Research scope & delivery guarantee

Offer version 2026-10-23-v1. One property research packet costs $499. This is a one-time service fee for the work below.

What the packet covers

A 10-year recorder-index search through the latest index date available when checked, plus the latest located vesting deed and older instruments directly referenced in located records. One identified residential parcel per order. Eligible counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, Sonoma. The address, county and APN must identify the same parcel. You confirm that the property is residential. Multiple parcels, commercial property and unresolved parcel identity are outside this checkout.

Confirm the property & recorded owner

Address / APN match, assessor parcel map and available assessor characteristics.
Latest located vesting deed, its legal description and the interest conveyed.
Ownership and transfer timeline from the defined recorder search.

Trace recorded loans, liens & releases

Located deeds of trust and their original recorded secured amounts.
Located assignments, modifications, trustee substitutions and subordination agreements.
Reconveyances and releases matched to their referenced instruments where possible.
Search findings for recorded tax, judgment, mechanics’, municipal and HOA liens.
Located recorded CC&Rs, easements, access agreements and restrictions within the search scope.

Check the foreclosure & tax picture

Located default, sale and rescission notices arranged in a dated timeline.
Latest published trustee / auction-source status check, with the time checked; an unavailable status is identified.
Published secured and supplemental property-tax bills, delinquency and itemized direct assessments / charges.
An illustrative post-purchase and supplemental-tax estimate when you supply a proposed price and purchase date.

Map the land-use & location flags

Published zoning, General Plan designations and historic overlays.
Official flood, fire, fault, liquefaction and landslide map screening, with map sources and dates.
Public GeoTracker / EnviroStor environmental-site screening and links to located records.
Factual location maps, dated street-imagery links, nearby transit / services and published school-district information.

The deliverable is a downloadable PDF findings summary, a source log with search dates and index coverage, a record timeline, a practical follow-up checklist and a bundle of selected document copies. Findings describe the public records available at the time checked. Search terms, available index dates and material source gaps are stated. We search the categories above; a property does not necessarily have a document in each category.

Document copies and fees

Up to 50 pages of uncertified recorded-document copies are included, with recorder copy fees. The latest located vesting deed and applicable foreclosure documents are prioritized, followed by relevant loan, release, lien and restriction documents. Other located instruments are indexed with retrieval references. Certified copies, complete historic title chains and unlimited archive retrieval are not included.

If essential documents cannot fit within the allowance, or a deeper archive search is needed to establish the parcel or retrieve them, we contact you. You may explicitly accept a narrower scope or choose a full refund. We do not add charges without your agreement, and do not silently treat an incomplete essential-document search as a completed packet.

The delivery clock

Delivery is due by 11:59 p.m. Pacific on the third business day after verified payment. The payment day is day zero. Your private order page displays the deadline. Business days are Monday through Friday, excluding observed New Year’s Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Lincoln’s Birthday, Presidents’ Day, March 31, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Native American Day (fourth Friday of September), the second Monday in October, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, the Friday after Thanksgiving and Christmas. Fixed-date holidays falling on a weekend are observed on the preceding Friday or following Monday.

Requests submitted without payment do not start the delivery clock or reserve a paid service. We do not sell rush delivery. Order only if your decision can wait until after the delivery deadline. The packet is delivered when the file is available on your private order page; keep the complete private link. Email is for research-related contact and is not the required delivery channel.

Three-business-day delivery guarantee

If the packet is delivered after your deadline, or has not been delivered by that deadline, you may request a full refund of the research fee. A later delivery does not remove that right. Submit the request through the private order page or email ben@sfbayforeclosures.com with your order number within 14 calendar days after the missed deadline. We initiate the refund within five business days; your payment provider controls when it appears on your account.

If we cannot retrieve the latest vesting deed or the applicable foreclosure documents needed for the agreed scope, you may choose a full refund instead of accepting an incomplete packet. A documented absence of an applicable foreclosure filing is different from failing to retrieve a known essential document. An agency outage does not waive the delivery guarantee.

Other sections may be marked “not applicable,” “no record located,” “not mapped” or “source unavailable,” with the source and search limitation explained. Those labels do not certify that a property is free of problems. You can cancel for a full refund before research begins; after work begins, refunds are available under the guarantees above. No refund promise depends on whether you buy the property.

Factual-correction promise

Report a sourcing or transcription error within 30 calendar days after delivery through the private order page or support email. We correct factual errors in our work at no extra charge within three business days. A change in the source after our research date is not a transcription error. Send the source and the statement you believe is wrong so we can investigate.

What this research does not establish

The packet is not title insurance, a preliminary title report, a legal opinion, an appraisal, a survey, a statutory Natural Hazard Disclosure report, a Phase I environmental assessment or an inspection. It does not establish legal lien priority, the full universe of recorded or unrecorded claims, current payoff balances, marketable title, the right to occupy, lawful development capacity, physical condition, insurability, investment return or a safe bid. Recording order alone does not establish legal priority. Original secured amounts and published tax figures can differ from amounts actually due.

Complete permit / code-enforcement files, formal agency reports or certifications, building plans, court-file research, HOA financial / resale packets, payoff / estoppel statements, tenant / lease verification, interior access, street video and drone services are excluded. Map screening is limited by source dates, scale, parcel matching and coverage. Environmental database screening cannot confirm the absence of contamination. Tax estimates are illustrative and depend on your supplied price/date and published assumptions.

Before making a purchase decision

Confirm current sale terms with the responsible trustee or agency and obtain advice from the appropriate licensed professionals. Records can change after the packet’s research date; ongoing monitoring is not included. Our fee purchases the described research and delivery, not a guarantee about the property or transaction.