The tax parcel number identifies a parcel just kind of like your social security number identifies you. The assessor is the one who assigns the tax ID number to the property and when an additional segregation is done on a property, the assessor is the one who assigns the new numbers. The assessor has appraisers who go out and appraise the property and then they assess a value and then whatever the rate of tax is in that area, they do the math with the value and you come up with the amount that’s due for the taxes. The treasurer’s job is to collect it. There are two types of tax numbers. There is one for platted land and one for unplatted land and that’s how the county specifies it—platted and unplatted.
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A road maintenance agreement is usually a good thing to have in place if you share a common access with one or more properties. Sometimes the only access to some properties is on a private easement road from a public right of way; this means that the responsibility of the road maintenance falls on the people who have the right to use the road.
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When a property is developed into a new subdivision or a condominium usually a Homeowners Association is formed to care for the common areas of the project as well to enforce the covenants, conditions and restrictions of the project (CC&R’s). Some of the times a management company is hired by the Home Owner’s Association to collect the dues and pay the bills to miscellaneous sub-contractors and utility companies.

The Home Owner’s Association will hold regular meetings and discuss the issues that come up in a community ranging from general maintenance that needs to be done to loud neighbors and barking dogs. Generally there are some rules or restrictions in a community to keep a certain continuity or maintenance level in a community and if an owner doesn’t follow the rules there are usually consequences.  The most common consequence is a warning 1 to 3 times and then usually fines are levied against the offender and if the fines are ignored they are usually followed up with liens against the owner’s property.
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When Escrow proceeds to close a sale transaction or do a refinance the title issues must be cleared up prior to closing the sale or putting a new loan in place. They do this by reading the title report and determining what needs to be cleared up and what stays. [Read more...]

Escrow is a neutral disinterested party who holds and disburses the party’s funds and prepares the loan and HUD documents and transfers the ownership of the property in accordance with written instructions and the terms spelled out in the purchase and sale agreement. [Read more...]

Title Insurance is a one time policy that protects the new buyer and the lender against any claims against the title. A search of the public records is conducted to see what is recorded against the title. Some of the things that are looked for are deeds, debts, easements, assessments and also the new buyer and seller’s names are run to look for any civil or probate judgments that may be filed against them. People with common names sometimes have to provide additional information to prove if a judgment pertains to them or not; this is typically called an ID affidavit. [Read more...]