Lorain County Recorder Judy Nedwick > Help with the Online Document Search

In just a few short minutes, you will be able to access all of the electronic records held by the Lorain County Recorder’s Office from your home or business computer. This guide is to help you understand a few key features of the site, including:

What information is available on the site
How to complete the free online registration form
How to complete an index search
What to look for in the index search results
How to use information from the site while in the Recorder’s Office
Who to call for help

We will discuss all of the above topics to help make your research easier by using our website.

SECTION 1

The Lorain County Recorder's Office has electronic records dating back to May 1992 and document images (scanned from the originals) from 1996. Our website provides electronic indexes ONLY. We index all documents based on an Instrument Number. The Instrument Number is unique to every document and we will discuss how to use this index later in this guide. We also have sub-indexes that include items like: name, document type, permanent parcel number, location, and date filed, just to name a few. Searching the website is different from completing a search in our office only by procedure, not by result.

SECTION 2

Before completing your first search you need to register. Registration is a fast and simple task. First, point your web browser to http://www.LorainCounty.com/recorder. You will then see the screen shown below: (fig 1)

**Fig 1**

You then need to click on the words “Document Search”. This will take you to the screen shown below. (fig 2)

**Fig 2**

If you have previously registered, enter your username and password in the appropriate fields shown in Fig 2. If this is your first visit to our site, click on the words “Click Here” to go to the registration page shown below. (Fig 3)

**Fig 3**

It is required that you fill in your First Name, Last Name, Company Name, and E-mail address. At this time you will also be required to choose a username and password. You must type the password in twice; once in the “Password” field and again in the “Password Again” field. This is simply a way to prevent you from making a typographical error and not being able to get in the site at your next log in. The other information is optional, and can be filled in if you wish. We DO NOT sell or distribute ANY of our user information. Registration is required simply to prevent automatic linking to our website from other sites that would hurt the performance of your search. Registration also allows us to troubleshoot any access problems with the website. Before clicking on the “Register” button, please read the User Agreement by clicking on that link. Once you have read the agreement, you may continue on to your search by clicking the “Register” button. You’re now ready to perform your first search!

SECTION 3

You will now be linked to our “Quick Search” page shown below. (Fig 4)

**Fig 4**

To enhance performance, we require certain indexes to be completed prior to the start of the search. You will need any combination of the indexes listed below in order to perform a search. Those indexes are:

Last Name
Company Name
Instrument Number

Any of the above listed indexes will return results for you if the document you’re looking for can be found in our electronic record. You can use any of these indexes combined with the other sub-indexes to narrow your search. An example would be:

Last Name: Smith
First Name: Joe
Company Name: <blank>
Instrument Code: <Mortgage
Instrument Number: <blank>
FIG 4 Starting Date: JAN 01 1996
Ending Date: DEC 31 1996

This search will return all the Mortgages for Joe Smith from January 1, 1996 to December 31, 1996.

Notice that we filled on the required field of “Last Name”. We could have searched on “Company Name” the same way. Due to different spellings provided to us on our documents, we recommend using as general a search as possible. Our website is extremely fast and will enable you to search through many documents quickly. For example:

A search on the name Louis Butkowski would probably be best performed by entering in the “Last Name” field "Butkowski” and the letter “L” in the first name field; leaving all the other search criteria alone. You’re result would be all records with the last name of Butkowski and all first names starting with the letter L.

The website performs a “fuzzy logic” search on the criteria that you provide. The only exception to this is when you are searching the “Instrument Number”, in which case you are doing an exact search by that number. The “fuzzy logic” search means you can type in as many or as few letters in a name field box and the site will first return all the records that match the criteria, then secondly return all the records that are like the criteria. For example:

A “fuzzy logic” search on the “Company Name” field with the letters ALL and no other criteria specified would return some of the following results (in this order):
ALLSTATE INSURANCE
ALL ABOARD TRAVEL
ALL AMERICAN GRILL
ALL SERVICE RENTAL

The same applies to searches in the “Last Name” field. This type of search allows you to get a more complete search while allowing for typographical and clerical errors in the spelling of last and company names.

The name searches are probably the most common search you will perform. We also have other search options available to you that provide a more tuned result. You may choose which type of document you want to search on for a person or company. You may fill a particular date range that you’re looking for concerning a person or company. You may also search by the actual “Instrument Number”. This type of website search is rare, but was included for those that have previously performed searches inside the public area at the Lorain County Recorder’s Office. It also provides a better way for you to return to a single document without completing an entire search.

SECTION 4

After you search is complete, the results from that search will appear in a list as shown here. Notice the numbers that are blue and underlined. These are the instrument numbers. They are also links to that documents detail screen. By clicking on any of these links, you will be taken to the document detail screen where the specific information indexed on that document can be found.

You can see an example of this screen on the left. Different document types have different details. The Satisfaction shown to the left was filed in 1998 and contains the party information, instrument number and date filed. The mortgage that is related to this document does not appear because that mortgage was filed prior to 1992. Also, because this document was filed after 1997, no volume and page information is given. After 1997, all documents were no longer indexed with volume and page, but instead were solely indexed by instrument number. This also means that the document is available at the Lorain County Recorder's Office on the document imaging system. If you need to further research or need a copy of a document, then all you need to do is print out or write down the instrument number and bring it with you to the Recorder’s Office. At that point, you can get assistance or a copy made without have to complete another search. Makes your time in the office a lot shorter.

The detail screen contains another piece of important information, the related instrument. A related instrument is a document that is tied to another document by association. For example:

If Joe Smith has a mortgage filed in 1996 with an instrument number of 19960391892, and in 2001 he pays it off with a satisfaction number 20010748393 then those two documents are related; he satisfied that particular mortgage.

The picture to the right shows an Assignment detail. Notice at the bottom there is another instrument number. This is the related instrument link. This link will take you to the detail screen of the mortgage that is being assigned. If you are researching documents, and find a related instrument at the bottom, give it a click and see what happens. You can then click on the related instrument at the bottom of that document when you are ready to get back to the original one. Related instrument links make life a whole lot easier!

SECTIONS 5 AND 6

If the research you are doing requires a regular or certified copy of the original document, you will need to contact the Lorain County Recorder's Office directly. You can do this by stopping in our office at 226 Middle Ave Elyria, Ohio 44035, writing us a letter addressed to the same, contact us by phone at area code 440-329-5148. You may also fax or email requests to our office. Our fax number is 440-329-5477. We are also proud to have E-mail available for you to contact us at lcrecorder@LorainCounty.com.When you contact our office, you will get the fastest response if you have some of the information that you retrieved from the website. You can print out the website index information by clicking on the “Printer Friendly Version” button at the top of each result window. Clicking on this button will take you to a screen without the colors and patterns of the regular screen. This saves you time and money in the cost of ink or toner, as well as overall wear and tear on your printer. You can then print out these results and take them with you or have them handy when you contact our office. Remember… THESE ARE ONLY THE INDEXES. THESE DO NOT REPRESENT THE ACTUAL DOCUMENT/INSTRUMENT.

You can always contact our office at the phone number or E-mail address listed above for further assistance.

THANK YOU FOR USING LORAIN COUNTY RECORDER ONLINE!