Land, Property, and Tax Records
In South Carolina, records pertaining to land ownership and sales history are searchable public records. Property tax records (both for real estate and for taxable personal property) are also public and searchable. Forensically, these records can establish ownership and financial information that might be pertinent to a case. In addition, land records are useful when researching property for purchase, as they can provide important information about the history of a house or parcel.
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Land Records
All land records are public in South Carolina. These records are searchable by going to the website of the county in which the property is located. Several different mechanisms exist for searching for land records. Most counties provide a Geographic Information System (GIS) interface that enables the researcher to find a property using an interactive map. Additional search mechanisms are provided via the property tax records: if the owner’s name is known, it is possible to work backward from the tax records to find the underlying land parcel information.
In cases where the legal details of a property are known, there will be deed records showing each time the property has been conveyed from one person to another. These records are searchable by deed book and page number. Not all details from a deed or other land instrument are necessarily available online (as of late 2020), so a detailed search might still require a trip to the county courthouse to review paper records.
From a forensic perspective, deed searches can reveal connections between parties in a case. For example, in a criminal domestic violence case, deed records might reveal financial relationships between the suspect and the victim (joint ownership of property or property exclusively in one person’s name). Outside the scope of forensics, a deed search will generally show the price the previous owner paid for the property. This information may be useful to determine if the property is being “flipped” by someone who purchased it at a discount, made minimal cosmetic improvements, and is trying to sell a potentially problematic home at a high profit margin.
Tax Records
In South Carolina, property tax records are public information. These records include taxes owed or paid on real property (land, homes, etc.) and personal property (cars, boats, and outboard motors). Real property taxes may provide an estimate about the current value of a home. Personal property valuations are depreciated rapidly, but a history of taxes paid may show whether or not a vehicle or boat was purchased new or used.
The tax bill for a piece of property contains information that identifies that property with a reasonable level of specificity. It is possible to determine what kind of car a person drives by searching county tax records for paid vehicle property taxes. Such information could be useful in a forensic investigation by strengthening a link between an individual and a piece of property.
Using the Horry County Website
Coastal Carolina University is located in Horry County, South Carolina. Land and tax records can be searched using the Online Services section of the county website.
