Land Records

No, we cannot help you resolve a boundary dispute. Boundary disputes involve interpreting the law as it applies to your dispute. That means you probably need to consult an attorney. Sometimes you have to go to court to get a judge to resolve a boundary dispute.

If you don’t have an attorney, the NC Bar Association may be able to help you find one. They have a free referral service. If you contact them, tell them you need a lawyer who knows about land disputes. They only refer people to lawyers who guarantee a set fee for the 1st meeting. Here’s how to get in touch with them:

NC Bar Association
P.O. Box 3688
Cary, NC 27519
8000 Weston Parkway
Cary, NC 27513
In state: 1-800-662-7660
Out of state: 919-677-8574
Raleigh area: 919-677-8574 https://www.ncard.us/

The answer depends on the kind of land you’re talking about. Sometimes boundaries are set in legal documents called deeds. Deeds are the documents that say who owns what land. Boundaries of cities, towns and counties are set by the North Carolina General Assembly.

Today, most boundaries are defined by a deed. A professional land surveyor is responsible for comparing the information on the deed with the actual land. A surveyor is also responsible for comparing a deed with deeds for adjacent land to see if there are any conflicts. In the past, boundaries were determined in different ways, including walking the land and putting markers at certain points.

A deed is the legal document that says: who owns the land and where it is and what its boundaries are. A deed may also include restrictions. For example, a deed might have a restriction saying the land can only be used as a park.

Records affecting the ownership and rights to land are filed with:

• The county Register of Deeds office or
• The county Clerk of Superior Court’s Office.

Land records include documents such as deeds, wills, mortgages, court orders, divorces, and liens. If you want to fully understand the legal status of a parcel of land, you need to search records in both offices.

Deeds are filed with the county Register of Deeds office. To look at a deed you can:

• Go to your Register of Deeds Office and look at the document there.

  Find your Register of Deeds in:

  • Your phone book under county government
  • The NC Directory of State and County Officials:
  • Online at the NC Association of Registers of Deeds website. Click on “Find Your Register of Deeds”.
• Look it up online.

  Many counties have their real property (land) records online. Go to the county website. Land records may be listed under: public information, land records, Register of Deeds online, or some other name.

There is usually a small fee to get a physical (hard) copy of a deed. There is usually not a fee to look at a deed online and print it out. If you need an official copy of a deed, you need to get it from the county office.

• Search by the name of the seller of the land. The seller is called the “Grantor.”
• Search by the buyer of the land. The buyer is called the “Grantee.”
• Search by the deed book and page number. You have to already know this information to do this kind of search.

Pieces of land are called “parcels”. You can find who owns a parcel of land by:

• Looking at the deed for the land online or at the Register of Deeds office. To do this, just follow the steps in the FAQ question above: “How do I find my deed once I get to the land records part of the county website?”
• One of the easiest ways to find out who owns a parcel of land is to use tax maps.

Tax maps are maps that a county uses to assess taxes. North Carolina counties keep up-to-date tax maps. The tax maps include: an inventory of land parcels, the tax value of each parcel of land, and who owns each parcel of land.

You can always go to your county tax office and look at the tax maps. But one of the easiest ways to find out who owns a parcel of land is to look it up online.

• Go to your county’s website and search for tax maps or real property records.

  or

  Go to: https://www.ncgicc.com/GISinNCWhoWhatWhere.aspx. Click on “Access to Local Geospatial Data in NC”. Find your county on the list. Go to the website for your county.

• At most county websites you can search by the parcel location or street address.
• Once you find the parcel of land, select it. You should find information about that parcel, including who owns it.

• Physical (hard) copies of tax maps: If you go to the tax office and get a physical copy of a tax map, you’ll probably have to pay a fee.
• Online tax maps: Many counties offer free access to tax maps online. Some may charge a small fee for access.

A land grant was a gift or sale of land from the government to a person or business.

You need to know: 3

Fact you need

The name of the receiver of the grant

The county where the granted land was at the time of the grant

An approximate date when the grant was given

Tips

This would be the person who received the land grant. It may be the ancestor you’re researching.

North Carolina counties were formed at different times. Grants were filed in the county where the land was when the grant was given. That means the grant you’re looking for may not be filed in the county where the land is today. So you may need to both look at when the county was formed and the county where the land is now. Then find out what its “parent” county was – that is the county that was divided to create the county where the land is now. You can check that at: https://www.newberry.org/

You may have to do additional research to find this information.

No, we cannot give you a copy of your ancestor’s land grant. You may find some research references that say we can give it to you. That’s because there was a time when our office issued Land Grants. They were also called “Land Patens for the State of North Carolina”. That program was closed in 1959. At that time, we transferred all the records to the NC Department of Cultural Resources - Archives and History (“Archives”).

Call or go to the NC Archives:

109 E. Jones St.
Raleigh, NC 27601
Phone: 919-814-5400
Fax: 919-733-8807

Search the NC Archives website:

https://archives.ncdcr.gov/
or search using the Archives’ Reference System (MARS). http://mars.archives.ncdcr.gov/BasicSearch.aspx

Mail a request to the NC Archives:
There are limits on what you can ask for. There’s also a form you need to use.

State Archives of North Carolina
4614 Mail Service Center
Raleigh, NC 27699-4614

Email or fax the NC Archives:
There are limits on what you can ask for. There’s also a form you need to use.

Email: [email protected]
Fax: 919-733-1354

Yes, there is a fee.

The form is available from State Archives.

No. The General Assembly set a time limit for when land patents or grants could be filed. The deadline was January 1, 1981 so it’s probably too late to file one now. In addition, land grant or patents were transferred from our office to the Department of Archives in 1959.

If you have any questions about recording land grants or patents, you may want to consult an attorney.

The General Assembly enacts laws that tell cities what they have to do to annex land.

You can find out about land your city has annexed in more than one way. Some of the ways you can find out are:

• Go to your city office and ask to see the records of annexations.
• Check the General Assembly’s website to see if there is a bill authorizing an annexation.
• Check our website.

We have records of annexation ordinances (laws) and annexation maps.

We only have the records that the cities and towns have filed with us. Sometimes cities and towns don’t file their annexation ordinances or maps with us. So, that means our records may not be complete. An annexation may be valid even if the municipality does not file the ordinance and map with us.