Why Add a Chain of Title Search to Your Phase I ESA?

A 1980 Environmental Lien & AUL search tells you what’s recorded against a property. A chain of title search answers a different question: who owned it, and when. For a Phase I Environmental Site Assessment, that ownership history is one of the best predictors of how a site was actually used — which is why many environmental professionals bundle the two.

What a chain of title report documents

A supplemental chain of title report is abstracted from official land records — the county, state, or city grantor and grantee indexes — and documents:

• Every owner in the deed chain, back to the search date
• The deed recording chain: book, page, date, grantor, and grantee for each transfer
• The legal description of the property or parcel
• Copies of the current deed(s)
• The identification of the current owner(s) and a list of sources searched

Past owners reveal past uses

Corporate owner names and ownership eras are rich clues. A parcel held for twenty years by a dry-cleaning company, a fuel distributor, or a plating works tells an environmental professional exactly where to dig deeper — which Sanborn maps to pull, which city directories to check, which agency files to request.

How it supports the E1527-21 historical review

ASTM E1527-21 mandates consultation of historical sources and land title records, giving assessments a more complete picture of a property’s environmental history. A documented owner history corroborates what other historical sources show, helps close gaps between them, and gives the assessment a defensible paper trail from official records. It pairs naturally with the lien and AUL research the standard requires — and with the judicial records review that catches court-filed liens.

Choosing your search depth

Online we offer two depths as combination packages with the 1980 Environmental Lien & AUL report: a 50-year chain of title, and a chain of title back to 1940 for sites where mid-century industrial use is a concern. Older urban and industrial corridors usually justify the deeper search.

Need a different date — say 1932, or 60 years back? We run custom search-back dates routinely; call 877-848-5337 or email [email protected] and we’ll scope it.

Bundle it with your 1980 search

Chain of title reports are offered as combination packages with the 1980 search: 1980 report + 50-year chain of title for $525, or 1980 report + chain of title to 1940 for $725. Both are delivered by email in 3–5 business days, and full details are on our chain of title reports page.