Legal Question in Wills and Trusts in Maryland

Re: lost deed for a house

There is a two-step process.

First, go to the State Dept. of Assessments and Taxation website at http://sdatcert3.resiusa.org/rp_rewrite/. Select your county and enter your street address where prompted. You will then see a summary of the real estate/tax information about your property. Under "transfer information" note the two numbers after the term "Deed1." That is the Liber (book) and Folio (page) number where your deed is recorded. Write down those numbers.

Step two: Register for Maryland Land Records at the website http://mdlandrec.net/msa/stagser/s1700/s1741/cfm/index.cfm. Once you have an access password, you can search the land records by county, then by liber and folio reference (the numbers you wrote down earlier). You will be directed to an image of your deed.

The above services are provided without charge. This method of obtaining deeds online works unless your deed is quite old and predates the imaging system. The start date for imaging deeds varies by county.

Of course, you can always obtain a copy of the deed from the county court clerk's office, if you need it more quickly.