Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Washington

How to determine if the railroad owns the property you lease.

Gather together the lease, tax statements and any other information that you have to identify the parcel. Then, with that information, go to the County Auditor's Office. The Auditor's office has the real estate records and with the lease - which likely includes a legal description, the tax statement - which will include the parcel number - you will have enough clues to search the County records to determine who has a recorded interest in the property and the type of ownership. You may have to trek between the Assessor's Office and the Auditor's Office if all you have is a tax parcel number. If so the Assessor's can help you translate the parcel number to a usable number for the Auditor's Office. The task is really quite simple but becomes increasingly complex with the size of county that you are in. In Thurston County, it is pretty much one stop shopping. Alternately, you can call a local title company and ask for a property profile. Often a title company will do a profile at no cost, in anticipation of doing title insurance on a sale. Once you get the tax records, look at them for the payment history - be willing to look back quite a few years. There may be many more facets to your particular situation and I urge you to confer with a professional.

By responding to this query, I am not agreeing to be, and am not acting as your attorney.

Railroad property

In addition to Kevin Lyon's excellent reply, I would add that it might make a significant difference if the property is owned outright by the railroad or is merely an easement. I dealt with such a case a few years ago, and abandonment of easement was an issue.