Do you consider a title policy a public record?

[TerryRohrer]

The survey notes from the 1800s were interesting to read. One I read from the area we were working showed the temperature at different times through the day and where they were going through ravines, there were a series of short readings as they stepped down one side and back up the other, holding the steel tape level for each measurement. Before finalizing a section line, they would have to correct the length of the tape to account for expansion and contraction due to temperature changes. Even then, some were dead on and some were simply government employees getting a check.

 

[sputnam]

You don't need the whole title opinion. You just need the part where the lender hired the title insurance company that provided the legal description and any problems with a clean title for the mortgage.
If the title has liens on it that the lender is not aware of, they would want those resolved with the title insurance company before the mortgage was filed. The client (lender) would know that by the time they hired the appraiser. I just need a legal description on the subject.
The lender's title insurance company will handle the rest. The title opinion provides a clear legal description and owner of the subject property

All you need... as an appraiser... is who owns the property now and were there any transfers within the previous three years.