Registry of Deeds - Norfolk County where are you?

What's the first thing we do when we are listing a property or researching a property for a buyer? We visit the Registry of Deeds online. Several of the Massachusetts registries are online and available to anyone to puruse and inspect. Much of it is boring stuff. But it also can serve as a resource to investigate properties and people.

I recently found out that an owner of a foreclosure that had recently been ordered, had foreclosure initiated on the property 4 times. The first three times they had refinanced and evaded foreclosure. Finally the $150k property bought more than 10 years ago had a $330k mortgage on it. If the banks or attorneys had done their homework they would've known that the owner should not have been financed another time. Now the property is in foreclosure and ready to be filed with land court and sold through brokerage by the lender.

I can also see employers, nosey neighbors and investigators using the registry as a free source for background information and lenders should be checking the registry prior to any financing.

Currently there are several counties online in Massachusetts. We use them everyday in our search for properties, it might be worth checking out, especially if you own property. In addition to deeds, there are many other documents filed such as condo docs, notices, liens, assignments, etc...