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 The very first Constitution of the State of Michigan adopted
by Congress of the United States in 1836 established the office
of
Register of Deeds. The Register of Deeds is the official recording
officer for all legal papers and instruments pertaining to the
transfer and encumbrance of lands and properties within the County.
The Register of Deeds also serves as Chairman of the County Plat
Board.
The Register of Deeds Office is the
place where people record documents relating to land transactions.
Different types of deeds
as well as land contracts, mortgages, liens and lease agreements
are recorded at the Register of Deeds Office. After a document
is recorded, it becomes a public record, which can be reviewed
or copied by any person. Of course, the Register of Deeds Office
does not keep the original deed or mortgage; instead, the transaction
is recorded in a book, called a "liber", which is stamped
on the deed or document. A copy or image of the document is then
made for permanent record. Over one million documents are recorded
and imaged by the Wayne County Register of Deeds Office each year.
The work of the Register of Deeds Office
does not end after a document is recorded. After the document
is copied or imaged, certain
important information contained on the document, such as the legal
description and the name of the buyer and seller, is indexed on
a computer system so that the public can easily review information
regarding the ownership history of a particular piece of property.
As a matter of fact, the Wayne County Register of Deeds Office
was the first office to create what is called a "Tract Index",
which allows people to search land transactions or the history
of property ownership with only an address or property description.
The Wayne County Register of Deeds Office maintains an index of
land transactions in Wayne County dating back to 1703, and copies
of more than 35 million documents of transactions recorded in Wayne
County.
In the past, everything was recorded and indexed by hand, in large
books. Computers are now used to index information and have been
used since 1986. The Wayne County Register of Deeds Office has
now embarked on an exciting new project to convert all the hand
written and microfilmed records into electronic images which can
be viewed on a computer from business offices and even on home
computers. In the next few years, people will no longer have to
come to the Wayne County Register of Deeds Office to search or
make copies of records. Companies or individuals will soon be able
to research the history of transactions and see a recorded document
or record from a computer at their office or at home.
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