Unfortunately, the easiest way to do it involves getting in your car and going directly to the County Recorder’s Office.

I usually go to the County Recorder’s Office downtown SD off of Harbor Dr. There you can use their computers for free and look up all liens that encumber the individuals property. This is the best way to do it because you can see the amount of the lien(s) and determine if any have been reconveyed. You are not able to see how much has been paid down, I believe the only way to get that information is directly from the bank, which they will not give to you unless authorized by the borrower.

You don’t need to be an attorney to access these documents, however, an attorney with experience can probably decifer the documents in minutes, whereas it may take an untrained eye several hours.