks are experts at locating records but they are likely not experts on the note business, so make sure that you keep your questions short and to the point.

Once you have found the mortgage or trust deed records at the County Clerk's office it's time to put on your detective hat. You will want to search through records using a start date of approximately 2 years in the past. This will give you the best chance of finding the freshest leads. In most cases you should see the name of both the lending and borrowing parties, the type of record, the date of recording, and the document number. Remember, however, that each county has its own record keeping system, so some may show more information than others. An easy way to make sure you are looking in the right place is to scan the column in which a bank's name appears (this is the lender's column). Once you have located that it is simply a matter of finding those instances in which a private individual’s name appears instead of the bank – that is a private real estate note, and one that you can utilize as a lead for a potential note referral deal. Take a look at the document itself (using the document number, again you can ask the clerk for help here if you need to) to find the name and address of the individual who acted as the lender on that particular note.

From there it is a matter of contacting that person to determine if they are still collecting the payments on that note and if they are interested in selling the remaining payments.